Becoming Free

Hook:

If you asked most people, “Are you a Christian?” about two-thirds would say yes. But here’s the real question: What do they mean by that?

Because according to Jesus, not everyone who claims Him actually follows Him.

“Apart from me I never knew you… This is how they will know you are my disciples…”

You’ve seen it in real life.

Someone says they’re a Christian… but their life tells a different story.

[Joke: CUE PICTURE of the person I’m talking about]

And if we’re honest? Some of us don’t need to picture someone else… we’re thinking about ourselves.

So today isn’t about examining them. It’s about examining us.

Not: “Are you a Christian?” But: “Are you free?”

(Don’t say) Opening Illustration:“The Locked Phone”

Almost everyone has had this moment: You pick up your phone, but it’s locked.

You can:

see the screen

read notifications

even recognize it’s yours

…but you can’t access it.

Why? Because you haven’t entered it yet.

👉 Connection: A lot of people treat Jesus like that.

They:

recognize Jesus

agree with Jesus

believe in Jesus

…but they’ve never actually been unlocked by Jesus.

They’re close… but not free.

Transition: **Becoming** a disciple of Jesus is not once and done, it is becoming.

REVIEW:

(Pastor Jessica) Becoming better. The better you God wants is when you come to the end of yourself.

(Pastor Nathan) Becoming less. When you become less, Jesus comes Lord.

Becoming free.

SCRIPTURE SET UP:

To illustrate the difference between someone who says they are Christian and someone who follows Jesus, let’s go to a text in the Gospel of John. The text we are going today in John 8:31-36, has people around. People who are full on following Jesus. People who are interested and like Jesus. And some who aren’t into Jesus that much. But probably say they are.

John 8:31–32 “31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.””

Jesus doesn’t say, “If you believed once…” He says, “If you abide.”

Abide to Awaken Truth

That word abide means:

stay

remain

continue

live in

This is not casual Christianity. This is not Sunday-only faith. One of the first things I coach when someone is talking about how they are growing in their faith is this statement…“I go to church????”

Truth doesn’t change you if you only visit it. Truth changes you when you live in it.

Illustration #2: The GPS Recalculation

When you’re driving and miss a turn, your GPS says: “Recalculating…”

But imagine ignoring it over and over.

Eventually:

you’re far off course

still confident

but completely wrong

👉 Connection: Jesus’ truth works like that GPS.

When you abide, you:

listen

adjust

realign

But when you don’t: you can be on the road, maybe even the right road… and still be lost

——

A lot of people:

know Scripture, or have a few verses plastered on our walls

quote Scripture, can quote our favorite verses every so often

agree with Scripture and what it says.

…but there are those who know it, quote it, and agree with it who are not transformed by Scripture.

Why????????? Because they don’t abide in it.

Parents want their kids to not just the words they say, they want them to listen, comprehend, obey, and the words sink in.

Children want to see their parents abiding in the word. Living by it. Transformed by it.

Teachers want their students not just to learn the subject to pass a test, they want the lessons form the past history, principles of math, structure of language to teach us things that help us be transformed for life.

Freedom isn’t found in exposure to truth. Freedom is found in surrender to truth.

👉 Practical turn: Jesus says if you abide you are truly a disciple. Let’s not try and dance around it. Do you abide?

Ways to tell what you are abiding in? What voice do you willingly sacrifice/surrender to? What schedule do you surrender to? What person do you surrender to? What demand do you surrender to? What obligation?

(Pause)

John 8:33–34 “33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”

Challenge of Christ's Call

This is where it gets uncomfortable.

They say: “We’re Abraham’s descendants… we’ve never been slaves.”

That’s not just historically questionable—it’s spiritually revealing.

This is why when people use going to church, family, denominations to describe their faith in Jesus, it concerns me. Christians are free from sin. So part of the thing we need to be able to describe is our freedom from sin.

They thought:

heritage = freedom

identity = security

Jesus says: “No. Your issue isn’t your background. It’s your bondage.”

“Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”

Notice:

Not “struggles with sin” (indicates a repentent heart)

Not “occasionally falls” (indicates a pattern of becoming free)

But practices — lives in it, returns to it, normalizes it. (this is why certain lifestyle choices are not becoming free)

You can sit in church and still be enslaved. You can know the language and still lack freedom.

This is where people push back today:

“I’m a good person”

“I believe in God”

“I grew up in church”

Jesus is saying: None of that breaks chains.

👉 Key line: Sin doesn’t just make you guilty—it makes you bound.

So the real diagnostic question is:

What do you do even when you know better?

James 4:17 “17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

That’s where you’re not free.

(PAUSE)

John 8:35–36 “35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Jesus shifts from diagnosis to hope.

A slave:

has no permanent place

no security

no inheritance

But a son?

belongs

stays

is secure

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Freedom in Family Forever

Not:

temporarily free

partially free

emotionally free

But actually free.

🔥 This is the Gospel moment:

Freedom is not:

self-improvement

trying harder

behavior modification

Freedom is: a Person—Jesus.

You don’t fight your way out of slavery. You are brought out by a Son.

Many people try to:

act like sons, without becoming sons

But freedom comes from: belonging before behaving.

Illustration #3: Chains Falling Off

Picture someone in chains:

they’ve been there so long

they’ve learned to live with it

even move with it

Then someone unlocks them… …but they keep carrying the chains.

👉 Connection: Some believers are free… but still living like they’re bound.

Jesus didn’t just unlock you— He expects you to walk differently.

CLOSING STORY:

There’s a story often told about prisoners of war.

When camps were liberated, some prisoners didn’t leave immediately.

Why?

Because:

it felt unfamiliar

it felt uncertain

they had lived bound for so long

Freedom felt strange. Unknown. Don’t know what it will be like. They had gotten used to prisoner of war. The world is going to be different because so much time has passed.

👉 Connection: Some people are like that spiritually.

Jesus has already opened the door…but they’re still sitting in the cell.

Not because they have to—but because they don’t know how to live free.

You don’t know what it will be like…too much time has passed. friends have moved on, life is different, live with the consequences.

Some of you in the room may be lost, and never accepted the forgiveness of sins in salvation.

Some of you may believe Jesus will forgive you of your sins, but are holding onto sins, you need to give him.

Some of you may need to sacrfice, go deeper than where you are, God may be calling you to do something big, and you have no idea how…but in your fear of unknown, hesitate.

ARE you becoming free today? WILL YOU BECOME FREE TODAY? GO TO JESUS.

Final Closing Line

The door is open. The chains are broken. The truth has been spoken.

The only question is:

Will you abide… and walk out?