FREEDOM TRUTH

True freedom requires continuing in God's word.

A country will not remain free for long once the majority of its citizens have the wrong concept of freedom. There are basically only two concepts of freedom. The wrong concept is that freedom is being able to sin, and get away with it. The right concept is being able to assemble to speak the truth and worship the true God without restraint or fear of persecution.

False freedom

Phony freedom—being able to sin, and get away with it—always results in slavery. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” (John 8:34). Take a look around the world, and you will see that citizens of all countries governed by communism (which is actually an atheist religion) and other religions that reject the God and moral precepts of the Bible are enslaved. They are to one degree or another denied freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom in many other important areas of their lives.

Consider also how sins such as drug use, alcohol use, and homosexuality and other sexual perversions become an addiction that enslave the sinner. He chooses to sin by his own free will, but then he finds that his will is less free, and that he cannot let go of a shameful and life destroying lust.

True Freedom

True freedom is based on truth. But what is truth? In praying to the Heavenly Father, Jesus said, “…thy word is truth” (John 17:17). In John 1:1, Jesus, himself, is declared to be the “Word.” So, it should be no surprise to read in John 14:6 that Jesus is “…the truth.”

Jesus gave the most important freedom lesson of all time in John 8:31-37:

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.

Many colleges around the world have a building which has part of that scripture inscribed above the entrance: “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” But generally they fail to credit Jesus for speaking those words, and almost always they fail to give the vital “if” which qualifies those words: “If ye continue in my word…” You will not know the truth, and so the truth will not make you free, if you reject the word of God. Freedom is a result of living according to the Christian worldview which is the word of God.

If a true Christian is put in prison because of his or her beliefs, he or she will still be more free than the persecutor, because the righteousness of Christ liberates the soul from the bondage of sin.

The choice always before us is, Do we want Satan and sin—and the inevitable enslavement, or do we want God and righteousness, and freedom. I choose Jesus. What is your choice?

“…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor.3:17b).