OUR LORD WHO LIBERATES US

The scriptures introduce a startling concept of liberty to us.  In 2 Corinthians 3 verse 17, it says:

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

This verse paints a picture of bondage or enslavement where the Spirit of God is absent and in the presence of the Spirit of God,  freedom or liberty are available and in a way of understanding, so is  access or belonging.

Let's look at this passage in John 8 verse 31 - 36:

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 

Jesus, while teaching at the temple, told those who were listening to Him that if they held to His teachings, they would know the truth and the truth would set them free. 

Here, a note could be made that Jesus is saying that truth sets us free and elsewhere in the scripture , we could note that the Spirit of God is sometimes called the Spirit of Truth (But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. - John 16 verse 13) and so we could concatenate the two axioms and correctly say that where the Spirit of God is, there is freedom or liberty.

Jesus' listeners objected to idea that they were slaves but Jesus quickly countered their objections by saying that by sinning, they could be correctly classified as slaves to sin.

Jesus then brings the logical structure to its apex where the full meaning of Liberty is made plain  and the full implication of Jesus' mission is laid out.

Sinners are slaves to sin and thus, like slaves in a household, are not part of the families they serve. Jesus then contrasts this to the sons of the family who are eternally part of that family. In this context, Jesus said that He is the one who sets us free from sin and thus are no longer slaves and are thus sons of God.

This is where the word liberty means freedom from enslavement but then also means access to the privileges of the family by being sons and then also means membership in the family of God by sonship.

This is the  wonderous gift that Jesus gives us when He died for us. He set us free and wow, did He ever set us free.

Bless His holy name.

Amen.