Study inJohn’s Gospel

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Jesus BringsFreedom

Chap 8v31-37

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IntroductionFreedom is much misunderstood. Those who talk loudest and longest about freedom have not always clearly defined their meaning. Like the Marxist orator in London who described the freedom all would enjoy after the revolution. 'When we get freedom', he cried out to the crowd, 'you'll all be able to smoke cigars like old gentleman walking by’. 'I prefer my fag,' shouted a heckler. 'When we get freedom,' the Marxist continued, 'you'll all be able to drive in cars like that Mercedes driving by’. 'I prefer my bike,' shouted the heckler. The dialogue continued until the Marxist could bear his tormentor no longer. He turned to him and said: 'When we get freedom, you'll do what you're told.'

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IntroductionWhat do we mean by freedom? The Danish newspaper that printed the now infamous cartoon of Muhammad sought to justify their behaviour on the grounds of ‘freedom of speech’. A different aspect of freedom is found etched on the Statue of Liberty in America. It reads: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free”. Here ‘freedom from unjust oppression’ is in view.

But what is the freedom that Jesus refers to when,he says in v36, ‘If the Son sets you free you will be free indeed’?

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Freedom From IgnoranceIn Jesus’ mind the first thing freedom involves is freedom from ignorance. In v 32 he tells a group of hearers that ‘the truth would set them free’.

John distinguishes two groups of people. Those who put their faith in Jesus for salvation v32 and secondly, the religious establishment - the Jews of v31.

Some Jews believed certain things that Jesus taught but at a purely intellectual level. In order to discover the truth about their need and Jesus’ ability to meet it, they were required to commit themselves to Jesus and to his teaching. This was and continues to be the first step in the path to real freedom!

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Freedom From IgnoranceAs soon as Jesus implied that the Jews were not free men, their hackles rose and they claimed “we have never been in bondage to any man” v33. What about the years spent in Egyptian and Babylonian captivity, to say nothing of the current Roman occupation?

Self-delusion can be humorous when a child says, “Look daddy I can swim all by myself” - as she holds onto the side of the swimming pool, while merely splashing her legs.

But self-delusion in an adult is frighteningly dangerous. Many people refuse to see the tyranny and bondage to sin in their life and as a result will not come to Jesus for freedom.

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Freedom From IgnoranceThere are people today, who like those Jews, remain ignorant of crucially important spiritual matters. They may have learned certain things about God over the years and find themselves agreeing with certain aspects of Christ’s teaching and as a result they assume that they now know all there is to know.

Some stubbornly refuse any attempt to help them come to a fuller understanding of Christian truth. They stop their ears! Freedom from ignorance is important because it is by understandingspiritual truth that God saves men and women.

Let me illustrate how this works.

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Freedom From IgnoranceTake a typical family man with a 9.00 am - 5.00 pm job. He plays bowls during the week and golfs at the weekend. He enjoys watching TV and reading the odd book. He is happy with his ‘normal life’. He seldom thinks of God.

Then someone begins to talk to him about spiritual things and he starts to grasp what the Bible teaches. As a result he becomes aware of his sinfulness. Previously, he had always thought he was a decent enough fellow. He’d never cheated on his wife, done any shoplifting or beaten up his neighbour. He had always thought he was a good enough man!

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Freedom From IgnoranceBut now that delusion evaporates. He sees that his pride, his selfishness and his anger are offensive to God and he is disturbed by that. He has been a prisoner without really realising it. He has been in bondage to a code of sinful conduct from which he finds he cannot break free. He is sitting in a condemned cell for God’s law has found him guilty!

He is kept awake at night thinking about his perilous spiritual condition.

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Freedom From IgnoranceBut then he also learns that God loved him enough to send his Son to die that he might be forgiven. That truth so grips his mind and heart that it drives him to Christ and he trusts him as his Saviour. As a result forgiveness floods his soul.

