A favorite Bible verse talks about Jesus setting us free. He said it during a conversation with the Pharisees, but they didn’t take that well. This devotion looks at why they didn’t know they were not free.
Nuggets
- Jesus was teaching something totally different from what the Jews had grown up believing.
- We can’t just say we are disciples and not live that way.
- Worldview people get that being moral is knowing the difference between right and wrong, just not that it means God’s right and God’s wrong.
This year, we are looking at self-discipline. We are using Vincent’s The Lesson of Ripeness sermon to look at the need to grow in our relationship with God. We morphed learning enough to be a teacher into determining some areas we need to grow so we can be mature disciples.
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We have been looking at solidifying what we believe. When we witness, we need to be prepared to explain what we believe and why we believe it.
We have been looking at solidifying what we believe. When we witness, we need to be prepared to explain what we believe and why we believe it. We have looked at the Scriptures; the Trinity (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit); man; salvation; grace; the church; divine ordinances; worship; God’s kingdom; end times; evangelism and missions; stewardship; cooperation; social order; and peace and war. Now we are going to look at religious freedom.
Devotions in the What I Believe series
Devotions in the Religious Freedom category
What Is Religious Freedom?
Acting Free
Spiritual Bondage and Freedom
Jesus the Liberator
What Religious Freedom Doesn’t Mean
We are going to start out by looking at a discussion that Jesus had with the Pharisees. Jesus accused them of being slaves, but they weren’t having anything to do with that.
Since it covers so many verses, it is too long for one devotion. We will start it in this devotion and end it in the next devotion.
Let's Put It into Context #1
Freedom is, according to the Holman Bible Dictionary, “the ability of a person or group to be and do what they want instead of being controlled by another.” It is also referred to as liberty.
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We talked about liberty before. We said that it runs the gamut.
- Liberty means doing what you please,
- Liberty means freedom from arbitrary control.
- Liberty means the ability to choose.
- Liberty means freedom within specified limits.
- Liberty means going beyond the normal limits.
- Liberty means not following the rules.
Oh, yeah. That is a worldview definition. But that gives us an idea of from where the different players are coming.
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Let's Put It into Context #2
“As he was saying these things, many believed in him” (Jn. 8: 30 CSB)
John 8 is a packed chapter. It kicks off with the story of the Pharisees bringing the adulterous woman to Jesus. That didn’t turn out as the Pharisees had planned. They had planned to trap Jesus but didn’t get the job done.
The rest of the chapter recounts what Jesus was trying to teach them. It has several important points.
- “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life” (Jn. 8: 12 CSB).
- “… But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going …” (Jn. 8: 14 CSB).
- “… ‘You know neither me nor my Father,’ Jesus answered. ‘If you knew me, you would also know my Father’” (Jn. 8: 19 CSB).
- “Then he said to them again, ‘I’m going away; you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I’m going, you cannot come’” (Jn. 8: 21 CSB).
- “The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him” (Jn. 8: 29 CSB).
All interspersed in those nuggets are verses showing the Pharisees didn’t get it. Fortunately, though, verse 30 says that many of them did.
Disciples or Descendants?
“Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ ‘We are descendants of Abraham,’ they answered him, ‘and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, “You will become free”?’” (Jn. 8: 31-33 CSB)
Jesus was teaching something totally different from what the Jews had grown up believing. While many believed, they couldn’t quite grasp what Jesus was getting at.
Really, the Jews had been told for a long, long time that they were God’s people. They were His people because of the covenant with Abraham.
Glossary
Now, Jesus is saying, “Nope.”
Robinson wrote that Jesus was not invalidating the covenant. He was criticizing the religion that had grown up around it. Robinson wrote, “Accepting a mere dead orthodoxy does not constitute one a genuine subject of the Kingdom of Truth.”
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Now, Jesus is saying, “Nope.”
