John 8:30-34

John 8:30-34 Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him. 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.

Romans 3:21-25 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.

Human beings, even believers, sometimes appear unaware of our fallen state, that we are not self-made people. We reflect our genetic make-up, political indoctrination, culture, intellectual development, inter-personal experiences, work, societal relationships, and the like. We are not born a blank slate; writing appears on our wall: some beautiful and praiseworthy, some distracting, destructive, and difficult to bear. Yet in our philosophies, values, precepts, choices, and decisions, we tend to think we live in a vacuum, that thoughts and ideas come to us through the air by osmosis because we are so brilliant and all-knowing that truth permeates our minds and our thinking as we sub-consciously and consciously assimilate knowledge and wisdom sufficient to make it through lives on our own or with "a little help from God."

We think we intrinsically and purposefully know exactly what is right and what is wrong. No one tells us what to do. Surely none of those slick TV commercials, newspapers ads, or life coach gurus influence us. Our parents perhaps had a little to do with it; however, we don't buy the houses we live in, drive the cars we drive, purchase the appliances we use, select the clothes or shoes we wear, prefer a certain pieces of furniture, stand in line for the latest expensive electronic gadgets, or vacation at the newest hot spots to keep the kids entertained because anyone else influenced us to do so. No, we make our own choices because we are just smart, capable, and wise. We are not influenced by society. "I look hot in these five inch Prada heels that break down my feet, and this Versace gown is better than the rest," the woman all dolled up says. "So what if other men ogle me?" "I waited a long time for this BMW, and I need this Armani suit and Dior shoes as a business expense to attract customers," the husband says. "And we work soooo hard: WE EARNED THIS."

We are slaves to all this and more, but Jesus was talking about us being slaves to Adam's fallen nature. The paragraph above exaggerates a bit, of course, but not much. The attitude of the heart is what counts. We can shop at Fred Meyers or Goodwill and have the same "me first" thinking dominate our walking about selves. Adam and Eve broke faith with God's Word, with his divine nature, and lost his protection when they disobeyed him by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve's decision to eat of the forbidden fruit ushered in self-will and self-absorbtion: the idea that man would not live as God had planned. As Jesus said when tempted by the devil: It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4) The Bible calls the unredeemed spirit of man flesh or the spirit of Adam because it is the old man, the unregenerate human being who chooses to reject God's safe harbor and to leave his safety, to go out into the world saying, "Watch me, I can do this on my own."

Without surrender to the cross, this carnally minded spirit rules every human being, enslaving us to captivity, willful disobedience, and sin. We suffer from the sins done unto us and the sins we do unto others. Jeremiah said, My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace. They turn to their

own ways: seeking their own pasture, treading where God does not want them to tread, and drinking water that does not slake their thirst. (50:6) Such stubborn activity generates mistakes, pain, and sin. Jesus prayed, Let your will be done, Father, on Earth as it is in Heaven. The Bible says, all have sinned, missed the mark of the glory of God. When we intentionally follow our own nature by willfully disobeying his perfect will, we fall short of God's glory. Christ willingly surrendered his all, loved passionately and lavishly. How can we do less? Choosing to do God's will helps us become servants of the Lord and servants of others. We will not automatically reject the

dominion of self-rule, self-knowledge, and self-aggrandizement to

take up the cross just because we become Christians. Servanthood is an act of the will, a faith choice in response to a grace gift. Jesus spoke truth, the Bible teaches truth, and the Holy Spirit illuminates the truth. Truth set us free, but God will never force freedom upon anyone. Brothers and sisters, soldiers in the army of the Most High, may we choose to walk in the truth of his glorious light and life today. Walk in Jesus: THE TRUTH, THE WAY, AND THE LIGHT!