Are You Free (John 8:31-36)
Gary McManus, 07/09/2023Part of the New Life series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
July 9, 2023 John 8:31-36
Interested in knowing where the word “free”
first occurs in the Bible? Genesis 2:16!
We want to talk about freedom. Why?
--we are still hashing out freedom in Christ Jesus
--we are still hashing out what it means to be a
free citizen of the United States.
And remember, freedom. . .it is an odd word.
If you don’t act/behave free, you ain’t free.
We have to open the unlocked door and walk out.
(Jesus broke the lock of Satan’s prison)
Otherwise, you are still in a (prison) cell.
Why do many Christians prefer Satan’s prison cells
to living free in Jesus? See the Galatian churches.
Galatians 2:4-5
Do Jesus’ words make more sense to you?
(Jesus sermon, Luke 4:18 , Jesus declaring
Luke 4:18, quoting Isaiah 61.)
Who are the prisoners? We have been prisoners.
In sin we made our prison.
In Jesus we make different prison cells.
And in both cases we found a way to agree with the Devil.
That is what the Galatians did.
They decided that circumcision
--made them feel more comfortable, more secure
--they had taken righteousness in their own hands,
(achieved righteousness by being circumcised)
--they could point to some obedience that they
accomplished.
Problem: They were wrong. –the Apostle Paul
There are no RULES for how EVERYONE
should live except maybe loving God and others.
Is that a rule?
Isn’t a lot of our problem figuring out what the
“loving thing is to do”? Example: “tough love”
A lot of regulations just attempt to prevent lawsuits.
Ignorance or negligence? Negligence or abuse?
. Remember the doctor’s Hippocratic oath,
“do no harm.” If we “do no harm” to ourselves as well, many
habits have to change. Take tobacco smoking. . .
Can we love ourselves THAT MUCH?
Can we do no harm to ourselves THAT MUCH?
Remember when smoking in public places
was outlawed? People’s freedoms were being
taken away! Who are the prisoners?
We have been prisoners. We made our prison.
People claim to enjoy their addictions!
Tobacco smoke (1964. . .2012 in our state:48 years!)
Why talk about this? Because we are talking about love:
love on the streets and where we live.
And if God breaks your addiction? Great. Can we expect
everyone to do that? Should the church ask about faith
or about life after addiction? (Matthew 6:33)
--how about violence in the home?
--what about coffee. . .yes, coffee! Coffee demon?
--Pastor’s friend. . .headache for a week; that’s tough love!
That is why there are rules. . .some of us can’t figure
out what the right thing is to do or knowing the right thing
to do, we can’t seem to make ourselves do it.
(Remember, the Bible assumes we will love ourselves.)
Recovery: You only have to love God until you realize
that you want to love God and then you don’t have to love
God anymore, although you will still love God.
“No rules, just right.” Amen.
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