PENTECOST 21 – REFORMATION DAY – October 25, 2020 – John 8:31-36
“FREEDOM”
Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel Lesson just read, from John 8. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- Freedom is a treasured concept in American culture. The reality of paying taxes – without representation in the government – compelled the early American leaders to rebel. This was considered a gross intrusion upon freedoms that all people should have.
- With the formation of a new nation, these same American leaders carefully crafted a Constitution, and later a Bill of Rights, guaranteeing American citizens certain rights and freedoms.
- To this day “FREEDOM” remains important to us. However, what many people often forget is that our freedom is not absolute. Freedom is also limited by the very laws that guarantee our rights. Some people forget this and think they can do whatever they want. The existence of criminal laws renders this belief absurd. It is to a large degree true, what one thoughtful person wrote: “Your freedoms end where my freedoms begin.”
- Likewise, the freedom guaranteed to us in the Constitution is to have equal opportunity to “pursue life, liberty, and happiness.” It does not guarantee equal success, equal financial gain, or equal standing within society. It does guarantee equal standing under the law.
- But these are temporal freedoms having to do with our life in this world. These freedoms, granted to us under the supreme law of the land, our Constitution, are powerful, beautiful, and a great blessing. But they are not the ultimate “FREEDOM” that human beings need, desire, and require for eternity. This “FREEDOM” can only be granted by God – and while available for all people, it is frequently repudiated and rejected by men.
- This is the “FREEDOM” that Jesus is teaching about in our text – freedom from guilt and God’s just condemnation of our sin, freedom from the tyranny of slavery to sin, freedom to enter into the Kingdom of God, and the freedom of having eternal life as inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven. In comparison to this “FREEDOM” and its blessings, all other blessings pale!
- So this morning, we celebrate the Reformation – which restored the truth of the Gospel to the Christian Church and to the whole world, and with the Gospel restored the true, enduring, and precious “FREEDOM” of God which only Jesus can give us! But we must beware:
I. Our Fallen Human Nature Constantly Denies That We Are Enslaved To Sin
Text: “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”?’”
Statement: We may feel the same, and conclude the same, and assert the same, and then attempt to prove the same. After all, most of us are taught that we have a “free nature” and that we have free will and free choice. And in many mundane matters we do. We likewise have what appears to be freedom to choose between good and evil. The problem is that by nature we are always inclined to what is evil – except perhaps if we can see a benefit that comes to us by choosing good [like earning a paycheck, or earning respect and gratitude, or like staying out of jail].
Application: But to do the right thing for mere selfish reasons demonstrates the inherent evil in our nature, and that we are in fact enslaved to sin. We must somehow be “induced” or “coerced” to choose what is good, contrary to our nature! This is what Jesus teaches in our text, that:
II. The One Sinning, Which Is Each Of Us, Is Enslaved To Sin And Must Be Freed [Implying That We Cannot Free Ourselves]
Text: “Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.”
Statement: As we consider Jesus’ statement, we need also remember the teaching of Scripture from cover to cover, that “God saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” [Gen. 6:5] Likewise, that “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one of us, to his own ways.” [Is. 53:6] And again, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” [Rom. 3:23] In the context of Scripture, which teaches that everyone has sinned, all of us are “slaves to sin.”
Application: And if we are enslaved to sin, then we cannot free ourselves – this must be done for us by another. Now, we love to be self-directing, self-reliant, ambitious, and self-confident. And in many things this is good – it helps us get moving and working hard. However, when it comes to our spiritual condition, and this enslavement to sin, “FREEDOM” is utterly beyond our grasp and ability! It is like thinking a shark can learn to walk, or that human beings can fly “unassisted.” Well, I guess we could fly if we fell off of a cliff – but we mean successful flying.
