For Reading and Meditation:      John 8:31-41You have probably sensed that the issue we have been dealing with is extremely important. In fact, I know of nothing of greater consequence for the Christian Church than the need to resolve the issue of why it is, when facing the tough questions of life, we settle for answers that are not answers. Let me illustrate what I mean. Many years ago a woman approached me at the end of a prayer meeting and said: "Why is it that I cry so much over nothing?" I replied that there could be a number of reasons and I recommended that if this situation continued she should seek the help of a Christian counsellor. My own feeling was that the problem arose from some unresolved conflicts in her life that needed identifying. Some time later I met the woman again and she said to me: "I still have the problem, but I know now why it happens to me - it is an attack of the devil." I felt deeply saddened by her conclusion for I sensed that she had settled for an answer that helped to reduce her confusion but was not a real solution. Yes, the devil does attack and harass, but in my opinion something else was going on inside her which needed attention. I gently suggested this to her, but she was adamant that the devil was responsible and that the problem would eventually go. I prayed much for that woman because I saw in her what I see in many parts of the Christian Church - a tendency to reach out and settle for "answers" that help reduce the confusion but do nothing to stimulate spiritual growth and understanding. O God, I do not want to live my life amid illusions. 1 want to be real and I want to live really. Help me face the tough questions of life and not be content until I find the true answers - Your answers. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Psalm 51:1-6</li><li>Jeremiah 17:9</li><li>Matthew 15:16-20</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What does God require in the inner parts?</li><li>What is the condition of the heart?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (v. 32) 

For Reading and Meditation:      John 8:21-36We saw yesterday that the phenomenon of catharsis comes about not simply through telling someone else our troubles, but when that other person is a warm, accepting and understanding individual. Psychologists believe the explanation for this to be the fact that the warm, accepting manner of the helper is so directly opposite to the harsh, judgmental attitudes of those who caused the hurts that repressed feelings easily surface and are released. What has this law of the personality to do with the subject now under discussion? A great deal, I believe. In Jesus Christ we find Someone who not only yearns for our trust, but is worthy of our trust. To sit in His presence is to hear words similar to those He spoke to the woman caught in adultery: "Neither do I condemn you ' go now, and leave your life of sin" (John 8:11). Such acceptance, such compassion, such concern, cannot fail to produce within every heart a willingness to open up those hurts and fears which have been so deeply repressed. As I said yesterday, I have witnessed on countless occasions this strange and mysterious phenomenon of catharsis take place as, in the presence of love and acceptance, repressed hurts and ideas are discharged from the personality. But beautiful and wondrous as this natural phenomenon is, it is as nothing compared to the glory and radiance that a person shows when they stand in the presence of Jesus Christ, the Wonderful Counsellor, and experience a catharsis that reaches, not merely into the outer regions of the heart, but to its greatest depths. To have such an experience is not just to be free - it is to be free indeed. My Father and my God, slowly things are coming into focus. I am beginning to understand what You mean when You say: "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." Purge me to the depths of my being. In Jesus' Name. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>John 3:1-18</li><li>John 5:24</li><li>Romans 8:1</li><li>Romans 8:34</li><li>Revelation 12:10</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Who brings condemnation?</li><li>What is the promise to the believer?</li></ul></div></div>

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (v. 36)

For Reading and Meditation:      John 8:31-47Jesus publicly made the challenge: " Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?" Here we are face to face with a kind of person who had not been seen since Adam in his pre-fallen condition - a man without sin. The disciples had shared every kind of experience with Him that mortals can share, had seen Him at all hours of day and night, had seen Him tired, hungry and disappointed, scorned, abused and hunted to death, had ridden with Him on a wave of popularity and hidden with Him from inquisitive miracle-mongers, yet they certainly could find no fault in Him. It is quite possible to know too much about some people. A gardener who was employed by a minister was asked why he did not come to hear him preach. Half in jest but half in earnest he replied: "I know too much about him." But none of the disciples ever said that concerning Jesus. They saw no flaw in Him. Moreover, not only were His intimates unable to discover sin in Him; He had no awareness of it in Himself. He lived intimately with God His Father, but the holiness of God did not rebuke Him. It didn't because it couldn't. He was sinless, spotless, perfect. If it be granted that Jesus was a good man, and if it be granted that a good man is ready always to tell the truth, are we not constrained by His own words to believe that He was something more than a good man? He is much much more than a good man; He is the God-Man. O Jesus, my Savior and my God, when I think of how You, the sinless One, took on Yourself my sins and bore them all away, I feel it must be too good to be true. But yet I know it is too good not to be true. Thank You, my Father. In Jesus' Name. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>2 Corinthians 5:1-21</li><li>Isaiah 53:9</li><li>Hebrews 4:15</li><li>1 Peter 1:18-20</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What did the centurion declare?</li><li>How did Peter describe Christ's sinlessness?</li></ul></div></div>

"Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?" (v. 46) 

John 8:31-40The title of this passage is suggestive. People who live in sin - do not think that they are slaves - they often think they are the only free men, and that Christians are the slaves. But in all this world, there is no bondage so terrible as the bondage of sin. The salvation of Christ is not merely the taking away of sin's penalty - if this were all, it would be very incomplete. This would leave us unchanged in heart and life, loving still the old things and the old ways, not disposed to live the beautiful life of holiness, not having the love of Christ in our hearts. The salvation of Christ not only changes our relation to sin's penalty, setting us free - but brings us into God's family, making us God's children. It includes also the breaking of the power of sin over the life and the exaltation of the believer into the full liberty of Christ.The passage begins by telling how we may be Christ's disciples. "If you continue in My Word - then you are really my disciples." It is not enough to begin; abiding, persevering, is the test. A disciple is a learner, a pupil. It is not enough for one to enter a school. Mere enrollment will not make anyone a pupil. The pupil must continue in the school all through the long course, studying subject after subject, until he has mastered the whole curriculum. The same is true in business and in all callings. Life is a school. The course is a long one. It is not finished in a day - but fills all the days of one's life. The lessons, too, are long ones.The man who is faithful, who persists and perseveres unto the end, is the only one who succeeds. Missing lessons anywhere in the course leaves a blank. Many begin well, with diligence and earnestness - but lose interest in a little while, let their courage falter, and fail in their course. They grow weary and give up. This is true of many in all lines of work. A writer, speaking of the failure of some ministers to succeed, says that they enter the ministry with great enthusiasm and promise - but after a little while settle down into apathy, lose their enthusiasm, and soon are heard of no more. It is true also in Christian life. There are thousands who begin to follow Christ - but who, when discouragement comes, give up and sink back again into the world. Jesus told His enthusiastic followers that an ardent beginning was not enough - they must continue unto the end.Abiding in the Word of Christ is given as the essential thing in discipleship. To abide in Christ's Word - is to obey Him, to do His commandments, not for a day or two only - but faithfully, all through life. It is not enough to know the will of Christ - we must do it. He said that if we are His friends, we will do whatever He commands us. Obedience, therefore, is a test of discipleship, and obedience must be patient and continuous. It must be without break. It must look to the little things of duty. Dropped stitches in the web make breaks, and then the garment unravels.There is another way in which we may abide in the Word of Christ. Many of His Words are promises. The forests in summer days are full of bird's nests. They are hidden in the trees, in among the leaves. The little birds know where they are, and when danger comes, when a storm arises, or when night draws on; they fly at once each to its own nest and hide away there in safety. So the promises of Christ are hidden in the Bible like nests in the trees, and there we may fly in any danger or alarm, hiding there until the storm is past. There are no castles in this world so strong, so impregnable, so safe - as the words of Christ. "Heaven and earth shall pass away," said the Master, "But My words shall never pass away" (Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33).Jesus then told His disciples how they could be made free from sin's bondage. "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Chris is a deliverer. He came to open prisons and lead captives out to liberty. There is a story of a stranger who entered an oriental city, and as he walked through the marketplace he saw many birds in cages. His face grew sad, and by and by he asked the price of one of the birds, and paying for it, opened the cage door. The bird flew out and, rising a little way in the air, caught a glimpse of its native mountains far away, and then flew swiftly toward them. The traveler then bought the other cages, one by one, and set the birds free, until all of them had been liberated. That is what Christ, our Liberator does for His people in their captivity. He sets them free, breaking their chains, opening their prison doors, that they may fly away toward home and safety.It is the truth, Jesus says, that make men free. So long as they are ignorant of Christ and of His power to liberate them - they remain in bondage. But when His emancipating Word comes to them, they are free!The Jews resented the suggestion that they were in any sense slaves. "They answered him, We are Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man." How deceived they were - they imagined themselves free, when at that very hour Roman soldiers stood guard about their city! But it is the same with spiritual slaves. It is a great privilege to have good ancestry; it is good capital with which to start in life; but beyond a certain point it does not count for anything. Every