Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary John 8:31

"Jesus therefore said to those Jews that had believed him, If ye abide in my word, [then] are ye truly my disciples;" — John 8:31 (ASV)

Jesus now addressed those Jews who had expressed a measure of faith in him. He began his discourse with the assumption that they would proceed to a further commitment on the basis of his teaching, which would mark them as genuine disciples and lead them into a deeper experience of truth. Jesus did not, of course, wish to extinguish a smoldering wick of faith (cf. Matthew 12:20), but he felt the necessity of making perfectly clear the conditions of discipleship.