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At this point in our discussion, some of you may possibly be wondering what all of this has to do with the title of this article. Actually, everything. We have in fact now come full circle. You see, it was necessary for me to explain all of these things to you, so that you can better understand what Jesus meant when He said to the Jews "the truth shall make you free."

As you may recall from the beginning of this article, the Jews to whom Jesus was speaking erroneously assumed that they were already free, and that they were not in bondage to anyone or to anything. Thus they asked the Lord "how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?" The first thing that Jesus tells them is that despite what they have chosen to believe, they are in fact in bondage to sin. After all, telling a person that they need to be made free implies that they must be in bondage to something, right? So Jesus informed those self-righteous Jews that they were the servants of sin; and that point alone must have really ruffled their feathers.

Please note that while the KJV Bible uses the word "servant" in those verses that are found in John chapter eight, if we look at the original Koine Greek word that is used there -- doulos -- we see that the Lord was actually telling them that they were the SLAVES of sin. They were in bondage to sin. The problem here is that according to the Scriptures, the penalty for sin is death, as we can easily determine by the following group of verses:

"Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come . . . I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins."


"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned . . . That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."


"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? . . . For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."


"The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law."


"Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."


Not only does the Bible clearly inform us that we will die in our sins if we fail to accept the Salvation which is offered to us by Christ, but it also makes it plain that we are in fact ALREADY dead in our sins in this present life as well. Consider the following group of verses which confirm this point:

"And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness."


"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;"


"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins . . . But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."


"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."


So let us now more closely examine what Jesus said to the Jews on that particular day. But first, let me refresh your memory by sharing those verses from John chapter eight with you again:

"As he [Jesus] spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [then] are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abrahams 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. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."


Jesus tells them that if they continue -- or remain, abide -- in His word, they will know the truth. What truth is the Lord talking about? Obviously, the truth of who He is, and what He came to do for humanity. That is why just a few verses before that, Jesus told them "if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." This is not the first or only time that Jesus declared who He was to His listeners by using the phrase "I am he." Consider the following short group of verses:

"The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he."


"Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things."


"Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he."


So that is the profound truth that Jesus was talking about. Those Jews needed to recognize that He was their promised and prophesied Messiah and Savior. He was, and is, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father, and the ONLY Mediator between God and man, and NOT the Laws of Moses. The Laws of Moses could not save them or make them righteous in the sight of God, as we have clearly learned by the preponderance of Scriptural evidence which I have shared with you in this series. Consider the following group of verses which clearly reveal that it is only through Jesus that Salvation can be obtained, because He became the Author and Mediator of a new and better covenant between God and man:

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."


"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."


"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"


"But now hath he [Jesus] obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises."


"And for this cause he [Jesus] is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance."


"And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel."


To reiterate, Jesus told the Jews "I am he." If they simply believed Him, that wonderful truth would indeed make them free. It would release them from the bondage of sin. It would free them from the death penalty which is the result of sin. It would free them from the bondage of trying to save themselves through observance of the Mosaic Law. Lastly, it would free them from the fear of death as well. Recognizing Jesus for who He was, and is, would free them from all of these various things. In fact, as some of you may recall, when Jesus first began His public ministry in Nazareth, one of the very first things He declared was how He would free the captives, and set at liberty those people who had been bruised, as we see here:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,"


Exactly what were they delivered from? What where they set at liberty from? What were they bruised by? Personally, based on everything I have shared with you in this series, I am inclined to believe that the Lord was referring to the weight and the harsh mandates of the Mosaic Law, and to the cruel people who continuously imposed it upon them: those self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees, and the doctors of the Law. Jesus not only frees people everywhere from all of that legalism, but also from sin and death as well. Now regarding the fear of death which I mentioned earlier, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, as well as in the Epistle to the Romans, we find the following three verses:

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he [Jesus] also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."


"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."


Let me call your attention to two phrases in those verses:

1. through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

2. the spirit of bondage again to fear

Exactly what do those two phrases mean? To be quite honest with you, I am not absolutely certain. However, I do have some ideas which I would like to propose for your personal consideration. First of all, it is a given fact that many people fear death. But why is that? Well, for some people it is more a fear of the pain which may possibly accompany their death; while for others it may be the fear of not knowing what will follow their death.

But consider the First Century Jews who were beholden to the Laws of Moses, and the crushing weight of legalism which continually bore down upon them. If, like them, you were convinced that you had to keep all 613 mitzvoth, or commandments, in order to merit God's favor, Mercy and Salvation, you would find yourself in quite a predicament. If, like those misguided Jews who Jesus spoke to, you were told that you had to establishment your own righteousness in order to be accepted by God, you might begin to worry and question, "Have I done enough? Have I kept enough of the commandments? Have I been good enough? Will God even accept me when I die? Am I going to Hell?"

That is the problem with trying to establish your own brand of righteousness. You find yourself in a constant state of worry and fear, and you just never know if you have made the grade or not. You have no peace in your heart. Because you don't know for certain what your eternal fate will be, it will in fact cause you to fear death, and what may come after your death. Because you've rejected Christ, you will spend your entire life trying to keep as many commandments as you possibly can, in the hope that it will satisfy God's requirements. You will be in bondage to the Law for your entire life. Not only that, but because the Law declares all people sinners, you will fear death even more. That could possibly be what "all their lifetime subject to bondage" means, in my view.

Thankfully, if you are a Believer in Jesus Christ, then you don't have to worry about any of that, because you realize that Jesus has already paid the full ransom price for your Salvation. You don't need to try to prove your goodness to God through your own legalistic works. All you have to do is freely accept God's Mercy, Grace and Forgiveness through the Sacrifice of His Son. You already know the truth, and the truth has indeed made you free. Furthermore, because you know the truth concerning Jesus Christ, and have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, you can experience the peace which passes all understanding as well. Consider this group of Bible verses:

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."


"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."


"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:"


"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;"


"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."


"For it pleased the Father that in him [Jesus] should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven."


"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."


"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."


"Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them."


In contrast, wicked people who knowingly reject Jesus Christ will never know this kind of inner, spiritual peace; not in this life, and most certainly not in the next. They will in fact continually suffer emotional and spiritual turmoil, as we can determine by these two verses:

"There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked."


"But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked."


Dear friend, now tell me something. Isn't trusting in Jesus Christ, and accepting His free gift of Salvation, so much easier than being in bondage to the Laws of Moses and trying to prove your own righteousness, goodness, merit and worth? You have now heard the full Scriptural truth regarding this matter. Will you let it make you free? The choice is yours. Choose wisely.

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Dead to the Law: God's Laws Written on Our Hearts
Free From the Fear of Death: Law and Works vs Grace
Message to the World
Salvation is Free Through Jesus Christ
Striving for Perfection: Are You a Sinless Saint?

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