Friday, June 19, 2026
Free Indeed – John 8:34-36 Submitted by Kay Crumley
In this chapter of the Gospel of John, John records Jesus’ teaching in the temple courts to a Jewish audience. Some had believed Him to be the Messiah. In Verse 32 He told them if they knew the truth it would set them free. They understood freedom meant not being enslaved. They believed they were a free nation as descendants of Abraham, even though there are many periods in their history that their ancestors had been in bondage to other nations.
Jesus’ reply referred to a very different kind of slavery than being held in bondage politically, physically. The bondage we all experience outside His freedom is to our own sinful nature.
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
We are slaves to sin, to the hold Satan has on our lives as he builds a foundation of lies in our heart and soul. He is the father of lies and uses them to insidiously guide our thinking. These lies seem harmless in the beginning but build into convincing us that we are unable to free ourselves from them until they control our thoughts.
One trick of the enemy is to use two truths and one lie to deceive and control us. As Christ followers we know that Jesus died for us. We know He strengthens us when we are weak. The Satan will tell us if He truly is our strength we shouldn’t mess up so maybe He didn’t really provide salvation to us, just to others. He finds the fear we have about our worthiness and assaults our mind with doubt. The result is that we believe that lie and may find something else to serve and worship. He keeps us enslaved to that sin until we believe we are without hope.
The promise, in the words of Jesus Himself, is that we are His children, sons and daughters. A slave’s position in the family is temporary; slaves are property that are traded or sold. But a child is a permanent member of the family. We are His, in His family forever, for eternity.
When we believe Jesus truly is the Son of God, we commit our lives to follow His way, then we are His forever. Therefore, we have the tools to counter all the lies of Satan and overcome that sin that causes us to be trapped. His truth defeats all Satan’s lies.
We are set free from the power of sin when we become Christ followers. We are indeed free from the bondage of sin. To exercise that freedom, we must cling to His truth. Proverbs 3:3 Don’t let loyalty and faithfulness leave you.Bind them on your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. Remain steadfast in your faithfulness to Him.
