Context...Freedom
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 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. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. (John 8:31-37 KJV)
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. (John 8:31-37 NIV)
Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in him. "If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you." Surprised, they said, "But we're descendants of Abraham. We've never been slaves to anyone. How can you say, "The truth will free you'?" Jesus said, "I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. A slave is a transient, who can't come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through. I know you are Abraham's descendants. But I also know that you are trying to kill me because my message hasn't yet penetrated your thick skulls. (John 8:31-37 MSG)
In recent months and days, I have heard these scriptures taken out of context a lot. Especially in regards to fathers and sons in ministry. Especially that true sons never leave their (spiritual) father's house. The one statement of Jesus has been lifted out of this story of the teaching of Jesus and used to illicit a certain response. But just taking a brief study of the context and the surrounding passages, it gives us a greater understanding of what Jesus is teaching here and it has nothing to do with our local church ministries or the "spiritual father" message being taught in many churches today. (Please note, I don't believe that the whole spiritual fathering message is wrong, but I feel it is important that we bring things into context, especially with this subject, so that we are not "proof-texting" to make our points and prove something that is unprovable.
First of all, notice that the context in which this statement is made is in reference to Jesus telling the Jews that they were slaves to sin. They get bent out of shape, because their “Abraham’s kids” and never have been slaves. But Jesus goes on to explain to them, that everyone who chooses to live in sin has become a slave. Now, he describes slaves as one who is not a part of the family, a resident of the house, and is subject to be moved about by the will of their master. When we are slaves to sin, we have no rights, because our master, the devil, pulls the strings.
But notice what He says about the “Son” of the house. Because the Son is a permanent resident of the house, He has authority in the house to release a slave, if He so desires. This is why the KJV goes on to say, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
The principle that Jesus is teaching in this passage is not that one should never leave, or will never leave, the house of their father (in a spiritual sense), but He is teaching that those who struggle with sin in their lives will always be slaves, pulled from here to there until they encounter the Son of the House (Jesus) and because He is a permanent resident of the House, He can and will set them free permanently from sin.
This is where the Good News of the Gospel message truly is: we don't have to live as slaves to sin. We don't have to be ruled by our flesh or the devil, due to our desires, pulled from one issue to another all our lives, but if we can encounter the Son, Jesus, He promises He will set us free. There is freedom in the House of God. (I am not referring to the "church" by this phrase "House of God." But more specifically, the Kingdom...the spiritual house in which God's glory rests...in the gathering of His people who live out His Kingdom!)
Note that even the KJV uses the capital “S” when referencing the Son here in this passage. The translators understood that Jesus was referring to Himself! It is an incredible passage of scripture when we look at it in context.
Context is something that the church has been missing for a while.