man must bear His own burden. In the end, everyone must stand for himself. These people were depending upon their fine ancestry. Sin plays strange tricks with men. Insane people sometimes deck themselves out with tinsel, and imagine that they are some great personages. The devil puts similar notions into the heads of His deluded followers, making them think they are free - when in reality they are pitiful slaves.Jesus very promptly assured the rulers of the people that they were not free men. He said to them, "Whoever commits sin, is the slave of sin." Sin makes slaves of those who follow it. Everyone is the servant of some master, the only question being who the master is. Christ asks His disciples to take His yoke and to come under bondage to Him. His is not the bondage of compulsion - but of love and joy. Christ is a blessed Master. His yoke is easy; serving Him lifts one up to eternal glory. What sort of master is sin? What does sin do for its slaves? What life did it ever ennoble, lift up, or bless?There is a fable of man to whom the devil came, ordering a chain of a certain length. Coming for the chain at the appointed time, he ordered it made longer, and went away. When at last it was finished, he came again, and with it bound the poor man who had fashioned its links at his bidding. So sinners are everywhere building their own prison walls and with their own hands fashioning chains to bind them forever. There is only One in all the world who can set men free from the bondage of sin - Christ Himself. "If the Son therefore shall make you free - you shall be free indeed." There is not another one who can do this for us. He breaks the chains of personal enslavement on all who follow Him, putting His grace into their hearts and enabling them to overcome evil habits and conquer their evil nature. Sin begins with threads, and weaves ropes and cables around its slaves - until they are bound hand and foot in chains they have no power to break. But even those who are thus bound, Christ can set free. We all need Christ as liberator, emancipator, for we all have chains of some kind forming about us, chains of habit, of desire, of passion, of disposition, which will bind us and drag us down as slaves, unless we come to Christ and have Him free us from our bondage and make us free indeed!Jesus told the people further that day that, while they were genealogically Abraham's seed, yet they were continually doing inappropriate things, things which the children of Abraham should not do. They were seeking to kill Him, because His Word was not allowed to have free course in them. This was not the work of free men. Love is the law of freedom, and love was not in their hearts while they were so bitter against Him. He told them that if they were really Abraham's children they would do the works of Abraham. Their doing the works of the devil - proved that they were the devil's children, and not God's.It was not complimentary to these rulers, church dignitaries, to be called children of the devil - but Jesus read their hearts and saw murder and falsehood there under all their religious appearances and their boasted godly ancestry. Wherever these feeling and intentions are found - they indicate the devil's work. As the fruit of the Spirit in the heart is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, meekness, gentleness and kindness; so the fruit of the devil's indwelling are hatred, malice, envy, jealousy, and bitterness. If our lives have only the devil's characteristics, we cannot make claim to being God's children.

A unique type of devotional from the writings of James Russell Miller, published between 1908 and 1913.

Devotional Hours Within the Bible

John 8:31-40

The Slavery of Sin

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! § My brethren, you … have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. § Not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ. § The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. § Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Morning Daily Light

 Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free … Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin … Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage … For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” § Having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. § For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. § I will walk at liberty, for I seek Your precepts.

Evening Daily Light

 The perfect law of liberty. 

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. § The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. § If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free. § Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. § Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

 You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 

36 <woj>So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.</woj>

<woj>So if the Son sets you free,<cr>1</cr> you will be free indeed.</woj>

John 8:36

 36 So if the Son sets you free,   you will be free indeed.

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

<woj>So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.</woj>

 So if the Son sets you free,   you will be free indeed.

Bible Verse of the Day

April 24, 2000

John 8:36 NIV

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