Celebrate Freedom John 8:31-36 Man's Freedom from Sin Is Conditional.man is enslaved by sin and all the consequences of it. He cannot keep from sinning; therefore, he bears the consequences of sin: guilt, shame, hurt, pain, sorrow, suffering, destruction, devastation, brokenness, death, and judgment. Man needs to be freed from sin, set loose and delivered from its enslaving tentacles. He can be freed, but his freedom from sin is conditional.The conditions: belief and abiding (v.31).The results (v.32).Man is enslaved by sin. He denies it; nevertheless, he is. Personal experience, greed, lust, selfish behavior, and world history bear clear evidence. Any honest person can clearly see the evidence.Man's denial (v.33).Proof 1: man commits sin (v.34-36).The Jews misunderstood Jesus. They thought He was referring to being conquered and enslaved by a foreign nation. They denied such. They had, of course, been conquered by many nations and were in fact being ruled by the Romans at that very time. What they meant by not ever being enslaved is that they had never surrendered their will to any ruler. They had always given their allegiance to God, not to men, no matter how powerful the men were.The Son can free the slave and ask the Father to adopt him, and if the Son makes the slave free, the slave is free indeed.Note that Jesus claims four significant things.He, Jesus Christ, is the Son of God.Man is in slavery to sin.He, Jesus Christ, can free man.Man can be adopted. |
