Made Free John 8:31-59

And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (Jn. 8:32, NASB).

In this article we want to discuss freedom. What does it mean to have freedom? What does it mean to be free? How can we be free? For some people the idea of being free means that I can do whatever I want to do. However, as we look at what is taking place in the U.S. Congress today, we see the House of Representatives led mostly by democrats are preparing articles of impeachment for President Donald J. Trump. Why are they doing this? Now everyone has their opinion about these matters. However, we should take notice of the stated reason for these proceedings. The president is charged with violating the constitution. If the constitution is violated there is the danger that we will lose our democracy. If we lose our democracy, then, we lose our way of life and all the freedoms that we enjoy because we live in a society that promises freedom to every citizen.

Now, this is worth taking notice of because in the dialogue between Jesus and the Jews Jesus raises the issue of being made free. Jesus indicates that the Jews are not free, but they insist that they have never been slaves; they are the descendants of Abraham; and thus they are free. Jesus agrees that they are descendants of Abraham, but they show by their actions that God is not their Father. Jesus is teaching that whoever and whatever controls your life is your master. “Jesus answered them saying, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave to sin’” (v. 34, NASB). Let us try to rephrase what Jesus is saying in terms that are associated with the impeachment hearings. It is concluded that the constitution is what gives us our freedom as citizens. Jesus is saying that sin is what keeps one from being free. Who is your master?

As Jesus and the Jews continue their dialogue Jesus makes the point that although they are biological descendants of Abraham God is not their Father. The evidence is that they refuse to accept the Son of the Father, and they refuse to be controlled by the Father. Instead, their acts prove that someone other than the Father is their master. “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (v. 44, NASB). There are two things that we take notice of here.

First, the devil stands in opposition to the Father. Second, the truth of God is opposed by the devil who is the father of lies. How does Jesus come to this conclusion? The answer is found in Genesis 3. God tells the man and woman not to eat of the tree in the middle of the garden because if they do they will die. The serpent (devil) approaches the woman and tells her lies. She will not die. God wants to control her. The devil convinces (deceives) the woman by telling her that God wants to keep her from having her freedom to do as she wants to. God wants to keep her in her place. God does not want the woman to be equal to Him. Jesus is saying that the devil is the father of lies; that is, he is the first to lie, and he established a culture that operates on lies. The devil is a liar because lying is his nature. On the other hand, Jesus is the Truth. Truth is His nature. God is the father of truth, and Jesus the Son of God has His Father’s nature. Therefore, those that believe God’s truth are sons of truth. They have truth as their nature. They speak truth, and they live by the truth.

Jesus says to the Jew that believes His words that must continue in His words. Their actions show that they are truly His followers. They must be learners of His words because allowing His words to control their lives will make them free. This is the essence of what Jesus is saying. You and all people are born in sin. You have a sin nature. You live in a world controlled by the devil and his lies. This makes you a slave to sin. Let my words be in you and you will be controlled by the truth. You will be made free from the nature and control of sin. Who and what decides what sin is? What does freedom from sin look like?

Who controls what sin is? The first book of the bible tells us in the first verse of the bible that God decides what sin is. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1, NASB). Before there are heavens and earth God is. God alone exist. As we read through Genesis 1 we learn that nothing exist until God speaks it into being. It takes God six days (time periods) to create all that exist in the world. There is no power that opposes what God says. Everything happens just as God wants it to happen. At the end of each day of creation, God is satisfied with the results of His words. “God saw that it was good” (NASB). Everything happens according to the Word of God, just as it was in the mind of God “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come to be” (Jn. 1:3, NASB). When the serpent disputes what God says, he becomes the first liar. It is living the liar and his lies that make human beings slaves to sin. Now, we can define what it means to be free. Let us use a river as an example.

A river is a body of water. The water is controlled by the banks of the river. The water is not scattered over the ground. It is a river because the banks control the water; its direction, its pattern; and to a great extent its behavior. In the same way Jesus is saying that we are slaves to sin. However, it is possible for us to be free. We do not do as we want to. This is the lie that the devil tells the world to live by. Instead of being controlled by our sin nature and the culture of sin that we live in, we can choose to live by the teaching of Jesus. The world offers a lot of theories. Ultimately these theories prove to be inadequate to bring about orderly life and happiness. Thus, we continue to search for something different.

The Word of God makes us free indeed. The teaching of Jesus tells us who God is. His words tell us what God requires of us. His words tell us that we must live according to the plan and design of our creator. We are free only when we operate under the control of God’s truth. The constitution does not allow us to do what we want to do. That is not freedom. The constitution sets controls and limits on our behavior. Thus, freedom is being able to live according to what is written in the constitution. Likewise, in the same manner, Jesus is saying that we are free when we live not according to the lies of the devil. Instead, we are free when we live according to the truth of God. God is love. Jesus words teach us to know the truth. The truth will make you free.