“Are You Really (Truly) Free?"

Sermon delivered by Pastor Finn on Sunday, July 1, 2018 PENT 6

Text: “Are You Really (Truly) Free?"

In the name of Jesus, dear Christian friends.

This Wednesday is Independence Day. Everywhere are reminders of the freedoms we enjoy in this great land of ours. Flags on the street. Flags on houses. Flags in front of churches. Fireworks in the sky and parades in the streets. Everywhere and every way we’re celebrating freedom—it’s a theme in movies and country songs, even in churches, people are celebrating: Let freedom ring!

That said, I’d like to ask you: Are you free? I mean really free? Most people when they think of Christians, don’t think of them as free. They would look at you and all the rules you have imposed on yourself—and yes they go along with things like the “Golden Rule” and doing unto others as you would have them do unto you—they see the value of being nice to other people who are nice to you—but then you Christians go ahead and add even more rules on yourself that you have to live by—don’t drink too much, no sex before marriage, gotta watch your language—and on and on with all the rules—and that’s what many think Christianity is all about—and that’s not freedom they say.

In our text for today Jesus teaches about who’s really free and who isn’t. We’ll listen as he points out some wrong ideas about freedom and we’ll learn as he shows how he (Christ) alone has the power to really set people free.

First, Jesus clears up some wrong ideas about freedom. (vv.31,32) "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus connects two things together: him and his teaching and freedom in a relationship with God. In other words, Jesus is saying, “I’ll teach you, and then you stay in my teaching, you continue in it, you go on in it, and you’ll be free.” Jesus will explain freedom from some things so that we can be free for something else. But he’s not talking about a curriculum here, a Sunday School year or confirmation, but life-long Bible study of his teachings.

Right away instead of asking Jesus more about that, the Jews are offended that Jesus even hinted that they weren’t really free. (v.33) “We are Abraham’s descendants,” they said, “and we have never been slaves to anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

Either the Jews were either ignorant of the meaning of the word, “freedom,” or they were in denial of their own situation. The Assyrians, Babylonians and Egyptians had each enslaved them and they were currently under Roman power at the moment. Yet in their mind they think they’re free because they’re descended from Abraham. “He was a free man. We are too.” Abraham had been dead for 2,000 years by this point. It’s like today if i ask you about your relationship with God, and you say, “My whole family has always been Lutheran, going all the way back to Luther! I went to a Lutheran school,” or “My dad was a Lutheran pastor!”

They really misunderstood what freedom in Christ was all about, so Jesus explains: (v.34) “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” When it comes down to our condition of sin, who of us is really free from that? Your family name doesn’t matter. What school you went to. What your parents do for a living. We all have a condition—each of us has a sinful nature and out of that comes sin: hating, cheating, stealing, lying, committing adultery. Like the Jews, we protest because we think we’re basically good people who once in a while do something bad. But Jesus says, no. There’s a part of us that is a slave to a cruel, abusive, mean and harsh master: sin. Sin isn’t just what we do; it’s a condition.

It’s easy to see this. Rarely will parents have children begging them to go to church. They won’t argue with you about that, or about how much you will let them study God’s Word! Instead the sinful nature in them looks for ways to sin and to get away with sin. As teenagers they will question you about things like: “Why can’t I go to that party or wear that top?” Or, “What’s wrong with drinking a few beers just cuz I’m underage?” “What’s wrong with doing ____________ with my boy/girlfriend?” Or “What’s wrong with smoking weed?”

Same thing with adults. Easy to point out the sin in society, but hard admit our own, especially if there’s a sin we happen to like: like dishing about the latest gossip, or drinking too much, or using the Lord’s name in vain, or being lazy when it comes to worship or slefish in our giving. And then we’re surprised when the young are confused when it's, "Do what I say and not what I do."

No, Jesus explains that sin is the problem—it’s a condition we all have—the solution? Now Jesus takes the conversation from sin, to HIM.

(vv.35-36) “Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Back in Genesis three, after Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed Satan and said, “Now there will be two families—and all people of all time are going to part of one family or the other—there’s God’s family and there’s the devil’s family."

Which begs the question everyone needs to ask themselves: where are you? Who or what has control of you? To whom do you belong? Who (or what) runs your life?

Cain is the first person in the Bible who showed that sin had a complete hold on him. He was jealous of his brother Abel and hated him. God warned Cain, "Sin is crouching at your door nut you must master it." In spite of God's warning, Cain got the best of his brother and killed him. Afterward, he felt sorry for himself, but not for his sin. After that it says, "Cain went out from the LORD's presence" (), which is another way of saying that Cain remained an unbeliever, a slave of sin.

