30 Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him. 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.
“Our freedom cost God’s Son His life. Never, never, take it lightly.” BHY
“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free. Amen!” Billy Graham
“Redemption does not only look back to Calvary. It looks forward to the freedom in which the redeemed stand.” Leon Morris
“We sin because our longings are so strong at the operational level—not at the verbal level, where we confess ‘Jesus is Lord’—we feel that something in addition to Jesus is necessary for our happiness and well-being. We will never find the full freedom promised in the gospel if all we want from Jesus is relief.” James Wilhoit
“The only perfect freedom is serving God.” Malcolm Muggeridge
“‘You’ve got to go deeper’, said the nun to my burned-out pastor. ‘Sink the well into a water table that never runs dry’...Thomas Merton conceded that everything in modern city life conspires against such surrender. We worry (fear) about money, about what we need to have and to know, about whom to compete with and what is slipping out of our control...(he) found the secret to true freedom: If we live to please God alone (the One who loves us), we set ourselves free from the cares and worries that press in on us.” Phillip Yancey
“Scripture permits us to broaden the definition of idolatry so that includes anything on which we set our affections and indulge as an excessive and sinful attachment. Therefore, the idols that we can see are certainly not the whole problem. Idolatry includes anything we worship: the lust for pleasure, respect, love, power, control, or freedom from pain. Futhermore, the problem is not outside of us....the problem is in us....the heart’s instinctive plotting in this idol construction is amazing. We know we are called to imitate God. This means we are to live for His glory, not our own. We are to make Him famous, not ourselves....the purpose of all idolatry is to manipulate the idol for our own benefit.....but (we) need the power of God, the message of Christ crucified and risen. Other therapies can offer sobriety, but only this good news is powerful enough to liberate the soul.” Ed Welch
“As our King, He has purchased our complete security and freedom, both here and into eternity. There is no one else, no other hero to our story than King Jesus.” Tom Wood
“The Christian faith is about relationship with someone who loves you and who has given you the freedom to be His friend. The further we get from that freedom, the further we get from New Testament Christianity and the more our Christianity resembles every other religion—merely a system for keeping the baser instincts of human nature in check. In other words, Christianity becomes a system of rules and regulations. If we live by them, our Christianity becomes pure drudgery with a vague hope that one day God will reward us in heaven for the drudgery.” Steve Brown
“Just as there are always blessings to obedience, conversely there will always be consequences to sin. Every sin carries with it a death sentence – death to trust, death to relationship, death to freedom, etc. etc. We do not sin merely as unto ourselves either, sin’s tentacles are far reaching and devastating – like a ripple in the water when you cast in a stone. We get to choose to sin or not but God chooses the consequence. Just read about what happened to King David after his encounter with Bathsheba and how it affected the rest of his life. God is severe in His judgments because He knows what sin does to a life and the lives of others. This is not a winking, joking matter with Him. It cost Him the life of His Son. He doesn’t want us to go there (to say the least) – He has far greater, pleasing and perfect plans for us than that. Also, it is all too important to note, that while a believer in Jesus is forgiven for sin that does not mean there will not be consequences. Just saying....” BHY
“Never dread any consequence resulting from absolute obedience to His command. Never fear the rough waters ahead, which through their proud contempt impede your progress. God is greater than the roar of raging water and the mighty waves of the sea. ‘The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever’ (Psalm 29:10). A storm is simply the hem of His robe, the sign of His coming, and the evidence of His presence. Dare to trust Him! Dare to follow Him! Then discover that the forces that blocked your progress and threatened your life become at His command the very materials He uses to build your street of freedom.” F. B. Meyer
“You were born for freedom. You deliver into it through obedience. No one ever entered into the full rest of God by giving Him only half of themselves.” Ann Voskamp
“When you are interiorly free you call others to freedom, whether you know it or not. Freedom attracts wherever it appears. A free man or a free woman creates a space where others feel safe and want to dwell. Our world is so full of conditions, demands, requirements, and obligations that we often wonder what is expected of us. But when we meet a truly free person, there are no expectations, only an invitation to reach into ourselves and discover there our own freedom. Where true inner freedom is, there is God. And where God is, there we want to be.” Henri Nouwen