Robinson wrote that Jesus was not invalidating the covenant. He was criticizing the religion that had grown up around it. Robinson wrote, “Accepting a mere dead orthodoxy does not constitute one a genuine subject of the Kingdom of Truth.”
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What Jesus was trying to correct was their reliance on tradition and rituals instead of a relationship with God. They thought being descendants of Abraham was enough.
Jesus told them that they would “… know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn. 8: 32 CSB) if they would continue in His Word. They needed to realize that
- “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (Jn. 14: 6 NIV)
- “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1: 1 ESV).
The Truth will set us free because Jesus is the Truth. He sets us free because He has redeemed us and paid the penalty for our sins. When we accept Jesus is the Word, He marks paid on our accounts. We have to continue in Him on the sanctification road so that we change our character to be like Him.
Glossary
We can’t just say we are disciples and not live that way. We have to obey God’s laws and commandments.
But the Jews listening weren’t having anything to do with what Jesus was saying. Pierson wrote, “The mind, heart, will, moved, but the soul not yet made new in Christ.” They hadn’t been slaves in Egypt — they had been liberated.
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So, the Jews were discounting what Jesus said. Not good.
As disciples, we have to constantly put our faith and trust in God. Faith is the belief that the doctrines stated in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them. Trust is assurance that the promises of God are true.
We can’t just accept part of the gospel and reject the rest. We have to accept all of it.
The problem is that the Jews were just thinking of political and intellectual freedom. Well, the first part was logical. They were expecting a military Messiah.
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But that also kind of falls apart. Weren’t they sorta enslaved to the Romans? Hadn’t there been several instances in their history where they had been exiled and enslaved? They weren’t exactly free. (I bet Jesus shook His head at that boast.)
What the Jews didn’t get was Jesus was talking about the spiritual. He was talking moral bondage. That had always been — and will always be — His focus.
Slave to Sin
“Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you. I speak what I have seen in the presence of the Father; so then, you do what you have heard from your father” (Jn. 8: 34-38 CSB)
Worldview people get that being moral is knowing the difference between right and wrong. They just miss that it means God’s right and God’s wrong.
When we focus on God’s wrong, we are in moral bondage. We are slaves to sin.
Thomas brought up a good point. The Jews thought they were free because they had their religion, but they really didn’t. They didn’t have the relationship God for which was looking.
The Jews thought they were free — even under Roman conquest. However, they were slaves to lust and greed. Thomas wrote, “Every sin a man commits forges a new link in the chain that manacles his soul.
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Oh, isn’t that the truth? David described how bad it can get — and how wonderful it is when Jesus saves us. “He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure” (Ps. 40: 2 ESV).
How can we be pulled out of the miry pit? We have to ABCD.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Because the Jews were Satan’s slaves, they didn’t recognize Jesus. The demons could (Mt. 8: 29; Lk. 4: 41; Jas. 2: 19), but His people couldn’t.
Shedd didn’t mince any words when he wrote, “Sin is the suicidal action of the human will.” Yes, it is suicide.
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Think about it this way. It is our choice whether we admit our sins, believe in Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer, and confess God as Sovereign Lord. It is called free will. Free will is the ability within us to make decisions, which determine actions that produce character.
Glossary
If we choose not to ABCD, we remain spiritually dead. Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
Glossary
If we are separated from God on judgment day, we will be separated from Him for the eternity. We don’t want that because that means we will spend eternity in the torment of hell.
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Wilberforce clarified that the “… everyone who commits sin …” (Jn. 8: 34 CSB) is someone who consciously commits sin. Yes, we all commit sin but only those who have not ABCDed are termed sinners.
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In the next devotion, we will continue looking at the discussion Jesus had with the Pharisees.
Gracious Lord. You are holy and righteous. You let us choose whether we are going to be like You or not. What You don’t do is allow us to think that, just because we have been made in Your image or are descendants of Abraham, we get a pass. You expect our submission and obedience to Your laws and commandments. You expect us to navigate the sanctification road so that we are becoming like You. May that be what we do. Amen.
What do you think?
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