Transition: But this is the glorious nature of the Gospel – that directly at the place in our existence where we are utterly inept, helpless, and doomed, the Son of God comes to resolve our issues and set us free! For:
III. Only The Son Of God, Jesus, Can Set Human Beings Free From This Slavery To Sin And Its Consequences
A. He Does So By Means Of His Word – Which Enables Us To Know The Truth, Which In Turns Frees Us
Text: “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
1. This includes the truth about our sin and our slavery to it, so that we repent
1 John 1:8,10 “If we say we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us . . . If we say we have not sinned we are calling God a liar, and His Word is not in us.”
2. This includes the truth about God’s gracious forgiveness and mercy, which frees us from guilt and condemnation
1 John 1:9 “But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [that is, to free us]
Eph. 2:8,9 “By grace you are saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.”
Text: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
B. But We Must Continue In His Word, So That We Remain His Disciples
Text: “If you abide in My Word you are truly My disciples.”
Statement: Three things are asserted by Jesus [and I must say, at least the first two of which have been held by all truly great thinkers throughout the entirety of human history]:
- There is such as thing as truth, objective reality that outside of and independent of human thought and endeavor
- This truth can be known by human beings – and demonstrably so, being shared verbally by those who do know the truth
- This truth is bestowed upon human beings, so that they may know it, by means of the Word of Jesus, the Word of God, as recorded exactly in the Holy Scriptures
All three assertions are denied by many today, as through “post-modernism” many human beings today are plunging back into the foolishness of existentialism. And since the days of the Reformation, a competing philosophy, known as humanism, has been denying that freedom, which is given by the truth, is best received through the Word of God. Rather, they believe that man will “discover” the truth and bring himself to freedom, and this by means of the process of empiricism and science. To bolster its claims and reduce competition, this “science” so called has been utilized to supposedly denigrate the truthfulness and authority of Holy Scripture. This, unsuccessfully, except with those who are simple minded and with those who are eager and committed to rejecting the truth and true freedom.
Application: But look at the smartest, most well educated and indoctrinated people ever to have lived upon the face of the earth – and just how well they “agree” on truth! Even if they had the truth they wouldn’t know it! For them, the search is no longer for “truth” but rather for the ability to beat down other arguments, whether in truth or in grotesque lying, and with anything and everything in between. Look at what concurrence, cooperation, agreement, and peace we have in our capital! It is marvelous how they have come to know the truth apart from the Word of Jesus!
Conclusion: Some would respond by raising the question, what then of arguments in the church? What of the horrific disagreements and conflicts of the Reformation? Well, what was the one principle by which all of the disagreements might be solved? Jesus said it: “If you abide in My Word you shall know the truth.” That Word is Holy Scripture, for “all Scripture is breathed by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
What is not needed is added teachings from the Pope, or from “Church authorities or councils.” What is not needed is some immediate inner illumination of the Holy Spirit. What is not needed is human reason to tell us where the Word of God must be mistaken, and to offer corrections [interpretations]. So why does it seem that the post-Reformation exploded differences within the church? It is clear that not all Christians have followed the instruction of Jesus. And this they freely admit – that they have these other principles of authority alongside [actually, above] the Bible.
Within our own church body we have the same struggles – the constant temptation in each of us to deny our slavery to sin, to rely and depend not on the Word of Jesus alone, but on our intellect and empirical protocol to ascertain the truth. But apart from the Word of Jesus, there is no knowledge of the truth that is “freeing” from sin, guilt, and eternal condemnation. Likewise, apart from the Word of Jesus there is no truth that frees us from ignorance, rejection of God’s Word, rejection of the most important truths – those about fallen human nature, and about the true nature of the only True and Living God – Who is Love!
Much effort and labor has been expended through the years to grant us political and person freedom! God has exerted even greater effort and labor to provide us with spiritual and eternal “FREEDOM.” The pathway to this “FREEDOM” which only Jesus can provide for us has been clearly laid out for us – continue in Christ’s Word and you will know the truth, and the truth will in fact set us free from sin!
God grant this blessedness to each of us, and to every human being, Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.