John 8:31-36 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, If you continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed; 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33 They answered him, We are Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage
to any man: how is it that you say, You shall be made free? 34 Jesus
answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever
commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 And the slave does not abide in the
house forever: but the Son abides forever. 36 If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. (RKJNT)
Many believe since they are free—through Christ—
they can live as they please and still receive the reward of eternal
life. Being free actually means freedom from the bondage of the Law
(given to Moses) and from sin. It is not a license to sin or live a life
of sin. Take a look at the discussion above in John 8. Jesus speaks of
this religious freedom or liberty, but uses the word ‘free’:
- We see the word free in John 8:32, 33 and twice in 36.
- verse 32 eleutheroo (el-yoo-ther-oh’-o) means to make free from sin. By the Jews response, it seems they did not understand what Jesus meant when He said ‘the truth shall make you free“.
- verse 33 the response, “were never in bondage to any man”. For some reason they must have assumed Jesus used eleutheros (el-yoo’-ther-os) [born free; non-slaves] which is the word they used in questioning Jesus, ‘how is it that you say, You shall be made free?’ What did the Jews mean by this?
- in verse 36 the first use of the word free, Jesus repeats eleutheroo but then follows with elutheros this time meaning free from the Law.
1 Peter 2:16 As those who are free, not using your
free position as a cover for wrongdoing, but living as the servants of
God; (BBE)
The Roman church was warned against this in Romans 6:1-4 excerpt from verses 1-2: ‘Should we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Of course not! How can we who died as far as sin is concerned go on living in it?’. (ISV)
1 John 3:4-8 Everyone who lives sinfully is living
in violation of law. Sin is violation of law. 5 And you know that Christ
appeared to take away our sins; and in him sin has no place. 6 No one
who maintains union with him lives in sin; no one who lives in sin has
ever really seen him or learned to know him. 7 My children, do not let
anyone mislead you. The person who lives righteously is righteous — as
Christ is righteous. 8 The person who lives sinfully belongs to the
devil, for the devil has sinned from the first. It was for this that the
Son of God appeared, that he might undo the devil’s work. (OEB)
Religious Liberty
The most common word in the Bible for freedom is liberty. Eleutheria (pronounced el-yoo-ther-ee’-ah) – free, freedom or liberty in righteousness
through Christ. We have different forms of religion that lead to many
ways of living. Some people are not aware of the sin that remains in
their life and see no need to change. Changing the way we live is vital
to living a life that pleases God.
The moral values of the religious society have
changed and being religious or spiritual is not the same for everyone.
Once again I encourage you to study God’s word to get a true
understanding of what He requires. We are allowed the freedom to live as
we choose, my desire is that you choose to live for Christ. Eventually
as stated in Romans 6:18, through liberty from sin you change and start
living for Christ.
Romans 6:16-18 Do you not know that if you yield
yourselves as slaves to obey someone, you are slaves of the one you
obey; whether of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads
to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once the
slaves of sin, have obeyed from the heart that standard of teaching
which was entrusted to you. 18 Being then set free from sin, you became
the slaves of righteousness. (RKJNT)
Scriptures to read and study:
1 John 3:1-10; Romans 8:1-11; 1 Peter 2:13-17 {Romans 13:1-7}; 2 Corinthians 3:7-18
Finally my friends let us use this freedom through
Christ to please God and not indulge in all manner of sinful
activities. Be mindful of your activities, are they pleasing God? Be
blessed – ♥
No comments:
Post a Comment