Independence Day - Pt 2

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” (John 8:31-38 ESV). In our reading today, Jesus plainly told the Jews they were slaves to the sin of their lives; yet he came to set them free from that slavery. Slavery is not the only option available to the people who are the recipients of his grace. The new birth, secured through his death, burial, and resurrection truly sets us free forever. No one, not any man, nor Satan himself, can pry that freedom from our grasp. We are free already in our spirits, even though today we fight for the spiritual freedom of our own generation and our children and grandchildren from the oppression of the god of this world, Satan. We look ahead to a day when the oppressor will have been defeated. We know that, though the world around us is enslaved, "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and of death" (cf. Romans 8:2). We no longer have to be dominated by sin and the destruction and death it brings. There are two principles at work in these verses. We’ll look at one today and another tomorrow. The first is that our conversion is serious. It is a declaration of war. Some people believe Christians are pacifists, people who desire peace at any price, even if it means submitting to bondage. That is not what the Bible teaches. Yes, the Bible does say, "Blessed are the peacemakers." but those who understand Scripture know that peace is not obtained by non-action. It is obtained by taking up arms. No. I don't mean guns and bombs; but arms, nonetheless. Paul pointed this out: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Doesn't sound much like pacifism, does it? Paul says it is "war." But look more closely at the key words: “speculation, knowledge, thought.” This is a war of ideas. It is a battle for minds, and, as a direct result, it is a battle for the souls of men. We fight to keep men and women from losing their souls. When a Christian is called by the gospel of Christ and enlists as a servant of God, he enlists in an army at war with the errors and false ideas of this world. It is a conflict with long entrenched despots that go beyond this realm. You may be thinking that you don't want to see any war. All I want to see is peace. I want to feel good about myself and I want God and take care of all my needs. I don't want to feel any opposition. The day is gone when that choice is even remotely possible. We don’t live in that kind of America any more. Perhaps we never did. The conversion of a Christian is, like the Declaration of Independence, a declaration of war with Satan and his forces. Like it or not, that is the truth.