Today’s Scripture:
“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” — John 8:32 (ESV)
Reflection
In today’s passage, we see Jesus talking to the Jews again. First, Jesus addresses the Jews that truly believed in him by saying that they are his disciples, and that the truth will set them free from the grasp of sin. Of course, the religious leaders question Jesus again, saying that they are the offspring of Abraham and they were never enslaved, yet Jesus says that whoever sins is a slave to sin, but the Son sets us free from sin. Jesus admits that they are genetically the descendants of Abraham, but he also points out that they do not act like Abraham, but they act like their “father” instead. This “father” will be revealed to us tomorrow I believe, but the title of the portion kind of gives it away. The Jews seeked to kill Jesus because of the unappealing words, which are the Words of God. Lastly, they directly make fun of Jesus for being “born of sexual immorality,” which is not true and it directly insulted God. Tomorrow’s passage is kind of making sense already even though I haven’t read it yet…
Let’s analyze Jesus’s first few sentences first. Jesus says that if we abide in God’s word, then we will be his disciples, and the truth will live in us, and the truth will set us free. To understand this, I worked backwards. The truth will set me free. Free from what? Free from sin and death. So what is the truth? Since this is Jesus talking, I think the truth is literally just Jesus. Jesus set us free from sin and death by dying on the cross, and he lives in us through the Holy Spirit. When we live in God’s word and become his disciples, the Holy Spirit enters us and we are saved. I want to bring up the main point of P. Abe’s seminar today: The Bible is central to Christian life. This also ties in to WSC q24, which we reviewed yesterday at Small Group, which says that God’s will for our salvation (Jesus) is being revealed to us through God’s Word and Spirit. It’s all coming together.
Next, I want to go to what it means to be a slave of sin. Obviously, everyone sins and it is impossible not to sin. Even through this, Christians are no longer slaves to sin because Jesus sets us free from sin. According to “Human Nature in its Fourfold State,” our ability to sin can be distinguished between the four stages of the Biblical story. Specifically, I want to focus on the second and third stages, which are the Fall and Redemption (State of Nature and State of Grace). During the fall, humans were unable not to sin, but after Jesus came, we are now able to sin and able not to sin. Basically, through Jesus’s strength, we are able not to sin, and our good actions are done in Jesus, while our sins are taken by him on the cross. We are no longer slaves to sin because we have a savior who was tempted in every way, and was without sin.
Finally, I just want to talk about the packet that P. Abe graciously gave us today. I am so grateful that he worked so hard to make the packet for us, and I want to use it to the best of my ability. Because of this, I looked at the part about John. To summarize it, John is a gospel about Jesus being the eternal Son of God who gives eternal life to the believers. Within the last few days, we have seen Jesus repeat “my Father” over and over and over again; more times than I can count on my fingers. This is all for a reason: to show that Jesus is truly the Son of God, and that God is his Father. Jesus promises freedom from sin and death to all who abide in his Word and who believe in the truth, or the Logos, which is Jesus himself.
As I close this QT, I’m just in awe of how everything kind of just fits together. All the info I learned through Small Group, Ignite, Sunday worship, and all the theology that has entered into my brain is really put together into this one Jesus who was perfect in his righteousness and holiness, but he was also the perfect sacrifice for us. I’m having these aha moments putting the theological terms together, and honestly, I’m having some fun doing it too. I thank God for this.