Read: John 8
Verses chosen for reflection:
John 8:31-38
"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
Reflect
In John 8:31-38, Jesus spoke with the Jews who believed in Him. He said to them that if they truly want to follow Jesus, they would have to abide in "my word". At first glance, this seems to be a strange comment. Didn't the Jews already know "the word" as in those they learned of the Old Testament?
Jesus was not asking the Jews if they know the word of God, but rather, if they would abide in "my word". "My word" refers to the sayings and teachings of Jesus when He was with them on earth. So besides the Old Testament, they would have to abide in these.
"To abide" is more than just a memory or understanding of the word. It is "to remain". To remain is to constantly reflect and live out the word that is in them. And if they are able to do this, they will be able to know the truth and the truth will set them free.
In other words, knowing the word of God as like "what the Bible says", is not enough to "know the truth". Knowing the truth takes abiding in the word. It takes "chewing" on the word of God, struggling to make sense with the help of the Holy Spirit and challenging ourselves to live it out in grace. Only then, can we be said to live truly free lives and not abide in sin. Only then, can we call ourselves disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Relate
We might be Christians for a long time but quite often, we miss the idea of what Jesus is saying. We can be having bible study after bible study and wondering why our lives have not changed much. Or rather, people around us wonder why we are still the same.
It is because the idea of a works-merit attitude remains and many of us Singaporeans inherit this from our work culture. If I complete reading the whole Bible, I am "ok" in my journey with Christ. If I can understand what the Bible is saying or what the preacher is preaching about, I think I am "ok". If we do this or that, we are ok. Or sometimes, we might even think that we are superior to others, just because we "know".
But what Jesus is saying to those who believed is not really a "works-merit" kind of thing. He was saying to the believers that true disciples is having faith in who God is, what He has done on the Cross and what He has given in His word.
Having faith is not really about a tick in the checkbox. It is about embracing and submitting to God in His word. It is about devoting our lives to something which the world persecutes or think foolish; and yet we continue to believe. It is about allowing the word of Christ to swarm our hearts and having that humility to surrender to the Spirit to obey. And through these, Jesus said, we can be truly free.
Fact is, everyone wants freedom but everyone has our own definition of what freedom means. Jesus is offering a kind of freedom to those who believe and abide in His word. Jesus is also offering a kind of freedom to those who have yet to believe to come and embrace in this truth. It is a freedom we cannot find in this world. It is free, but it will be the best decision we will ever make.
According to Jesus, this freedom can help us to break free from slavery to sin. It can help us live a new life found not in our own sense of righteousness, but the righteousness of the One who died for our sins. Do you have this freedom? If not, do you want it?
If you want it, then may I invite you to pray this prayer with me:
Lord, I want to have this freedom that you spoke about in John Chapter 8. I want to follow You as Your true disciple. I am convinced that You are my Lord and You alone can give freedom from slavery to sin. This is all because of what You have done on the Cross. You died and paid in full, the wages for my sins; past, present and future; that in Your extraordinary grace, when I believe, I am declared as righteous in the sight of God. So Lord, I believe and help me to abide in Your word from henceforth. Help me to remain in Your truth and live it out with the help of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord Jesus. I am now truly free. Even as I continue to struggle in my walk as a Christian, I am now truly free because the Spirit lives in me. This I pray in Jesus' Name. Amen!
Rest
Friends, if you prayed the prayer and do not have a church to go to, may I encourage you to follow up on your new found faith in a godly community. This is so that you can know more about God and having a spiritual family to help you abide in God and His word. Agape Methodist Church meets at 21 Yung Ho Road on Sundays. 9am for Mandarin Service and 11am for English Service. We are a relatively small church of 250 people and we come together, just because we are grateful to God for His salvation, and everyone is on our journey of faith and we need one another.
Jason
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