(John 8:31-41)
This evening at Transit, the Gospel of John made a come back! That’s right, after a short break to discuss Transit vision for this year and our year theme of Evangelism, we jumped back into our study of John. We’ve been at this for quite some time now, but as we discover every week there is still SO much more to learn!
This evening at Transit, the Gospel of John made a come back! That’s right, after a short break to discuss Transit vision for this year and our year theme of Evangelism, we jumped back into our study of John. We’ve been at this for quite some time now, but as we discover every week there is still SO much more to learn!
We asked a big, hard question based
on the passage of scripture we read.
“What keeps us from being free?”
In this passage, Jesus is speaking with a group of Jews who have decided to believe in Him. However, they are still confused about some of the things He is saying and teaching, one of them being “true freedom.” They are still thinking in terms of freedom from slavery and do not understand their need for freedom since they were born "free" as heirs of Abraham. Meaning, as heirs of Abraham (Jews) thy have always automatically belonged to God.
The freedom Jesus is referring to however, is
freedom from sin. Although they may not have been physically enslaved or born
into slavery, they were born into
sin. Jesus explains to them that if they really knew God and his word then they
would recognize Him (being Jesus) as the only way to real freedom.
We too are born into sin. The bottom line is
that we are sinful by nature despite our heritage, and therefore we are born
into slavery. The ONLY way for us to be truly free is to recognize Jesus Christ
as Lord and acknowledge that His blood shed on the cross is the only thing that
can set us free.
Often times people are confused and misled about
truth. We live in a society that claims there is no “absolute” truth and that
freedom from rules and truth is real
freedom. What Jesus tells us is that despite worldly views and our very fleshly
ideas, the only way that we can live authentically free is to give Him
authority in our lives and essentially to become a slave to Him.
Here
are some things to think about this week as you reflect on our home group
discussion
- How do you define “absolute” truth?
- What is the “absolute” truth by which you live your life?
- How have you personally experienced freedom in your own life through knowing the Truth of Jesus Christ?
*Feel
free to post any and all questions related to our discussion tonight in the
comment area below. You can also share anything you learn while pondering the
questions or engaging in the challenge. We are so excited to encourage each
other and grow even more in our studying of God’s word throughout the week!
This is a conversation! This is Transit Continued.
Most people I talk with have no idea of absolute truth. They argue that there are SO many religions and philosophies at work in the world, and most of them are all trying to do good things.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that most "Westernized" people are confused by the idea of absolute truth. But to think of truth as something that is not consistent across the board is actually pretty irrational. No matter your walk of life, childhood, personality type, culture, etc, 2+2 is always 4 (and I don't mean to oversimplify the situation). The fact is, the many different religions are substantially different in their views of the afterlife, of a deity or deities, and relationship with each other and the world, that they simply cannot all correctly coexist. Only one can be "truth," or they are all wrong.
DeleteThat was very well put, Josh. I think the scary thing is that people think freedom from TRTUH (being the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ) is real freedom. They believe that without rules and having to answer to anyone or anything they are free...when in reality, submission to Jesus Christ and his power and authority in our lives is the ONLY way to actually live in freedom for all of eternity. Therefore, if there is no God or if they make Jesus out to be nothing more than a "great teacher" there is no one to answer to and their "rules" are invalid. I think this is why people fight so hard to resist acknowledging that God is real, because if he is, then absolute truth is as well and then they can't be free the way they wish to be free.
ReplyDeleteThat is an interesting thought. Lewis talks about truth and Truth, where as all faiths have pieces of truth but Christianity is the Truth. Capital T VS lowercase t. That being said when you do look into the faiths around the world they have a lot in common -- this doesn't mean they are the same... but they are similar. That isn't dangerous.
ReplyDeleteMy question revolves around the idea of absolute. How is that determined. If you were born in America odds are you are connected to Christianity where as if you were born in the middle east... the odds are you would be Muslim. Both people may feel that they are following the absolute truth... BUT, how can a person know if their truth is the most "absolute"?
If I don't believe in the idea of sin, does any of this still apply to me?
ReplyDeleteI think even if a person doesn't believe in sin absolute truth still applies. Like Joshua said, "2+2 is always 4" whether you believe in an arbitrary numbering system or not. Because when you boil it down, the truth of the arbitrary numbering system is the only reason why we have cars, radio, architecture, and so on. In the same way, it does not matter if a person doesn't believe in sin. The truth is still in play. There is a cause and effect for the sin that is here, truth. Evil exists which plays into the existence of sin, truth. You do not have to believe in sin. But the effects still apply to you.
ReplyDeleteI hope this makes sense, does it?