King David is another good example of a believer who let sin get a hold of him for a time. First he saw Bathsheba (another man's wife) and lusted after her. Then he spent some time figuring out a way to get her and commit adultery with her. Then David used murder to cover up his sin with her, and for almost what seems to be a year he lived with that sin before repenting of it and turning to God for mercy and forgiveness.

The world is full of people who think they are a s free as birds, while all the while they are slaves of sin and members of Satan’s family. That’s a scary thought. And just as much as them, we need to hear God's daily call to repentance as well, so that sin does not become our master.

This weekend lots of people looked up to the sky and all the fireworks as we celebrated the freedoms we enjoy in this land of ours. The next time you look up in the weeks ahead. I want you to look for something else. There's a star by the name of "polaris." This past Thursday I asked the teens in the teen class if they knew what “polaris” was (not the snow mobile). Polaris is another name for the north star. It’s not the brightest star in the night time sky (actually it’s the 50th brightest star), but it’s unique because all of the other stars in our night time sky revolve around that northern star.

Dear friends, make Jesus your north star. Set your sights on him. Enroll in his school. (vv.31,32) “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus sets us free, not to do whatever we want, but to live under him. His freedom is greater than anything anyone else could offer. Jesus sets us free from sin, death, Satan, slavery and frees us to God, truth, life, worship, and joy. How do we respond? We continue in his teaching. The result: greater freedom. God becomes greater and sin gets further behind.

You wanna talk about freedom--real freedom? In the Book of Revelation there's a scene of Jesus revealing himself and us responding, forever, without end. In heaven we won't be these chubby little cherubs strumming on harps. Heaven won't be cute and boring. In heaven, we'll see Jesus and rejoice in the truth about Jesus together, serving him and each other and it will never end.

That's what it means to be really (truly) free. Amen.

Sermon delivered by Pastor Finn on Sunday, July 1, 2018 PENT 6

Text: “Are You Really (Truly) Free?"

In the name of Jesus, dear Christian friends.

This Wednesday is Independence Day. Everywhere are reminders of the freedoms we enjoy in this great land of ours. Flags on the street. Flags on houses. Flags in front of churches. Fireworks in the sky and parades in the streets. Everywhere and every way we’re celebrating freedom—it’s a theme in movies and country songs, even in churches, people are celebrating: Let freedom ring!

That said, I’d like to ask you: Are you free? I mean really free? Most people when they think of Christians, don’t think of them as free. They would look at you and all the rules you have imposed on yourself—and yes they go along with things like the “Golden Rule” and doing unto others as you would have them do unto you—they see the value of being nice to other people who are nice to you—but then you Christians go ahead and add even more rules on yourself that you have to live by—don’t drink too much, no sex before marriage, gotta watch your language—and on and on with all the rules—and that’s what many think Christianity is all about—and that’s not freedom they say.

In our text for today Jesus teaches about who’s really free and who isn’t. We’ll listen as he points out some wrong ideas about freedom and we’ll learn as he shows how he (Christ) alone has the power to really set people free.

In our text for today Jesus teaches about who’s really free and who isn’t. We’ll listen as he points out some wrong ideas about freedom and as he helps us see how he (Christ) alone has the power to set us really and truly free.

First, Jesus clears up some wrong ideas about freedom. (vv.31,32) "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

In other words the faith they put in Jesus was something temporary, and superficial. In the chapters before this they go back and forth about Jesus in all kinds of ways and by the end of this chapter they are ready to stone him to death, but he slipped right through them (8:59). So it’s clear they are confused about Jesus and the way to God. They are actually offended when Jesus hinted that they may not be truly free. “We are Abraham’s descendants,” they said, “and we have never been slaves to anyone.” Either they were either ignorant of the meaning of the word, “freedom,” or they were in denial of their own situation. Even though the Greeks and Romans had enslaved them for hundreds of years, they say they are free because they are God’s chosen people descended from Abraham. He was a free man and we are free because we study God’s law and obey it. But Jesus said, “No,” (v.31,32) “If you hold to my teaching...Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus connects two things together: him and his teaching and freedom in a relationship with God. In other words, Jesus is saying, “I’ll teach you, and then you stay in my teaching, you continue in it, you go on in it, and you’ll be free.” Jesus will explain freedom from some things so that we can be free for something else. But he’s not talking about a curriculum here, a Sunday School year or confirmation, but life-long Bible study of his teachings.

