FOR REAL? FREE INDEED

John 8:31-36 (KJV)

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Two different words translated “indeed.”

·   One means the opposite of pretend, “real.”

·   The other is akin to the word “be” (as in “to be or not to be’).

Within just the context of the Gospel According to John we find

An Israelite indeed

John 1:47 (KJV)

Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

Not all who were born into Jewish families are spiritual Jews.

Everyone who is born again is spiritual Israel, the children of Abraham.

Jesus flesh is meat indeed

John 6:55 (KJV)

For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

Man shall not live by bread alone. Jesus Christ provides nourishment unto everlasting life.

What constitutes disciples indeed

John 8:31 (KJV)

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

This world is filled with people who profess to be Christians but who fall short of the Biblical definition of the disciple of Jesus Christ.

I want to propose to you today that there is a kind of freedom that’s pretend. 

1 Thessalonians 5:3 (KJV)

For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Real freedom is

I. A FREEDOM BASED ON TRUTH AND NOT RELIGON

John 8:32-33 (KJV)

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

Would you think a second about how wrong this answer to Jesus is?

Abraham’s seed had been in bondage over and over again in their history.

·   They had been in bondage in Egypt

·   The had been in bondage to the Midianites in Gideon’s day

·   They had been in bondage to the Philistines in Samson’s day

·   They had been in bondage to the Babylonians, the Greeks and

At this particular period in Israel’s history – their land was overrun with Romans.

I want you to notice then, that it is possible to be in bondage and blind to it.

Around the world there are people who believe themselves to be:

·   Politically free

·   Financially free or

·   Spiritually free

But they are not.

It happens in cult-like religions.

Years ago I was the pastor of a lady who had been raised Catholic. She was a kind lady who loved her parents very much but her parents were devastated that she had left the Catholic Church

And she was tormented with guilt that she had left the church of her childhood.

I think it happens even in fundamental denominations.

The Southern Baptists THINK they are free.

·   They vote on the regular decisions of the local church

·   They have direction about calling the pastor of their local church

·   They even get some discretion whether to be more conservative or more fundamental practically

They are, however, required to give an amount set by the Convention to Convention approved ministries such as missions and colleges.

And if the church ever voted to become independent of the Southern Baptist Convention they would find themselves with a fight on their hands over the ownership of the property.

But more terrible than all of that[1]is the person who thinks he is spiritually free, but is in fact, bound to an eternity of torments in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone.

Jesus, speaking about eternal life with God said,

John 10:1 (KJV)

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

People: 

·   Join churches

·   Do religious deeds

·   Sacrifice time and resources and

·   Keep the Ten Commandments

All in hopes that doing these things will get them a place in eternal life with the Lord.

·   Some people think that God is too nice to let anyone die and go to hell.

·   Some people believe that, because their parents had them baptized as a baby they will go to heaven

Jesus said that if we try to get into heaven in any other way than through Him, we are common thieves and robbers.

Jesus said “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

There is no salvation outside of the truth that is in Jesus Christ.

Second, real freedom is

II. A FREEDOM THAT CHANGES SERVICE

John 8:34 (KJV)

Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

I spoke with someone a few weeks ago who had obviously been gossiped about.

He was upset and said that, “Gossip is a sin that keeps people from going to heaven, just like murder.”

The truth is, he is wrong.

Gossip doesn’t keep anyone from going to heaven and neither does murder.

Every sin that every human being has ever committed or ever will commit has already been paid for when Jesus died on the Cross.

There is therefore only one thing that keeps anyone from going to heaven – that is rejecting Jesus Christ as Saviour.

But here is the thing; real freedom, real salvation, frees a person from the bondage of sin.

Romans 6:6-7 (KJV)

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

For he that is dead is freed from sin.

No Christian has to serve sin.

He is free to yield to the Holy Spirit and to serve righteousness.

If you think you have to do the right thing:

·   You have to be baptized

·   You have to come to church

·   You have to read your Bible

·   You have to pay your tithes

·   You have to tell people about Jesus

Then 

First, you are sadly mistaken.

Christians don’t have to do anything.

2 Corinthians 3:17 (KJV)

… where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

But second

You might not be saved.

1 John 5:3 (KJV)

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

If serving God rather than sin is grievous to you; if you feel like you can’t do the things you used to do and you have to do the things the Bible teaches you to do, then you have cause to be concerned that you do not have the Spirit of God in you.

Real freedom changes your service.

Thirdly real freedom is

III. A FREEDOM THAT LASTS FOREVER

John 8:35 (KJV)

And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

Jesus said, John 10:27-28 (KJV)

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Hey, if you belong to Jesus Christ – if He has made you free – you will never perish. 

Not ever.

For no reason.

A kind of Christianity that teaches that you can be saved one day and not be saved the next because of a sin you have committed is not real Christianity.

That does not mean you can sin if you are a Christian – I refer you to the previous point.

A real Christian would not want to sin.

But we are not yet perfected so until we are:

·   We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit[2]

·   We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous[3]and

·   We have His Word that what He has promised He is able also to perform[4]

Finally real freedom is

IV. A FREEDOM THAT COMES FROM CHRIST AND NOT WORKS

John 8:36 (KJV)

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Here is the root of the whole passage.

We are free indeed because Christ makes us free and not we ourselves.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Not of works, lest any man should boast.

I grieve for those who labor, vainly hoping that someday, somehow, they will do the one good deed that will give them peace of mind and the confidence that they will be admitted of God into heaven.

They say that Martin Luther was such a man.

Tormented by his sin, and driven by his need to be free of its guilt, Martin Luther entered the priesthood, became a professor of theology and studied God’s Word looking for the answer of freedom.

Luther once visited Rome and the Scala Sancta (the holy stairs), supposed to be the very steps Jesus ascended when He appeared before Pilate.

The Catholics claimed they had removed them from Jerusalem and brought them to Rome.

Luther said he crawled up those twenty five steps, repeated the Lord’s Prayer and kissing each one.

There was no peace in any of that.

Then one day he came to Romans 1:17 (KJV)

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Casting off his hope in finding peace in his own works, he trusted Christ alone for righteousness.

I do not agree with almost anything Martin Luther believed and I certainly do not agree with the religious denomination that bears his name.

But I can bear witness today that there is only one way to be free indeed, through faith in Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

It is possible that there are people, sitting in this room right now, who only hope you are free, but it is not for real.

I’d like to encourage you right now….

1 John 5:13 (KJV) says,

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

Ifyou know that you are a sinner; ifthe weight of that sin is heavy upon your soul.

Ifhell is a real place to you and you fear that you will go there.

Ifthe Holy Spirit has convinced you that Jesus Christ is the only way to be free of your sins.

Then the promise of the Bible is, Romans 10:13 (KJV)

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Will you allow us to show you how you may be forever free?

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[1]Those things are trivial in comparison

[2]Ephesians 4:30 (KJV)

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

[3]1 John 2:1 (KJV)

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

[4]Romans 4:21 (KJV)

And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.