João 8

João 8

Clarke - It was a maxim of the Jews, "That no man was free, but he who exercised himself in the meditation of the law." No man is truly free, but he in whose heart the power of sin is destroyed, and who has received the Spirit of adoption, through which he cries, Abba! Father! See Romans 8:15. The bondage of sin is the most grievous bondage; and freedom from its guilt and influence is the greatest liberty. David Thompson - True believers, true disciples can grasp the Bible. This is not theoretical or philosophical, this is real. A true believer has a supernatural ability to grasp truth. When the Word of God is accurately expounded, it comes to life for one right with God. So not only does a true believer love the Word of God, he has a supernatural ability to grasp the Word of God. TRUE SPIRITUAL FREEDOM And the truth (aletheia) will make you free (eleutheroo) - Note the future tense (will), so this functions as a prophetic promise. The realization of this promise hinges on the individual meeting the condition of abiding in Jesus' Word. When one fulfills that condition, it is almost as if TRUTH is personified as the keeper of the key "he" uses to unlock the prisoner from their cell! The believer/disciple abides in the Word (and allows it to abide in him/her) and the truth gleaned from the Word is used by the Spirit of Truth to set us free. The verb eleutheroo means to cause someone to be freed from domination. What domination would we need to be set free from? This speaks of our three mortal foes, the world, the flesh and the devil, all three of which exerted dominion (power) over us when we were still in Adam. Our continuance in the Word indicates we are no longer in Adam but in Christ and that these foes no longer have the right to rule over our heart and mind. The act of truth setting us free results in freedom and liberty but liberty is not a license to sin. The world says freedom is the right to do as they please. The disciple says real freedom is the power to do as we should, to please the One Who set us free and gave us a brand new way of life in Christ, empowered by His Spirit. NET Note on the truth -The statement the truth will set you free is often taken as referring to truth in the philosophical (or absolute) sense, or in the intellectual sense, or even (as the Jews apparently took it) in the political sense. In the context of John’s Gospel (particularly in light of the prologue) this must refer to truth about the person and work of Jesus. It is saving truth. As L.