Right away instead of asking him to tell them more about that, they are actually offended that Jesus even hinted that they weren’t really free. He said, (v.31,32) “If you hold to my teaching...Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

In other words the faith they put in Jesus was something temporary, and I would say, superficial. In the chapters before this they are saying things like, "Jesus might be the Prophet the OT spoke of," but then it isn't clear what they meant by that. Was he simply a new kind of law-giver, a second Moses if you will, or something more? They wondered out loud if he might be the Christ, the Messiah, but voices among them rejected that outright because he grew up in Nazareth. So, you wonder who's really a believer among them or not. By the end of the chapter they are ready to pick up stones and stone him to death. So there’s that. So Jesus says, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The first thing he clears up is the wrong idea that we can set ourselves free just because of who we are or what we do.

Right away instead of asking Jesus more about that, the Jews are offended that Jesus even hinted that they weren’t really free. (v.33) “We are Abraham’s descendants,” they said, “and we have never been slaves to anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

Lots of people in this world imagine they are free, but they really aren't. By freedom Jesus is talking about spiritual freedom here, which has to do with your eternal soul. It's the most important kind of freedom. Every person you meet has a soul or a spirit that's either spiritually free or it's not. Jesus says it's his teachings that set us free. He takes these two things and inextricably binds them together: he takes your personal freedom and his teachings and he says you can't have one without the other.

In the chapters before this they say all kinds of things about Jesus but by the end of this chapter they’re ready to stone him to death, so you wonder. They are actually offended when Jesus even hinted that they weren’t really free. He said, (v.31,32) “If you hold to my teaching...Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Either the Jews were either ignorant of the meaning of the word, “freedom,” or they were in denial of their own situation. The Assyrians, Babylonians and Egyptians had each enslaved them and they were currently under Roman power at the moment. Yet in their mind they think they’re free because they’re descended from Abraham. “He was a free man. We are too.” Abraham had been dead for 2,000 years by this point. It’s like today if i ask you about your relationship with God, and you say, “My whole family has always been Lutheran, going all the way back to Luther! I went to a Lutheran school,” or “My dad was a Lutheran pastor!”

They really misunderstood what freedom in Christ was all about, so Jesus explains: (v.34) “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” When it comes down to our condition of sin, who of us is really free from that? Your family name doesn’t matter. What school you went to. What your parents do for a living. We all have a condition—each of us has a sinful nature and out of that comes sin: hating, cheating, stealing, lying, committing adultery. Like the Jews, we protest because we think we’re basically good people who once in a while do something bad. But Jesus says, no. There’s a part of us that is a slave to a cruel, abusive, mean and harsh master: sin. Sin isn’t just what we do; it’s a condition.

When it comes down to our condition of sin, who of us is really free?

It’s easy to see this. Rarely will parents have children begging them to go to church. They won’t argue with you about that, or about how much you will let them study God’s Word! Instead the sinful nature in them looks for ways to sin and to get away with sin. As teenagers they will question you about things like: “Why can’t I go to that party or wear that top?” Or, “What’s wrong with drinking a few beers just cuz I’m underage?” “What’s wrong with doing ____________ with my boy/girlfriend?” Or “What’s wrong with smoking weed?”

Same thing with adults. Easy to point out the sin in society, but hard admit our own, especially if there’s a sin we happen to like: like dishing about the latest gossip, or drinking too much, or using the Lord’s name in vain, or being lazy when it comes to worship or slefish in our giving. And then we’re surprised when the young are confused when it's, "Do what I say and not what I do."

No, Jesus explains that sin is the problem—it’s a condition we all have—the solution? Now Jesus takes the conversation from sin, to HIM.

(vv.35-36) “Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Back in Genesis three, after Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed Satan and said, “Now there will be two families—and all people of all time are going to part of one family or the other—there’s God’s family and there’s the devil’s family—which begs the question everyone needs to ask themselves: where are you?

The world is full of people who think they are a s free as birds, while all the while they are slaves of sin and members of Satan’s family. That’s a scary, scary thought. Who or what has control of you? To whom do you belong? Who (or what) runs your life? In the teen Bible class this past Thursday I asked them if they knew what “polaris” was (not the snow mobile). Polaris is another name for the north star. It’s not the brightest star in the night time sky (actually it’s the 50th brightest star), but it’s unique because all of the stars in our sky revolve around the north star.

Make Jesus your north star. Set your sights on him. Enroll in his school. (vv.31,32) “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Later the Apostle Paul would describe the Jews this way: () "Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness." So basically it’s people

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

(v.33) “We are Abraham’s descendants,” they said, “and we have never been slaves to anyone.” Either they were either ignorant of the meaning of the word, “freedom,” or they were in denial of their own situation. The Greeks and Romans had enslaved them for centuries, yet they think in their mind that they’re free because they are descended from Abraham. “He was a free man. We are too ,” they must’ve thought, “because we study God’s law and obey it.” Later the Apostle Paul would describe the Jews this way: () "Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness." So because of Abraham and all our religious activity are right with God!

think that se of Abraham and all our religious activity are right with God!

