Set Free

Set Free

Read: John 8:31-47

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

John 8:36

“The only perfect freedom is serving God.”

—Malcolm Muggeridge

IN WORD Even as believers we fall for the lie: “I’m only human.” We are only human, of course, but humanity means such a different thing to Jesus than it does to sinners. We define our humanity as a cage from which we cannot escape. Jesus defines it as the image of the invisible God. To us it is corruption incarnate. To Jesus it is the holy pinnacle of creation. Jesus would never be caught saying, “I’m only human.” He left the glories of heaven in order to put on human flesh for a lifetime. It was a condescension, to be sure, but a divine one. We must not degrade it by appealing to our personal frailties in our moments of weakness. Only human? Jesus went to the Cross for humans.

At the root of our “only human” disclaimer is a tendency to settle for spiritual mediocrity. We’re comfortable saying we’re free in Christ—in theory—without experiencing freedom from sin—in practice. We like the status of being free while settling into the ease of our slavery. We’re abused by that slavery, but abused people often prefer what’s comfortable and predictable rather than handle the responsibilities of liberation. We need a harsh reminder: When the Son sets us free, He expects us to be free. Completely free.

IN DEED Do you settle for mediocrity? Are you comfortable with certain sinful aspects of your life? Perhaps they are areas you once struggled with but finally gave up trying. Perhaps you fell for the lie that some sins are just permanent parts of our character. Perhaps you forgot that nothing—no sin, no deception, no habit—is too big for Jesus to handle.

And that’s the problem. You gave up because you found that you couldn’t handle it; you couldn’t overcome your sin. You thought Jesus meant that He gave us the ability to set ourselves free. No, it’s the Son who sets us free. Abandon mediocrity, rest in His strength, and never settle for anything less than complete purity. He calls you to be free indeed.