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28th May 2024
TuesdayReflection
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Mike Leake
'(of Borrowed Light)' asks'
What Does it Mean That
'If The Son Sets You Free, You Will Be Free Indeed'?
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The Israelites believed that God had set them free from Egyptian captivity.
They believed that they lived in freedom.
But in John 8, Jesus speaks of true freedom.
And we're only truly free when we've been set free in Jesus.
Jesus invites his hearers into deeper discipleship.
He says, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples..."
This abiding, Jesus says, will result in them knowing the truth - and when they know the truth, they will be set free.
If you're offering freedom to someone, though, it's implied that they aren't truly free.
This baffles Jesus' hearers because, as "offspring of Abraham," they believe that they have never been enslaved to anyone.
So, it's likely that what they mean is more that they are not spiritually enslaved to anyone.
As sons of Abraham, they believed they were sons and heirs of the kingdom of God.
Jesus then must explain to them the true nature of freedom.
Practicing sin, which is what they were doing, leads to bondage.
Sin enslaves.
One of the places where you can see this bondage to sin is outlined clearly in Ephesians 2:1-4.
There we see that we are enslaved to society, Satan, and ultimately ourselves.
It means that we think our actions are free (we do what we want), but in actuality, we are to live out of this slavery.
In reality, we do what sin wants us to do.
We follow the ways of the world.
We laugh at what the world laughs at.
We strive for the things the world strives for.
When we aren't set free by Jesus, Satan has powerful influence in our lives.
We see this much in the text in John when Jesus tells them they are following their father, the devil (8:44).
Those outside of Jesus are living in the kingdom of darkness and serving the king of darkness, whether this is acknowledged or not.
Thirdly, we are enslaved to the self.
And this is the central problem because this is where God begins His change and rescue.
This means that we do what we want.
And what we want is not Jesus.
We want to exalt ourselves.
We want to gratify all of our desires. And this drive in us enslaves us.
We are in bondage.
So, when Jesus sets us free, this is what he is doing.
He is setting us free from our self-centeredness.
He is freeing us from the captivity that Satan has upon us, and he is freeing us from cultural captivity.
He does this by abolishing the power and penalty of sin in our life.
He deals a death blow to this enemy.
And sets us free to be in union with Him.
There are several areas where we can apply this truth in our lives today.
First, we must acknowledge that the freedom that Jesus gives to us is not a freedom to go and do whatever we desire.
It's actually a freedom to obey Jesus.
But that may not be the best way to phrase that reality: because when Jesus sets us free, we want to obey him.
In this regard, we are free to do "what we want" because our desires have changed.
Secondly, this reality helps us with battling addictions or other issues
It is helpful to know the power of sin is defeated in our lives.
That doesn't mean that addiction doesn't still have a strong pull.
Old habits die hard.
But we have a new owner now, and he is gentle and lowly.
Lastly, the truth that the son has set us free is helpful when we are feeling the weight of shame, guilt, and condemnation.
Jesus has freed us from these enemies.
We are no longer defined by the things that we have done, the things which have been done to us, or even the things we have failed to do.
We are defined by Jesus and His victory.
You are no longer a captive.
If you are in Christ, you are free.
Full stop.
Live free.
><(((°>
This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request
Mike Leake
is the lead pastor at Calvary of Neosho, MO.
He is also husband to Nikki and father to Isaiah and Hannah.
Mike is the author of Torn to Heal and Jesus Is All You Need.
His writing home is http://mikeleake.net and you can connect with him on Twitter @mikeleake.
Mike has a new writing project at Proverbs4Today.
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