But Jesus saw through their self-righteousness to their real problem and said,

(v.33) "They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

Do you imagine Couldn’t Jesus answer all of us the same way about true freedom? To the Jews who imagined freedom with God on their own terms,

v.39 “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did…v.56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

The Jewish believers were offended when Jesus hinted that they may not be truly free. “We are Abraham’s descendants,” they said, “and we have never been slaves to anyone.” Their words revealed that they were either ignorant of the meaning of the word, “freedom,” or they were in denial of their own situation. The Jews had been enslaved by foreign powers for several hundred years, when the conversation recorded in the gospel text took place.

vv.42-44 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.

But all religious activity in the world and your family name doesn’t automatically translate into spiritual growth and right relationship with God. Someone can come to church and sleep through half and never apply anything to your heart. What are you going to get from that?! Someone once said that simply going to church doesn’t make a Christian out of you any more than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger. It’s a relationship with Jesus and his truth that really sets us free from sin and death.

Many people today appear to share the same ignorance about freedom as the Jews in Jesus’ day. They say that they are free, but they don’t know what freedom really is, or what it means to be free. We celebrate the fact that here in our country we are free—no foreign power rules over us--we have the freedom to worship as we please, to speak our mind, to bear arms, and do our “own thing,” but what does any of that amount to before God?

Couldn’t Jesus answer all of us the same way about true freedom? To the Jews who imagined freedom with God on their own terms,

Beyond our “Bill of Rights,” many Americans believe that their freedom allows them to do their “own thing.” Americans understand that we are free, but many of us haven’t given much thought to what we are freed for.

As Christians we have a clearer understanding of freedom. We are set free so that we can be all that God wants us to be. Through the cross of Christ we are freed to live a new, abundant life in Christ.

It seems they imagine they are free in some sort of self-righteous way--we're the true descendents of Abraham--God's hand-picked nation here yet in the promised land--we have the temple and all the ceremonial laws and rituals that God gave us on Mount Sinai and no one else--and they imagined that because of that--

The Pharisees of Jesus' day were good examples of self-righteous people. They prided themselves in being outwardly good, respectable people in their own eyes, and so they saw no need for a Savior from sin. Theirs was an imagined freedom, so Jesus corrects them. (v.34) “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”

Who is a slave to sin? Is it everyone who sins? Literally, Jesus says it's, “The one who continually sins (ie. spends time with it, keeps doing it). You could translate this as a “sin-doer.” Someone who does it and doesn’t care—he doesn’t deal with his sin or try to change from being a sin-doer in that way and keeps going in that direction without repentance and change). That soul, Jesus would say, “is a slave to sin.” All of us sin out weakness and that bothers us. Big sins or little. But the believer seeks God’s forgiveness for that sin through Jesus Christ.

...by the time you get to the end of this chapter many in this crowd are ready to stone him to death.

A rational, thinking, feeling soul is what separates us from the animal kingdom.

Now some think that real freedom means putting as much distance between you and God as possible. This starts early on by the way. Rarely will parents have children begging them to go to church. They won’t argue with you about that, or about how much you will let them study God’s Word! They instead will look for ways to get away with sin. As teenagers they will question you about things like: “Why can’t I wear this top?” Or, “What’s wrong with drinking a few beers just cuz I’m underage?” “What’s wrong with doing ____________ with my boy/girlfriend?” Or “What’s wrong with smoking weed?”

Same thing with adults. We're quick to point out sin in the younger generation, but then miss the plank in our own eye, or the word of gossip on our lips, and make allowances for the sin we like, and then are surprised when the young are confused when it's, "Do what I say and not what I do."

"If you hold to my teaching," Jesus said--and by using the word "teaching" in the singular, Jesus meant the whole thing--all of it--every one of his teachings is important, and Jesus says, it's important to hold on to all of it, because "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Members of the United States Armed Forces have sacrificed for personal freedoms like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but only Christ could secure our freedom from sin, death and the devil. There is no article of the United States Constitution that guarantees anyone anything beyond the grave. It is God's servant to do us good only for this life. Our public schools only prepare children for this life. Earthly government rule over territory on maps; they has nothing to do with matters of the heart and soul that God has given you.

Carefully note how Jesus says freedom results from knowing and holding to his teachings. Up to this point it's clear this crowd of Jews was doing neither. They didn't really know who Jesus was, really, and none it seems were holding on to any real firm beliefs about him from God's Word.

First of all, Jesus clears up some wrong ideas about freedom. Now, just to be clear, when we talk about freedom today we’re talking about spiritual freedom.

