“If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36)
Rousseau, the great French philosopher of the 18th century, whose belief about God I cannot agree with, but who at the same time made a statement worth noting. He remarked: “Man was born free, but is everywhere in chains.” And I might add, man will always be in chains as long as he is master of himself.
For in reality one can only be free when Jesus Christ becomes Lord and Master of one's life. It is this truth which Archibald Alexander sought to express when he said: “A man is never so free as when he is the bondsman of Christ.”
What unfree and unliberated lives some of us possess. And why? Because we have allowed the unworthy rivals of freedom to control our lives. We have permitted various kinds of sin to become our masters. There you have it: “We were born to be free, but are everywhere in chains.”
Now the appeal of Christ is for a change in this whole situation. He wants to set us free. Listen again to His words: “If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” Let us find out from these words what it really means to be free in Jesus Christ.
For one thing, the freedom of Christ speaks to us of His REDEEMING power over sin. This is implied by Christ in verse 35: “The servant abideth not in the house forever; but the Son abideth forever.” What Jesus was saying to these half-hearted Jews was simply that no man needs to be a slave in the house of sin forever. Christ has broken sin's power, thus enabling every sin-bound man to leap out into the glorious liberty that He offers.
Christ has already accomplished this freedom. He has provided it for you. The question is, have you given Him the sovereign rule over your life. . . .