You say you believe there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe…and they tremble. (James 2:19)

I find myself circling back regularly to the passage in John’s gospel that sparked this blogging journey 5 years ago; and I still continue to draw fresh manna from it, nuggets of truth that continue to amaze me. I say ‘amaze’ because I still shake my head in wonder and even shame a times…as to how and why I never saw so much of this before. It’s found in the 8th chapter, beginning at vs. 31, where we are told that Jesus was talking to “those Jews who believed in Him’.

Jews who believed… in, on, or simply ‘Him’ (depending on what translation you read).

What does that even mean to you, that they ‘believed Jesus’?

That’s when He points out to those who claim to ‘believe Him’…”IF…you abide or continue in My word, you are My disciples in deed.” Please circle ‘if’ in your Bible, if it isn’t already; because that is what ‘disciples’ to- they continue on in His word.

Then Jesus makes this declaration: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (32). If/when you take your time with this, the very first question we ought to be asking ourselves is: ‘free from what’?; because apparently lots of people fail to ask that, not even aware of what it is they need to be set free of, or from. Which is probably why those in His audience who ‘believed in Him’ recoiled at hearing this and asked:

“We are descendants of Abraham, and have never… been in bondage to anyone. How can You say ‘we will be made free’? (33)

Funny how forgetful we can be at times, is it not? Have any of you ever gone through a season where you as a ‘believer’ were not living your best life as a ‘believer’, and yet we still get impatient and frustrated with others who are not living their best lives now, as in walking in ‘truth’ ? I have a hunch that might have been what Paul’s ‘thorn in the flesh’ was all about, but that’s another conversation for another day. Apparently these ‘believing Jews’ forgot about that part of their history where they were in bondage for 400 years and lived as slaves in Egypt. Or what about that time in their history when their fathers were marched off to live in Babylon for 70 years, after seeing their beloved city and temple destroyed? And dare we talk about the Roman occupation these ‘believing Jews’ were currently living under and were desperately longing for the promised Messiah to come and ‘deliver’ them?

As usual, Jesus had a very direct and rapid response to their question: “Most assuredly, I say to you…whoever commits sin is a slave to sin.” (34). Can we just stop here for a moment?

I don’t know what the word ‘whoever’ means to you, but it’s not a complex word; it means ‘anyone, everyone, all, any, the whole’. “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”

I see no (*) there denoting ‘unless you say you believe in Jesus’…then you are not a ‘slave’. His words are pretty clear there, are they not? So can we agree that in general terms, anyone who might be a ‘slave’ would also be a person who might long to be….’free’ and no longer a ‘slave’?

Then, He continues on with this reminder: “And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.” (34). So now we have a line of distinction ‘drawn in the sand’ for us, informing us that one can be a ‘slave’…or one can be a ‘son/child’, but it would not appear one can be ‘both’.

I hope you do realize by now, that not everyone is a ‘child of God’. In fact, the very reason Jesus came was in order to make a way where we might ‘become the children of God’ (John 1:11-12); and that includes undergoing a ‘new birth’ (John 3:3,5) where one actually becomes a ‘new creation in Christ’ (2 Cor. 5:17)…and in turn…will ’walk in the newness’ of this new life (Rom. 6:4)

But in order for this to happen…one must ‘receive this truth’ in order to be set free, and the promise made by Jesus there: “IF the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (36).

And Jesus was just warming up there, as He continues on addressing those ‘Jews who believed’. I’ll let you finish up reading on through vs. 47 on your own, but please take your time with it, and be sure to make note of how Jesus lays it out that ‘IF…they were truly ‘of God’…they would receive His word’, but were unable to do so. He leaves a gaping door open strongly implying that God was/is not…their Father (41,42, 44) actually telling them there who their ‘father’ really is, despite claiming to ‘believe’ in Him. I know, it’s a tough passage to read through. I mean imagine Jesus looking at you and telling you flat out: “You are a child of the devil!”.

Now here’s the good news: We don’t have to remain a ‘slave’ or a ‘child of the devil’. We can be ‘free indeed’; but it does not sound that simply ‘believing’ is enough, to me at least. What say you? I pointed out recently after going over the 10 Commandments that something jumped out of me on the 4th one, pertaining to keeping or honoring the Sabbath. (Deut. 5:12-15). It had to do with the fact that many tend to place a lot of emphasis on the things we are NOT suppose be doing on this one day a week, but it’s the line in vs. 15 that caught my attention as to what we ‘should be doing’ when ‘keeping the Sabbath’. Go mark that now: “And remember that you WERE…a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm…”. Now go read John 8:34 one more time, if you would please.

So which is it, are you a ‘slave’ or are you a ‘son/child’? And for those of you who are always left ‘hungering for one more bite, or two’, go enjoy Matt. 7:24-27; Luke 6:46; and Matt. 7:21.

Have a Happy Fourth, if I’m not back here tomorrow. Let Freedom Ring!