John 8:36 - Freedom Like No Other!

John 8:36 - Freedom Like No Other!

John 8:36 (NLT) So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. 

Sometimes when a man is rebuked for doing something wrong or 
warned against such a thing, his answer is: "Surely I can do what I 
like with my own life." But the point is that the man who sins does 
not do what he likes; he does what sin likes. A man can let a habit 
get such a grip of him that he cannot break it. He can allow a 
pleasure to master him so completely that he cannot do without it. He can 
let some self-indulgence so dominate him that he is powerless to 
break away from it. He can get into such a state that in the end, as 
Seneca said, he hates and loves his sins at one and the same time. So 
far from doing what he likes, the sinner has lost the power to do 
what he likes. He is a slave to the habits, the self-indulgences, the 
wrong pleasures which have mastered him. This is precisely Jesus' 
point. No man who sins can ever be said to be free. [Barclay 
Commentary] 

I'm not the one who wants to do these bad things, but my sinful 
nature wants to do them. I know that nothing good comes from my sinful 
nature. That's why I need God's help. By myself I can never be as good 
as I want to be. It just won't work. The things that my heart wants 
to do, I don't always do, and the things that it tells me not to 
do, I sometimes end up doing. Now, if I really don't want to do it, 
it's not me but my sinful nature that wants to do it. I've learned 
this much: Even when I want to do good, sin is always there trying to 
influence me to do what I shouldn't. I really appreciate God's using His 
law to point out my sin to me, because I want to be good. I don't 
want to sin. But there's that nature of mine, always ready to make me 
do it. What a miserable man I am! Who can help me? I thank God that 
this problem has been solved by Jesus. I still make mistakes, and 
sometimes even do good things for the wrong reason. But I keep on serving 
God anyway, doing the best I can, no matter how many times my sinful 
nature trips me up. Rom. 7:17-25 CWK 

He alone is free who is free from sin. Those who desire this 
freedom must apply to the Lord Jesus Christ, and must comply with the 
conditions. It is His peculiar office and privilege to enfranchise all who 
accept Him. [SDA Commentary] 

Knowing Jesus is freedom from the power of sin. Sin has a way of 
enslaving us, controlling us, dominating us, and dictating our actions. 
Jesus can free you from this slavery that keeps you from becoming the 
person God created you to be. If sin is restraining, mastering, or 
enslaving you, Jesus can break its power over your life. [Life Application 
SB] 

Knowing Jesus is knowing real freedom. Jesus himself is the 
truth that sets us free (8:36). He is the source of truth, the perfect 
standard of what is right. He frees us from the consequences of sin, from 
self-deception, and from deception by Satan. He shows us clearly the way to 
eternal life with God. Jesus does not give us freedom to do what we 
want, but freedom to follow God. As we seek to serve God, Jesus' 
perfect truth frees us to be all that God meant us to be. [Life 
Application SB] 

The Son makes you free (v. 36), so trust Him and follow Him. His 
truth makes you free (v.32), so study it, believe it, and obey it. 
Satan imposes slavery that seems like freedom (2 Pet. 2:19); Jesus 
gives you a yoke that sets you free (Matt. 11:28-30). [Warren 
Wiersbe] 

Freedom given by Christ is the only true freedom. Delivered from 
the shackles and the bondage of sin, a Christian can do what he 
ought, and is no longer bound to his evil desires. The unsaved man 
indulges in sin and has no power over it. Sin is in control. Sin binds 
him. Christ's offer is freedom from such bondage, and a life that 
wills to please God and does. [Believer's SB] 

Freedom is not unrestrained indulgence in anything we may want 
to do when we want it. Freedom is being who we really are, 
creatures shaped by God for fellowship with Him, creatures who find joy 
and fulfillment only in loving and serving Him. And the way to 
freedom is marked out by the words of Jesus Christ.[Victor Bible 
Reader's Companion] 

Jesus in person and in action was the Truth. To love the Truth 
is to love Jesus. [Disciple SB] 

Sin promises freedom but cannot deliver. Only Jesus Christ can 
give true freedom--freedom to master sin and reach one's God-given 
potential. [Disciple SB] 

You Think I'm In Jail..... is what the young man asked, and it 
seemed like it from where I sat - for he was on the other side of the 
bars. 
His life story was one continual conflict with the law.  He was 
sent to reform school as soon as he was old enough.  He was an 
"alumnus" of the advanced school for incorrigible youth.  Now he had 
matriculated into the "big house" - his entrance examination came by way of 
an armed robbery. 
Sitting in the gray atmosphere of prison, he was seeking some 
way of escape - then found it in the Bible.  Now, as he expressed 
it, he was no longer in prison; he was free in Jesus Christ.  So he 
emphatically stated, "You think I'm in jail?  No way!  You want to know who's 
in jail?"  He swept his hands in a wide circle.  "I'll tell you.  
All those people who don't know Christ - they're the ones in jail." 
[SDA Stewardship Devotional]