You Can Be Set Free from Sin and Death

Introduction

In the series "Good News with Many Facets" preached at the Tabernacle on the consequences of Jesus's death and resurrection, this message tackles a new facet: being set free. Drawing from John 8:31-36, the sermon unfolds a three-level path, like the worlds of a video game you must clear one by one. To live free, you must first accept the truth about your status, then access the freedom Jesus offers, and finally learn to live free without falling back into blindness.

Sermon Outline

1. Facing the truth: accepting the diagnosis of slavery

Jesus is speaking to Jews who have just put their faith in him, but who bristle as soon as he tells them they can become free.
The Pharisees answer: "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone", a complete blindness, even though the Jewish people had endured 430 years of slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:40) and 70 years in Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:20-21), and were at that very moment occupied by the Romans.
What dominates them is pride: the refusal to consider that Jesus is giving the true diagnosis of their life.
Jesus is not talking about political slavery but spiritual slavery: "Everyone who sins is a slave to sin." To sin is to miss the mark, to refuse God's will, to want to govern yourself.
As long as you stay stuck at this level, you cannot move to the next one, and this is not a temporary setback, it leads to eternal death. The first monster to fight is the lie.

2. Accessing freedom: remaining in the word

"If you remain in my word, you are truly my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Jesus's path begins with "remaining."
"Remaining" is neither a one-time practice nor a fleeting emotional fervor. Frédéric Godet, quoted in the annotated Bible on John and Acts, offers a powerful image: we remain in the word the way we remain in the air we breathe, pulling out of it is painful, and leads to death.
How many times do you trade your Jesus-oxygen for the air of travel, material comfort, pleasure, fashion, entertainment, or fleshly pleasure? What is filling your lungs right now?
The truth to recognize is that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, as Peter confessed (Matthew 16), a revelation that comes from the Father and not from the flesh.
Knowing this truth is a profound transformation: you are no longer dominated by your pride, by your way of seeing things, by your former thoughts, by sin. This truth frees you from sin, and therefore from death.

3. Living free: not falling back into blindness

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." Jesus moves you from the house where the slave does not remain forever to the Father's house, where the son remains for eternity.
Freedom in Jesus is not first and foremost about no longer sinning: it is a radical change of who holds authority over you. The slave acts out of constraint and fear; the free child acts out of a relationship of love and trust with the Master who has conquered everything at the cross.
God no longer considers you based on what you do but based on the work of Jesus for you: his blood has been shed, and you are now called a child of God.
A word of caution: the apostle Paul warns in Galatians 5:13 not to turn this freedom into a pretext for living as before. In Romans 6:18, he goes further: we now become "slaves of righteousness," once again submitted to the authority of our Father.
Conclusion, Colossians 2:6-7: "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

Key Takeaways

You cannot be set free if you refuse to hear Jesus's diagnosis of your life. The first obstacle is your pride.
Biblical sin is not merely a moral failing: it is wanting to govern yourself in God's place.
"Remaining in the word" is lived like breathing: a permanent, natural, indispensable relationship.
Freedom in Jesus is a change of who holds authority over you, not merely a change of behavior, you move from fear of a master to trust in the Son.
Once free, vigilance is still needed: freedom is never a pretext for returning to your old life.

Personal Application

Where is your pride making you refuse Jesus's diagnosis of your life today? What "we have never been slaves of anyone" still lives in your heart?
What is truly filling your lungs right now: the word of Jesus, or the air of comfort, entertainment, pleasure, work?
Is your relationship with the word a one-time practice or a form of breathing? What concrete habit can you put in place this week to "remain"?
Do you live your relationship with God like a slave who fears punishment, or like a child who responds to the Father's love?
Is there an area where you use your Christian freedom as a pretext for going back to old habits? What is Romans 6:18 telling you to do about it today?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Jesus mean when he declares "everyone who sins is a slave to sin"?

Jesus is not talking about political or social slavery, but spiritual slavery. To sin is to miss the mark: to live contrary to what God wants, to refuse his will, to want to be independent and govern yourself. The slavery Jesus speaks of is the domination of the spirit by this prideful independence. As long as you do not acknowledge this diagnosis, you cannot be set free.

Concretely, what does "remaining in the word" mean?

It is neither a one-time reading nor a fleeting emotional fervor. Jesus calls us to a permanent and natural relationship, comparable to breathing: we remain in the word the way we remain in the air. Pulling ourselves out of it is painful. This calls for listening, meditating, and being accompanied, at the Tabernacle, courses exist to help you better understand what God wants to tell you.

If Jesus has set me free, why should I still watch over my life?

Because we still live on this earth and Jesus's return has not yet come. The apostle Paul warns twice: do not turn your freedom into a pretext for living as before (Galatians 5:13), and instead become a "slave of righteousness" to God (Romans 6:18). Staying free requires continuing to remain in the word and to cultivate closeness with the Lord Jesus.

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