John 8:32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
John 8:36 “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
When we ask ourselves the question: What is real freedom? What comes to our mind? Being out of debt, having enough money (but when is enough, enough?), doing all you want, living a life without any concerns, worries, etc.
Ancient Jewish wisdom, I believe, brings out a real answer to this question. We are told that the 10 Commandments were engraved in stone. The reason that this is important is because the word for ‘freedom’ in God’s language is very much the same as the word ‘engraved.’ What does this mean? Perhaps it is like Rabbi Daniel Lapin says: “We are most free when our lives are engraved, written in stone.” When we stop and think about it we began to realize that the 10 Commandments, “engraved in stone” are the ones that really set us free, by knowing the boundaries and how that liberates us to live as we should.
Just over the past Christmas holidays we had our two young grandkids with us – seven and four years old, and I could see the relaxed atmosphere that they had when they knew what their boundaries were. They were the saddest when they broke those boundaries.
This is why in any government “the rule of law” is so important. Why? Because we know and can enjoy the boundaries in which we live and are able to prosper in every way good in a society. Contrast that with the dictator’s rule and we find just the opposite.
One of the reasons why we find (here in the West, mainly the USA) the chaos that is developing through divisions, and is mainly because we have cast out the 10 Commandments by which to set the standard. Freedom comes, not from the barrel of a gun, but through the laws that God has given us that were engraved by God in stone tablets in the past, and today on our hearts when we surrender to Jesus Christ.
One could say that REAL freedom is when God’s laws are listened to and obeyed. This is why it is so important regarding the text in the gospel of John that says, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Jesus said: “I am the truth.”
“If the son makes you free you shall be free indeed.” Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law and through our faith in Him we find God’s law engraved in our own hearts – that of knowing what is right and what is wrong – and by adhering to this we find that we are free, FREE indeed.