From Slavery to Freedom
John 8:31-36 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
Official figures tell us that there are around 21 million slaves on the earth today. That’s a shock isn’t it? Isn’t slavery a thing of the past? Surely! Well actually, no it’s not. And unofficial figures put it much higher at more like 100 million slaves on the earth today. It’s shocking to think of it, but it’s true. There are that many people still in slavery.
You might be thinking – surely not. But the facts speak for themselves. Let me bring this even closer to home. I wonder whether you would consider yourself as someone who to some extent at least, a person in slavery, a person in bondage.
Have a listen to this interesting exchange between Jesus and some Jews, God’s own people, men and women who considered themselves to be free.
John 8:31-36: Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
Perhaps you’ve heard part of that quoted before – that Jesus came to set you free. But it’s interesting how the Jews of the day in a sense, took offence at that, when Jesus said it. “We’re not slaves”, they responded, indignantly.
“Sure you are”, said Jesus. “You’re slaves to sin – and that, that’s what I’ve come to set you free from”. Jesus came to set us, you, me, everyone else who would put their trust in Him, free from the slavery to sin that robs us not just of our lives here on this earth, but from a permanent place in the household of God.
I wonder, what sin is robbing you, enslaving you, keeping you from being all that you can be, all that God made you to be. Come on, what sin has put you in the shackles of slavery?
Because it’s that very sin, that very slavery, that Jesus came to set you free from. Is it really worth it – the anger that’s swilling around in your heart? The resentment? The dishonesty? The sexual sin? Whatever it is in your life. Whatever your Achilles heal happens to be. Whatever sin you’re hanging onto. Is it really, really worth it?
Would you like to be set free? Because let me tell you, if Jesus sets you free, you will be free indeed.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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