# 384 Get Free and Stay Free

The Book of Genesis

Day 384

Ge 41: 32 "And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

We  are taking a little break from the study in Genesis to pursue the importance of repetition in the Scriptures. In particular we are looking at the “verily, verilies” found in the Gospel of John. When God repeats things, He is merely underlining or highlighting them for us. He gives them an extra sense of urgency.

Today we will look at Joh 8:31-36, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;  32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.  33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?  34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.  35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.  36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

 Most people aren’t going to like what they are about to hear, but let’s not forget the “verily, verily!” This is underlined truth from Jesus. These particular Jews believed on Jesus, but they also believed that they could ride the coattails of Abraham in the matter saving faith, after all, they were God’s chosen people right?  But it’s not the physical DNA that makes anyone God’s chosen, it is the spiritual DNA and that DNA can be summed up in Ro 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."

Jesus helps set the record straight for all mankind. Sin is a slavemaster, and whoever commits sin is a slave to it, (no matter his family tree!) and a slave is in trouble. He dies in slavery unless his master sets him free. But this is not so for the son. A son abides in freedom forever, therefore if the Son (Jesus) sets you free, you shall be free indeed! Our freedom from sin is a supernatural act of God. It is by His grace through the gift of faith in Jesus that we are set free from the slavery of sin.

The slavery connected to sin is simply this: The Law tells us. “Thou shalt do this and thou shalt do that, and thou shalt not do this and thou shalt not do that, and if thou faileth to do this or that perfectly, thou shalt not have eternal life.” Pretty scary deal isn’t it?

But then Jesus comes along and speaks of freedom. He says, “I will do the thou shalts for you. I will keep the Law perfectly in your stead. I will even pay the penalty for your sins and thereby set you free from the taskmaster…the Law!  By grace, I will free you, by grace I will keep you free!

Now here’s the part most people don’t want to hear. Having been set free, if we then choose to live in sin. we are like a dog returning to his own vomit. We remove ourselves from God’s grace and place ourselves once again under the curse of the Law. It is only as we repent of that our sins, confess our sins, and turn away from our sins, that we once again find ourselves back in the good graces of the Father. This is our true freedom. It’s the freedom the prodigal son found when he “came to his senses,” and returned to the father!

Are you presently living in sin? Is there some admonition of the Law that you refuse to obey? How’s that freedom thing working for you in your rebellion? It may seem fine now, but it will catch up to you sooner or later, and you better pray that it is sooner!

Where is your peace these days? In willful disobedience to God’s Word, you lose it. (Just ask David as he steadfastly avoided confessing his sins in the Bathsheba affair!)  But there’s always a way back (again ask David) You can be free again! Turn to Jesus and repent, confess, and receive!