"Free Indeed!”

John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, “If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed;

32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

34 Jesus answered them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

35 and the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

Freedom is the liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another that is, from the law of sin and death we have inherited from Adam and Eve into the Law of Eternal Life. It is independence from the clutches of darkness and dependence to the source of our being, God.

Jesus in His first sermon, said, “I came to bring good news.” He said, “I’ve come to set people free.” He said, “I am the truth (John 14:6), you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” In John 8:36, He said, “If the Son will set you free, you will be free indeed.” Truly, all who are in Christ Jesus are free! But many are still enslaved. They knew the truth but how come they are still enslaved to sin? How come? The mystery is unlocked by this verse.... 2 Corinthians 3: 17 “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

In Galatians 5:1, Paul tells us that, “Freedom is what we have. Christ has set us free.” Jesus promises real and lasting freedom and with 2Corinthians 3:17’s indwelling Holy Spirit we are ultimately free! But, freedom from what?

I want to cite three most important things that Jesus said, “I’ve come to set you free from.”

1- FREE FROM SLAVERY OF SIN:

“If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed...” v.31

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin...” v.34

“IF” WE CONTINUE IN JESUS’WORDS, and abide, dwell therein, even if we do not feel like the old nature is dead, God says it is, and so it is! The result of this death of the old nature is that we are free from its wicked influence in our lives. The old nature lived for one thing: To serve sin - Eph. 2:1-3. Thank God in Jesus, we have been given freedom from the evil influence of our nature. Basically stated, we do not have to live like him any longer! We are no longer under the slavery to sin! Will the Christian sin?

Yes! (1 John 1:8-10) Does he have to? No! (1 Cor. 10:13).

For us Christians, when we can reach the place where we are able to "reckon ourselves dead indeed unto sin", then we can experience that same freedom from temptation. Typically, our problem is not that God hasn't given us all we need to avoid evil, our problem is that we like it too good to stop doing it!).

The Word “if” in the opening sentence of Jesus is a condition. It is also a sign that can separate from the “true”

2- FREE FROM DECEPTION OF LIES:

“...and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free!”

There is only one Way in knowing the truth... abide, dwell, continue in Jesus’Words.... then we will be His disciples... from adopting a lifestyle of Jesus’Words, we will know the truth. The truth is not just an idea, an ism, a philosophy, but the Person of Jesus Himself! He said; “...I Am the Truth” Truth is a Person! The Person of Jesus! No one died on the Cross but Him alone. He died for our sins, once and for all that we might be redeemed and liberated from deception and lies... THAT IS THE TRUTH! Therefore; 1 John 2:21 - No lie is of the truth.

By its very nature, a lie is untrue. It is a falsehood.

"Lie" - "...a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive..."(Random House College Dictionary.)

"Deceit" - "act or practice ... intended to ... mislead by a false appearance or statement"(Random House College Dictionary)

The difference is that a lie is generally spoken; but deceit includes anything, whether words or deeds, that are intended to lead people to believe what is not true. One of the saddest forms of deceit is self-deception. People who don't want to face reality can sometimes convince themselves to believe things that they really know are not true. In order to avoid lying and deceit, we need to know what causes people to be guilty. Ultimately all lies are conceived in the heart under the influence of Satan.

John 8:44 - Jesus said regarding Satan: "there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it." Satan influences men to lie.