John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
This passage of scripture teaches us that the word of God, and the laws contained therein are not a yoke of bondage as is so often portrayed in religious circles. Instead it liberates us to live above the slavery of sin when it is applied to every aspect of our daily experiences. The passage also makes a solemn statement about those who continue in sin, in that they are servants of sin, meaning that sinful habits often exert an iron grip on those who indulge in them, and it is only by the grace of God that anyone can escape the shackles that are thus placed around our souls. For instance, those who indulge in the use of drugs like heroin, crystal meth, or cocaine, are often trapped in a vicious cycle of drug dependence, which in many cases ruins their lives for time and for eternity.
Then there's the sin of pornography by which many people become enslaved to sexual vices and movies, to the point where they cannot reason intelligently from cause to effect, while the vice saps away their vital forces from beneath their feet. The more we indulge in sinful behaviors is the less we are able to exercise our freedom of choice, for sin by its very nature severely restricts the use of our intellect, and the powers of the mind like sound judgment, reason, and decision-making are all made subject to the principle of pleasure, which pits lustful feelings against intelligence and common sense. That's what the apostle Paul refers to when he describes the internal struggles we all face. Let's read:
Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
The good news is that there is hope for us even in our most dire situations, because the grace of God which brings us salvation through Christ, is able to deliver us from the chains of sin that bind us, and it is this freedom that Christ is referring to when He states that The Son will make us free indeed. When Jesus liberates us from the thralldom of sin, our freedom to choose can now be exercised in deliberately selecting good over evil, whereas before we were literally forced to do wrong by the sheer strength of unbridled lust and evil propensities, sinful practices and behaviors which we knew to be wrong and harmful to ourselves.
A man once attended the funeral of his father who died from lung cancer on account of the habit of chain smoking. As his dad was slowly lowered in the grave, he took a solemn vow to cut his own habit of smoking, since he saw with his own two eyes the deadly effects of indulging the soul-destroying vice. A few weeks passed and true to his vow, he steadfastly refused to smoke again. But his efforts were short-lived, because the pressures of life again began to mount, and when perplexities and problems came at him fast and furiously, he buckled under the load of fierce desire, and again resumed the habit that he knew had killed his father.
There is a phrase that is frequently used as a theme for atheists, and it reads "Good without God". This phrase is a paradox within itself, for there is no such thing as being good without God, neither is there any such thing as being free, if The Son does not make us free. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which demonstrates how true freedom in Christ is accomplished, and it is the will of God that we avail ourselves today, of the means He has provided in Christ, so that this freedom can be appropriated to ourselves on a personal and eternal level. Let's read:
2nd Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
May The Lord add His blessing to the study and application of His word. God bless!