Watch out if you measure your freedom based on what you can/can’t get away with or on how much distance you can put between you and God and his rules. Jesus clears this wrong idea up when he says, (v.34) “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”

Who is a slave to sin? Is it everyone who sins? Literally, Jesus says it's, “The one who continually sins (ie. spends time with it, keeps doing it). You could translate this as a “sin-doer.” Someone who does it and doesn’t care—he doesn’t deal with his sin or try to change from being a sin-doer in that way and keeps going in that direction without repentance and change). That soul, Jesus would say, “is a slave to sin.” All of us sin out weakness and that bothers us. Big sins or little. But the believer seeks God’s forgiveness for that sin through Jesus Christ.

So the next time you think there’s real freedom in serving your sinful nature, just remember where that eventually ends up: “everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” When Jesus died on the cross he didn’t set us free to commit sin; he set us free from sin. () “He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

v.39 “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did…v.56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

vv.42-44 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.

But all religious activity in the world and your family name doesn’t automatically translate into spiritual growth and right relationship with God. Someone can come to church and sleep through half and never apply anything to your heart. What are you going to get from that?! Someone once said that simply going to church doesn’t make a Christian out of you any more than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger. It’s a relationship with Jesus and his truth that really sets us free from sin and death.

Many people today appear to share the same ignorance about freedom as the Jews in Jesus’ day. They say that they are free, but they don’t know what freedom really is, or what it means to be free. We celebrate the fact that here in our country we are free—no foreign power rules over us--we have the freedom to worship as we please, to speak our mind, to bear arms, and do our “own thing,” but what does any of that amount to before God?

But we’re not free to say anything we want, do anything we want, or make any laws that we want. Years ago gay marriage was made legal. All that was just beginning to brew when I was in high school & college as calls for gay rights grew louder and louder. By 1993 I remember olympic diver, Greg Louganis “coming out” with the news that he was gay and had HIV. When he finally went public he said it was like a great weight had been lifted from his soul. And of course, we would never wish the scourge of HIV on anyone. That said, we also will continue to call sin what it is. Louganis was one of the best divers ever to step on a springboard, so lots of people heard it when he came out. And on more than one occasion in his statements in the media he would quote the words of our text for today from Jesus. He said, “The truth will set you free.” Louganis actually imagined that he was free from guilt and shame just by telling people the truth about himself. I just hope that before it’s too late Greg Louganis find out that God has declared him forgiven and that faith in Christ alone will set him free!

Jesus corrects another misunderstanding about freedom in our text when he addressed the false teachers in his day, and those who only had a superficial kind of faith in him when he said, (vv.31,32) “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

There's a lot of people who say they believe in God today, but you wonder where in the world are they getting their ideas from, and in many cases they are fickle like the crowds that followed Jesus only as long as they liked what he was saying or they were getting something out of it.

In our national anthem we sing that our nations is “The land of the free and the home of the brave.”

We're talking about freedom today. What does that really look like? Looking around in our country we see our citizens enjoying tremendous freedoms.

A century and a half ago (1850s) do you think blacks would have ever dreamed we'd have a black president, a black Supreme Court Justice, black senators and civil leaders all across the map. Just the other day there was a story in the news about a 21-year old down syndrome entrepreneur who built a successful business out of socks, shattering the stereotype that you can't be successful if you have a disability.

Sometimes people abuse the freedom God blesses us with.

You know what real freedom looks like? On this Fourth of July weekend, we have every veteran in the history of this country to thank for protecting the freedoms we enjoy. We have civil rights leaders to thank for trying to ensure all Americans are treated fairly and allowed to enjoy our freedoms in this great land of ours. Looking around this weekend we've seen people picnicking and traveling and singing and worshiping, playing in bands. But all the political and social freedoms we enjoy in this land are temporary and fleeting compared to the spiritual freedom that Christ alone can give us.

The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech but for some that means saying anything I want in the political arena or in music or doing anything I want and calling it freedom of expression. In 1973 the Supreme Court said that a woman's "right to choose" gave her the authority to kill her unborn child. Since that 1973 Roe vs Wade ruling there have been some 60 million abortions in the US alone. That’s 3,657 abortions daily and 152 abortions per hour every hour in the United States.

What does freedom look like?

In this country the 2nd Amendment grants us the right to bear arms, but look at all the wreckage sinners have wrought with that right.

Of course, for every abuse of freedom in our land, you wish that the news would report on all the ways Americans use their freedom to make good choices and help their neighbor. What does freedom look like? What did I just hear the other day? Chad________ the former owner of Vinney's pizza is going back to school to be a police officer.

