Joh 8:36 | KingComments | STEP | He holds it up to the Jews who believe in Him that true disciples show their faith by continuing in His word. True faith is manifested by continuing in the word of Christ. It is not something that can be done in one’s own power. Someone who believes continues in His word, feeds on it, listens to it, is obedient to it. Someone who simply says that he believes can perhaps keep the appearance of continuing in His word for a while, but there comes a moment when he will show himself in his true unconverted nature by clearly distancing himself from the word of the Lord. Continuing in the Lord’s word results in the truth being known and to be made free from any bondage to any sin. Truth does not lead to slavery, as the law does, but to freedom. The law makes it clear to man that he is a sinner, and does so by imposing on him a yoke that he cannot bear and, as a result, condemns him. Also the truth of the word of Christ makes it clear to man that he is a sinner, but that word also gives the solution in Christ. He has borne the curse and judgment associated with the law for everyone who believes in Him ( ). That truth makes free indeed. Once again the Jews show their utter blindness by interpreting the words of the Lord in a literal sense. They protest against the idea that they should be set free, because that would mean they are slaves. Such a thought they throw far from them. They think only of an outward freedom and claim that as Abraham’s descendants they have never served anyone. Have they forgotten that at the moment they say this they are subject to the Romans? Have they also forgotten how they were often subjected to heathen rulers in the past? Every submission to powers that God brought upon them was because of their sins. They became so accustomed to it that they forgot that they are in slavery. Even less are they aware of the yoke of sin under which they are. So blinded and hardened they have become. The same thinking can be found in Christians who believe that through baptism – which, in their (wrong) opinion, took the place of circumcision – they have been incorporated into the descendancy of Abraham and therefore automatically partake of Abraham’s blessing. The answer of the Lord leaves no room for misunderstanding. He again begins His answer with a double “truly” and an authoritative “I say to you”. Then He says that every person who has sin as the practice of his life is a slave of sin. They are people who are characterized by sin, not believers who fall into sin through inattention ( ). Every person who does not believe in Him is a slave of sin. The Jews are not only slaves of sin, but they are also in bondage under the law ( ). They are Jews under the law and as such they are now slaves in the house, that is the house of Israel. They will be sent away from there by the judgment that God will bring on them by the Romans. For slaves there is no permanent place in the house of Israel, being a house in which God dwells. The Son has inalienable rights. He belongs in the house and will remain there forever, as will all those who have been made free by Him. He is not just a ‘son’, He is the Son. Not only is He free as Son, but He makes free. He grants to everyone He frees the same characteristic of freedom as the freedom that is His own as the Son. He frees from sin, death and law. That is to be free indeed. This freedom is only given to a person when He believes in the Lord Jesus.

‏ John 8:36

To Be Free Indeed

He holds it up to the Jews who believe in Him that true disciples show their faith by continuing in His word. True faith is manifested by continuing in the word of Christ. It is not something that can be done in one’s own power. Someone who believes continues in His word, feeds on it, listens to it, is obedient to it. Someone who simply says that he believes can perhaps keep the appearance of continuing in His word for a while, but there comes a moment when he will show himself in his true unconverted nature by clearly distancing himself from the word of the Lord.

Continuing in the Lord’s word results in the truth being known and to be made free from any bondage to any sin. Truth does not lead to slavery, as the law does, but to freedom. The law makes it clear to man that he is a sinner, and does so by imposing on him a yoke that he cannot bear and, as a result, condemns him. Also the truth of the word of Christ makes it clear to man that he is a sinner, but that word also gives the solution in Christ. He has borne the curse and judgment associated with the law for everyone who believes in Him (Gal 3:13). That truth makes free indeed.

Once again the Jews show their utter blindness by interpreting the words of the Lord in a literal sense. They protest against the idea that they should be set free, because that would mean they are slaves. Such a thought they throw far from them. They think only of an outward freedom and claim that as Abraham’s descendants they have never served anyone. Have they forgotten that at the moment they say this they are subject to the Romans? Have they also forgotten how they were often subjected to heathen rulers in the past? Every submission to powers that God brought upon them was because of their sins.

They became so accustomed to it that they forgot that they are in slavery. Even less are they aware of the yoke of sin under which they are. So blinded and hardened they have become. The same thinking can be found in Christians who believe that through baptism – which, in their (wrong) opinion, took the place of circumcision – they have been incorporated into the descendancy of Abraham and therefore automatically partake of Abraham’s blessing.

The answer of the Lord leaves no room for misunderstanding. He again begins His answer with a double “truly” and an authoritative “I say to you”. Then He says that every person who has sin as the practice of his life is a slave of sin. They are people who are characterized by sin, not believers who fall into sin through inattention (Gal 6:1). Every person who does not believe in Him is a slave of sin.

The Jews are not only slaves of sin, but they are also in bondage under the law (Gal 4:3). They are Jews under the law and as such they are now slaves in the house, that is the house of Israel. They will be sent away from there by the judgment that God will bring on them by the Romans.

For slaves there is no permanent place in the house of Israel, being a house in which God dwells. The Son has inalienable rights. He belongs in the house and will remain there forever, as will all those who have been made free by Him. He is not just a ‘son’, He is the Son. Not only is He free as Son, but He makes free. He grants to everyone He frees the same characteristic of freedom as the freedom that is His own as the Son. He frees from sin, death and law. That is to be free indeed. This freedom is only given to a person when He believes in the Lord Jesus.