“Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” (John 8:34)

What are we supposed to do with that statement, especially in the context that most all ‘Christians’ will candidly admit that despite their ‘conversion to Christ’…they still continue to sin on a regular basis? And please try hard not to be offended or get defensive and remind me that ‘nobody is perfect’, or that ‘no one can live a sinless life’. I only say that because that tends to be our ‘default setting’ when the conversation of ‘sin’ comes up amongst ourselves.

Those who may be in ministry or at least more acquainted with scripture and various church doctrines are quick to toss out intimidating phrases of warning, like “Oh, they are into that ‘sinless perfection’ teaching, best to stay away from that.”

It never ceases to amaze me how simply quoting a Bible verse, or two…can stir up all kinds of things in people. It used to confuse me when I first witnessed such things take place, but I have grown to expect it now, even though it still amazes me and can leave me shaking my head in bewilderment.

I had a similar encounter while taking that long walk one Sunday morning a few years back, the walk I was telling you about at the close of yesterday’s message. I had to go process what I had just read there in the passage in John 8:32-36. Twice in that text, Jesus speaks about knowing the truth and being set free…and being ‘free indeed’. What was He referring to when it comes to being ‘made free’? Free from what?

I’ve shared here in previous postings what transpired that morning and the unplanned conversation I had with another professing ‘believer’. It was their adverse response to my pointing out a few verses that caught me by surprise and in turn prompted me to want to go back and study more to see what was so troubling about reading various passages that I was coming across, especially to another 'believer'.

There is an incident recorded in Matthew’s gospel where Jesus had come to Matthew’s home one evening for dinner with a group of other tax collectors and ‘sinners’. When the Pharisees saw this, they were beside themselves that Jesus would hang out with such a crowd, and even questioned Him about it. Jesus in turn, told them to: “go and learn what this means…” (Matt. 9:13). I felt that Sunday morning as I was returning from my walk that the Holy Spirit was telling me: “Go and learn what this means…to know the truth and to be set free.”

That, my friends…was the catalyst to begin sharing these messages five years ago. I have described in times past, that this journey I have been on reminds me of putting together a jigsaw puzzle, where all these ‘missing pieces’ started ‘showing up’ and began to bring more clarity of understanding to this walk of faith I had been on for 40 years at the time. And like most people’s walk of faith, mine too was dotted with many ‘highs and lows’ along the way, which we all have come to expect as the ‘norm’.

It was also about this time when God really illuminated for me, that passage I often quote from Hosea 4:6, how ‘God’s people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.” And as these ‘pieces of understanding’ from scripture began to come together, I found myself walking personally, in more freedom that I ever had before previously. Let me just tell you this has nothing to do with ‘getting more committed’ or ‘stirring up feel good emotions’ either. In all actuality, I was beginning to learn, for the first time…what it meant to truly ‘abide in Jesus’, that John 15:1-8 speaks about so well. As I often would tell people back in those early days of my ‘awakening’- my life will never be the same again...  I can tell you unashamedly that 6.5 years later…this has proven to be so.

So as I continued reading and studying, taking notes and then writing and sharing here, I noticed a definite ‘theme’ develop in what I was learning and then passing on. I also found myself apologizing regularly for repeating myself, or ‘going long’ on these messages; to which the Holy Spirit prompted me to stop with the apologizing. There was a divine reason and purpose for both, and that I would do well to just remain obedient and continue sharing what I was learning, and to trust Him with the results of ‘sowing the seed of His word’.

I want to say I was about 18 months into this journey when I saw an ‘outline’ of sorts taking shape, and that everything I was learning and sharing fell into one of these three areas of study. I can only pass on what is being ‘given’ to me, and I have often likened these early mornings of discovery as having to be similar to what the children of Israel must have experienced in the wilderness for 40 years…when they awoke each morning to find fresh ‘manna’ awaiting on them to feed them and their loved ones. These early mornings for me have become a way of life and are the highlight of my day, I kid you not.

Tomorrow, Lord willing, I will share with you the basic structure of that theme, and I truly believe that if you were to comb through over the last five years of these messages, that you could probably file 98% of them under one of these three key components of my ‘outline’. The reason I am sharing this with you here today is because I am absolutely convinced that these three main areas of study are the ‘missing rebar’ (yesterday’s message) in our Biblical foundation teachings. In other words, had the majority of us understood these areas of scriptural study better, it might have saved many of us much heartache and needless suffering in this life, especially after we first began to believe in Jesus.

And friends…it’s not like any of this is some ‘new, strange doctrine’. These truths I have been learning and passing on…have been laying there in the pages of our beloved Bibles for all to see. Why we have ‘missed’ seeing them…only God knows. And as usual, I remind you and myself that all I can do is share with you from these pages of scripture, and then you in turn look them up and study for yourself, to see if the Holy Spirit will bear witness, just like they did back in the early days of the church when God’s Spirit was moving upon them. (Acts 17:11)