Real freedom isn’t doing you own thing. Now some think that real freedom means putting as much distance between you and God as possible. This starts early on by the way. Rarely will parents have children begging them to go to church. They won’t argue with you about that, or about how much you will let them study God’s Word! They instead will look for ways to get away with sin. As teenagers they will question you about things like: “Why can’t I wear this top?” Or, “What’s wrong with drinking a few beers just cuz I’m underage?” “What’s wrong with doing ____________ with my boy/girlfriend?” Or “What’s wrong with smoking weed?”

Same thing with adults. We're quick to point out sin in the younger generation, but then miss the plank in our own eye, or the word of gossip on our lips, and make allowances for the sin we like, and then are surprised when the young are confused when it's, "Do what I say and not what I do."

"If you hold to my teaching," Jesus said--and by using the word "teaching" in the singular, Jesus meant the whole thing--all of it--every one of his teachings is important, and Jesus says, it's important to hold on to all of it, because "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Members of the United States Armed Forces have sacrificed for personal freedoms like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but only Christ could secure our freedom from sin, death and the devil. There is no article of the United States Constitution that guarantees anyone anything beyond the grave. It is God's servant to do us good only for this life. Our public schools only prepare children for this life. Earthly government rule over territory on maps; they has nothing to do with matters of the heart and soul that God has given you.

Carefully note how Jesus says freedom results from knowing and holding to his teachings. Up to this point it's clear this crowd of Jews was doing neither. They didn't really know who Jesus was, really, and none it seems were holding on to any real firm beliefs about him from God's Word.

First of all, Jesus clears up some wrong ideas about freedom. Now, just to be clear, when we talk about freedom today we’re talking about spiritual freedom.

Watch out if you measure your freedom based on what you can/can’t get away with or on how much distance you can put between you and God and his rules. Jesus clears this wrong idea up when he says, (v.34) “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”

It's funny how none of us really knows what Jesus actually looked like, but we still have his teachings. Think about that. He's been pictured as being white; The most influential figure in history and somehow no portrait ever survived, but Jesus, the Son of God made sure that his disciples understood the importance of preserving and living by his teachings in his Word.

Jesus clears up this misunderstanding

And the reason many were confused was that most of the religious teachers in Jesus' day, like the Chief Priest, the Pharisees, and teachers of the law--the ones who were supposed to be custodians of God's Word--had neglected God's Word and were teaching falsely from it.

he Pharisees of Jesus' day

At the end of our confirmation instruction (which by the way is the same number of years Jesus had his pupils)--I get student for three years here at St Paul--at the end of that instruction youth confirmands--and adults for that matter--promise to be faith to the teachings of Jesus until the point of death.

Think about that promise for a moment. We say we would rather give up the first of those inalienable rights from our Creator--you know the Bill of Rights and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness--we say that before we give up God's truth in the Bible, we'd rather give up our life!

It's a shame that long before that is demanded of us, many a confirmand breaks that vow by

As Americans we cherish the freedoms we have because of the many brave men and women who sacrificed even their lives on the altar of freedom. Every year this year fireworks light the night time sky in celebration of the freedoms we enjoy.

Thinking about freedom today. The person who says “God I want freedom from you and from all your rules,” is like a train that says to the tracks, “I don’t need you. I don’t want you railing on me all the time and confining me to this narrow strip and path through life. In fact, I think it would be fun to go off the rails sometimes and really live!” Wanting freedom from God and his Word is like the kite that says, “If only I could be free from this string that’s tying me down and keeping me from really flying where I want to go in life.”

But that kite would soon find that freedom from that string, wouldn’t be freedom at all. That kite would quickly lose altitude and come crashing to the ground or get ripped up and torn in the trees.

That said, I’d like to ask you: Are you free? I mean really free?

As Americans one thing we guard is our “personal freedom.” The Bill of Rights speaks about the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but then One of the reasons people are already in such an uproar over the next Supreme Court appointee is that in America we want a voice and the ability to control the laws of the land. It will get ugly because the next justice could make the highest court in our land one-sided in favor of conservatives.

Most people when they think of Christians, don’t think of them as free. They would look at you and all the rules you have imposed on yourself—and yes they go along with things like the “Golden Rule” and doing unto others as you would have them do unto you—they see the value of being nice to other people who are nice to you—but then you Christians lose all your freedom by putting a bunch of other rules on yourself that you have to live by—don’t drink too much, no sex before marriage, gotta watch your language—and on and on it goes with all the rules—and that’s what many think Christianity is all about—and that’s not freedom they say.

What do you think? Is Christianity just a bunch of rules that takes away your freedom?

It’s a good question. In our text for today Jesus tells us who’s really free and who isn’t. We’ll listen as he points out some wrong ideas about freedom and as he helps us see how he (Christ) alone has the power to set us really and truly free.

