They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: [but] the Son abideth ever.

The Slavery of Sin

Vs. 31 is an interesting verse. Jesus says to those Jews which believed on him. If you continue in my word, then are you truly my disciples. His statement is both a test of salvation and a challenge to discipleship.

These “believing Jews” were not believers in the true sense anymore than they were free. These Jews, in context here, believed some of what Jesus said but they did not believe all of what He said, and they certainly did not believe who He said He was. They hoped this was their Messiah, the Savior and future King of their nation but they did not believe that He was the savior of their souls. They believed He was the Prophet that Moses promised would come, but they did not believe what He prophesied about their sin. They believed he was the son of David, but they did not, could not, would not believe that He was the Son of God.

These “believers” did not believe the truth about who He was. They believed in their understanding, their partial truth and that truth could not and did not stand even a few minutes once Jesus began to preach.

When Jesus tells them He will free them, they don’t believe they needed to be freed. They were not in bondage to any man. In fact, they had been in bondage many times, to the Assyrians, the Babylonians, The Persians, The Greeks and now they were bound by their Roman masters. They could not see their physical bondage and they willfully refused to see their spiritual bondage.

Jesus proves their slavery in vs. 34, “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” This sin was open and apparent because in vs. 37 he tells them, “Ye seek to kill me.”

They had the choice right there before them, standing in the Temple grounds, listening to Jesus. In Vs. 34 Jesus lays out the choice “Whosoever commits (practices, continues in) sin is the slave of sin.”

They claim to be free because they are the descendants of Abraham, but Jesus says that is not enough, they must be set free by the Son of God. They must have His word, His truth in them. Without His truth they would never be truly free.

Freedom Or Slavery?

This choice is not just to the Jews of Jesus’ time, but it is the choice every person must one day make. Slavery or salvation, sin or the Savior?

Look at Romans 6 and compare it to what we read in John 8.

Romans   6:16-18 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered  you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Paul says the key to freedom is understanding, knowing, believing that you can choose which master you will serve.

If you yield to sin, as these in John 8 did, then you became a slave to sin.

But if you yield to the doctrine, the truth, the word of God, that was given to you, then you become a servant of righteousness.

You can choose, in fact you must choose and all eternity rests upon that choice. Whose servant will you be? One choice binds you in the chains of sin and hell for eternity and one choice sets you free to serve your creator and God.

I had a disturbing, sad conversation this week with a person who was determined to choose the lies of this world rather than the truth of the Word of God. I felt like someone trying to talk someone down from the edge of cliff. I stood there telling them that if the keep walking the path they are on, they would destroy themselves. This person would not hear the truth and was determined to walk out believing the lies of this world would support them, never realizing that suffering, pain and death were at the end of the path they were on.

No freedom, only slavery, a life filled with sorrow and finally an early death. True for the lost children of Abraham in Jerusalem that day and true for the lost and broken children of this world in Athens, Texas today.