You see while it was God’s truth that exposed his sinfulness and need it was also God’s truth that then revealed Jesus as the only solution to that need. And so in this way the truth has set him

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Freedom From SinNow it is one thing to be set free from sin’s penalty it is another to be set free from its power and this is what Jesus talks about in v34… with particular reference to the hold that sin can have over a person’s life. God does not intend his children to live under sin’s dominion, where they are constantly defeated by temptation. God does not want us to wake up each morning, look in the mirror, and see sin point a gun at our head and say,

“You have no hope of pleasing God today, you will fail at every turn, my hold over your life is too strong. When my power demands obedience you must give it”?

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Freedom From SinTo experience deliverance from sin’s penalty without also experiencing deliverance from its power can produce great misery. Sadly, many Christians live defeated lives shackled to what our forefathers called ‘besetting sins’. Sins that constantly trouble us and which we cannot shake off. For some people it is their temper that they seem unable to control, for others their wayward tongue causes others great pain and distress, for others it may be impure thoughts - the list is endless.

Do you look back over your life and in your struggle against sin, see only defeat after defeat after defeat?

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Freedom From SinWhat does Jesus say to such a person? “If the Son of man shall set you free you shall be free indeed”. His goal is not only to free from sin’s penalty but also to free them from its power. When Jesus died upon the cross, he not only paid the price of his people’s sins, he delivered them from sin’s power, rule, and control.

It is vitally important to grasp this. Before a person comes to faith it is as though he lives in the prison cell of sin, where the jailor is constantly bullying and intimidatinghim. But during his stay in prison he begins to recognise that his behaviour has not only offended God but has brought great harm upon himself.

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Freedom From SinAnd then the prisoner is introduced to Jesus. Upon learning that Jesus died in order to become his Saviour, he places his faith in him. As a result he discovers that his prison door is opened wide. He is no longer under the control and dominion of the brutal jailer called ‘sin’. Christ’s salvation is a wonderfully liberating and brings glorious freedom!

But suppose the prisoner chooses to stay in that prison cell what will happen? His intimidating jailor is still there and will continue to bully him.

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Freedom From SinIndeed, it is likely that his life will become more miserable because he now has a greater understanding of his sin. He has yet to learn that salvation means more than forgiveness. It involves being transferred from a realm of darkness into one of light, from the realm of sin into one of grace. He has been freed from one power and brought into the safety of another - that of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus, and not the jailor, is now in control.

Jesus has burst open the prison door to free him from sin’s power. He can quite legitimately walk out into the sweet fresh air of freedom.

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Freedom From SinThe forgiven and freed prisoner needs to assert his new status and refuse to be intimidated by his former jailor, who no longer has any jurisdiction over him. That said affirming this new identity can involve a real faith-struggle.

Let me illustrate. After the American civil war, which was fought over slavery, the freed slaves were given a document stating that as a result of the victory they were all now free men.

However, some slaves, when passing their former masters in the streets would begin to shake. Despite having a piece of paper stating that they were free men, and despite knowing in their heads that this was so, the reality of their new identity had not as yet permeated to the core of their being.

They were free but did not feel free!

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Freedom From SinChristians need to grasp hold of their new identity. They are not only forgiven but free. They have been delivered from the tyranny of sin! Oh, they are not perfect or sinless. Sin is something they will always struggle with, while on earth but they no longer stand in the same relationship to sin and its power.

Christ brings freedom! The Christian has a document to wave in the face of their former master. It clearly states that they now serve another, who has purchased their freedom. And they follow Jesus their new master, not because of some external compulsion but in loving response to all that Jesus has done for them!

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ConclusionHow do we respond to the twofold freedom that Jesus offers? The self-deluded man will not recognise his need and so remains a prisoner in a cell that he cannot see. If you see your need and see that you are sin’s prisoner then Jesus eagerly waits to forgive and set you free. Ask him to do that today! Some have tasted the wonder of God’s forgiveness but remain daily defeated by sinful patterns of behaviour that constantly drag them down. Do not despair! The prison cell is open; you need to affirm that Jesus has freed you from sin’s power. Recognise that you now live in a different realm with a different master. The bully of sin has no power over you! “If the Son of man shall set you free you shall be free indeed”. Walk out into the freedom that Christ has purchased!

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