In our text for today Jesus helps us understand things by setting us straight about who’s really free and who isn’t. Let’s listen as Jesus exposes some of the ignorance about true freedom, and then, let’s learn how it is Jesus’ truth, and his truth alone, that really and truly sets people free.

First of all, Jesus clears up some wrong ideas about freedom. Now, just to be clear, when we talk about freedom today we’re talking about spiritual freedom. Every person you meet has a soul or a spirit. Your soul—the fact that you can relate to God is a result of his creating work in you. A rational, thinking, feeling soul is what separates us from the animal kingdom.

Now some think that real freedom means putting as much distance between you and God as possible. This starts early on by the way. Rarely will parents have children begging them to go to church. They won’t argue with you about that, or about how much you will let them study God’s Word! They instead will look for ways to get away with sin. As teenagers they will have question you about things like: “Why can’t I wear this top?” Or, “What’s wrong with drinking a few beers just cuz I’m underage?” “What’s wrong with doing ____________ with my boy/girlfriend?” Or “What’s wrong with smoking weed?”

Same thing with adults. Watch out if you measure your freedom based on what you can/can’t get away with or on how much distance you can put between you and God and his rules. Jesus clears this wrong idea up when he says, (v.34) “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”

Who is a slave to sin? Jesus says it’s everyone who sins. Literally, “The one who continually sins (spends time with it, keeps doing it). You could translate this as a “sin-doer.” Someone who does it and doesn’t care—he doesn’t deal with his sin or try to change from being a sin-doer in that way and keeps going in that direction without repentance and change). That soul, Jesus would say, “is a slave to sin.” All of us sin out weakness and that bothers us. Big sins or little. But the believer seeks God’s forgiveness for that sin through Jesus Christ.

So the next time you think there’s real freedom in serving your sinful nature, just remember where Jesus says that ends up: “everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” That’s one wrong idea Jesus corrects in people minds about freedom. When he died on the cross he didn’t set us free to commit sin; he set us free from sin. () “He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

Thinking about freedom today. The person who says “God I want freedom from you and from all your rules,” is like a train that says to the tracks, “I don’t need you. I don’t want you railing on me all the time and confining me to this narrow strip and path through life. In fact, I think it would be fun to go off the rails sometimes and really live!” Wanting freedom from God and his Word is like the kite that says, “If only I could be free from this string that’s tying me down and keeping me from really flying where I want to go in life.”

Sometimes adults think they can do certain things because they’re adults. “It’s okay because I’m an adult.” As if that means having certain freedom and the privilege to drink too much, cuss and use God’s name in vain, commit adultery, or live any way you want.

But that kite would soon find that freedom from that string, wouldn’t be freedom at all. That kite would quickly lose altitude and come crashing to the ground or get ripped up and torn in the trees.

Who is a slave to sin? Jesus says it’s everyone who sins. Literally, “The one who continually sins (spends time with it, keeps doing it without repenting of it—doesn’t care—and doesn’t deal with his sin with God and try to change from being a person does that sin and keeps going in that direction). That soul, Jesus would say, “is a slave to sin.” All of us sin out weakness and that bothers us. Big sins or little. It doesn’t matter. The follower of Jesus has a tender conscience and cares about what God thinks of him or her and about the way their sin affects other people around them. Sometimes adults, for example think they can do certain things because they’re adults. Young people see it and they say (or think) “It’s okay because I’m an adult.” And so I get certain freedoms and privileges to drink too much, cuss, use God’s name in vain, commit adultery, or live any way I want.

As Americans one thing we guard is our “personal freedom.” The Bill of Rights speaks about the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but then sin takes and runs with that idea so that freedom of expression in the arts sometimes is nothing but pornography. The First Amendment rights soon means saying anything I want in the political arena or in music or doing anything I want and calling it freedom of expression. Look where a woman’s right to choose has taken us? Since 1973 and Roe vs Wade there have been some 60 million abortions in the US alone. That’s 3,657 abortions daily and 152 abortions per hour every hour in the United States.

That attitude isn’t any different from the unbeliever living in constant slavery to sin. And if you, as a believer choose to keep living that way, what will there be to set you apart from them? And then you will hinking your sin is okay, then you will end up under the same sentence of eternal death for your service to sin. Sin and the devil are good employers. They will give you exactly what you have coming for your sin, () “For the wages of sin is death.”

One of the reasons people are already in such an uproar over the next Supreme Court appointee is that in America we want a voice and the ability to control the laws of the land. It will get ugly because the next justice could make the highest court in our land one-sided in favor of conservatives.

But we’re not free to say anything we want, do anything we want, or make any laws that we want. Years ago gay marriage was made legal. All that was just beginning to brew when I was in high school & college as calls for gay rights grew louder and louder. By 1993 I remember olympic diver, Greg Louganis “coming out” with the news that he was gay and had HIV. When he finally went public he said it was like a great weight had been lifted from his soul. And of course, we would never wish the scourge of HIV on anyone. That said, we also will continue to call sin what it is. Louganis was one of the best divers ever to step on a springboard, so lots of people heard it when he came out. And on more than one occasion in his statements in the media he would quote the words of our text for today from Jesus. He said, “The truth will set you free.” Louganis actually imagined that he was free from guilt and shame just by telling people the truth about himself. I just hope that before it’s too late Greg Louganis find out that God has declared him forgiven and that faith in Christ alone will set him free!

We’re not free to say anything we want.

Right now the big thing in the news

That attitude isn’t any different from the unbeliever living in constant slavery to sin. And if you, as a believer choose to keep living that way, what will there be to set you apart from them? And then you will hinking your sin is okay, then you will end up under the same sentence of eternal death for your service to sin. Sin and the devil are good employers. They will give you exactly what you have coming for your sin, () “For the wages of sin is death.”

That’s not freedom.

that your choice to do something God says is wrong is taking and putting yourself in the service of Satan. Sin is doing what the devil wants. The opposite of what God wants is sin.

The New International Version Chapter 8

Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

Things like secularism, and humanism and atheistic evolutionism eliminates God altogether.

The Bible says, () “The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” () “People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” The fact that a body perishes and that the soul lives on to face God in the judgment ought to be a powerful reminder to us to take care of our souls. Many people today spend lots of time caring for their bodies—from the vitamins they take in the morning to the orthopedic mattresses they sleep on at night—but when our short life is over only one thing will matter: how are you in your soul spiritually relating to your God? Is it a healthy and close relationship with him or is it sick and dead in unbelief and sin? In the Bible hell is pictured as a place ruled by Satan who is chained there forever in judgment because of his sin and rebellion against God.

remember that every person you meet has a soul or a spirit. Your soul—the fact that you can relate to God is a result of his creating work in you. The Bible says, () “The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” () “People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” The fact that a body perishes and that the soul lives on to face God in the judgment ought to be a powerful reminder to us to take care of our souls. Many people today spend lots of time caring for their bodies—from the vitamins they take in the morning to the orthopedic mattresses they sleep on at night—but when our short life is over only one thing will matter: how are you in your soul spiritually relating to your God? Is it a healthy and close relationship with him or is it sick and dead in unbelief and sin? In the Bible hell is pictured as a place ruled by Satan who is chained there forever in judgment because of his sin and rebellion against God.

Now, just to be clear, when we talk about freedom today we’re talking about spiritual freedom. Every person you meet has a soul or a spirit. Your soul—the fact that you can relate to God is a result of his creating work in you. The Bible says, () “The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” () “People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” The fact that a body perishes and that the soul lives on to face God in the judgment ought to be a powerful reminder to us to take care of our souls. Many people today spend lots of time caring for their bodies—from the vitamins they take in the morning to the orthopedic mattresses they sleep on at night—but when our short life is over only one thing will matter: how are you in your soul spiritually relating to your God? Is it a healthy and close relationship with him or is it sick and dead in unbelief and sin?

() “The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” () “People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” The fact that a body perishes and that the soul lives on to face God in the judgment ought to be a powerful reminder to us to take care of our souls. Many people today spend lots of time caring for their bodies—from the vitamins they take in the morning to the orthopedic mattresses they sleep on at night—but when our short life is over only one thing will matter: how are you in your soul spiritually relating to your God? Is it a healthy and close relationship with him or is it sick and dead in unbelief and sin?

Some people

Back to the idea of freedom now. If you measure your freedom based on the distance between you and God,

Lots of people had it wrong.

He begins by stressing that it’s his truth that sets people free—and I might add—exclusively the truth about Jesus that sets people free—not just a version of his truth or our idea of the truth.

The desire to be free

In Jesus’ day

Jesus doesn’t beat around the bush does he when it comes to answering our question this morning: He just comes out and says it: () “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

All of this begs the question: who’s really free in this world, and what does freedom really look like? Jesus gets us heading in the right direction today when he says, () “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

hat’s

Jesus answers that question in a single verse today when he says, () “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

True freedom comes through Jesus, and

BTW - that’s a real question. I’m asking you right now. There are lots of versions of the truth out there. And the main thing in our society today is that no one has a monopoly on the truth. In our land it used to always be that

There are lots of versions of the truth out there. And the main thing in our society today is that no one has a monopoly on the truth. In our land it used to always be that

IGNORANCE ABOUT FREEDOM

JESUS TELLS THE TRUTH: about who are the slaves and who’s really free.

The first thing he clears up is the wrong idea that we can set ourselves free just because of who we are or what we do.