Reformation John 8:31-36 “Jesus Sets You Free”

Jeremiah 31:31-34 Romans 3:19-28 John 8:31-36

Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

But what does it mean, when our Lord says, “hold to my teaching?" Well a better translation would be, “If you abide in Me, you are really my disciples.  To abide means to rest, to dwell, and to be united in thought word and deed. To abide in the Word is to abide in Jesus, who is the Word in human Flesh, the Word Incarnate. Jesus is that Incarnate Word nailed to the cross for the sins of the world; raised from the dead for our justification. The Incarnate Word now reigns over heaven and earth so that all who believe in Him might share of His glory. To abide in the Word is to rest in Jesus' death, His resurrection, and His ascension, to believe that He is your death, your life, your glory, and your salvation.

To abide in the Word is to be baptized into His death and into His life. Through baptism we are made members of His body, the Church which in turn is made up of all believers. We are washed with the water and the Word, in the triune Name of God. We are clothed with Christ in Baptism, covered with His righteousness. To abide in Jesus' word is to abide in Jesus' baptism.

To hold to His teaching is also to hear the Word, cling to it in faith, and obey it. We cannot abide in Jesus' word unless His word abides in us. "Faith comes by hearing," St. Paul says. Hearing requires worship and preaching in a manner in which the majority of people can understand it, not in Latin or in verbose terms.  So God has called and ordained preachers to speak the Word accurately and concisely. Martin Luther said the Church was to be a "mouthhouse for the forgiveness of sins," a place where the Gospel would be preached and heard.

To abide in the Word is also to abide in the Scriptures, which the Holy Spirit caused to be written and collected by men for our learning. Luther's translation of the Bible into the language of the people in conjunction with the printing press brought the Scriptures to people in a way that made the Bible available to the masses.

But by making the Bible available in such a way brought with it a new set of problems. Luther saw the danger of the Scriptures becoming separated from the Church. He was concerned that people would interpret the Bible with their own sinful inclinations. Whenever someone disagrees with the Church's teaching, we hear "That's your interpretation, Pastor, but we don’t believe it." That's why there are now literally thousands of protestant denominations, all claiming to have the true and correct interpretation of the Bible.  However Saint Peter tells us, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)

 Luther realized that Scripture alone was the Source of all teaching. Scripture is to be preached in all of its truth and purity in Worship and carried out in practice among all believers. Just as Martin Luther fought against the Roman Catholic Church to defend the scriptures against unscriptural practices, we fight to defend the Scripture against the two ditches along the road comprised of liberalism on the one hand and extreme fundamentalism on the other. Unfortunately many congregations have fallen into one ditch or the other.  And even many who call themselves Lutherans no longer believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God.

The average person in the pew today does not know the Scriptures and has turned to the world for spiritual answers.  Only the Scripture however can make us ‘wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.’ We need to read the Scriptures daily, to learn them, mark them, "inwardly digest them."

In the Word we receive the spoken word of forgiveness. The Lutheran Reformers did not do away with confession and absolution they reformed it. Through the work of Luther, Melanchthon and others, the called and ordained servant of Christ could, freely speak the free forgiveness won by Jesus’ death on the cross. Now the penitent could hear the "for you" of the Gospel as surely as if Christ himself were speaking to him. To abide in Jesus' word is to abide in His forgiveness. That word of forgiveness is found in abundance throughout the liturgy and the hymns sung in worship.

And we abide in Jesus' Word when we eat and drink His Supper. "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me," Jesus says, "and I in him." (John 6:56) With His words He gives us His own body and blood to eat and to drink. His words speak to us in our need, "given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins." We eat His body and drink His blood. We abide in Him by faith, believing His words. And He abides in us with His body and blood. In Him, we are free to do God’s will without fear of God’s wrath.

Because Jesus came to free us. He is the one and only Son who became a slave so that the slaves might become adopted sons. He purchased our freedom two thousand years ago with His death. He offers and applies His freedom to us here and now: in the Word that is preached in your hearing, in the water poured on your heads, in the Body and Blood you receive with your mouths and in the forgiveness spoken in the stead and by the command of Christ. "You are free," Jesus says to you in so many ways. And if the Son makes you free, you are truly free."

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Jesus has made atonement for your sins by His sacrifice on the cross. The Law which accused you was nailed to the cross in the body of Jesus. Christ was made sin for us. He replaced the murderer, the thief, the blasphemer, the disrespectful child, and the liar, for you, and stood in your place of punishment. And on account of Jesus God gave you a share in His righteousness.

Your freedom in Christ makes you exempt from punishment under the Law. Christ received the punishment of our sins. No believer in Christ can say, "God is punishing me for my sins."

Jesus received in His own body the full punishment for our sins. Our misfortunes and suffering may be the discipline of a loving father who treats us as sons. God certainly disciplines the children he loves, but always out of His fatherly goodness and mercy, never in His wrath.

Freedom in Christ is freedom from sin. "Sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under Law but under grace." Freedom is not being able to do what we by nature want to do. Real freedom means that we are now able to do what we ought to do and want to do it.  Luther was a living example of someone who lived in the Word.  Once he discovered the essentials of Jesus’ teaching; the gospel of justification by grace through faith alone, he knew the truth.  The truth set him free—free from the guilt and sin that haunted him most of his life and free to stand steadfast to the word of God.

We also are free under the lordship of Jesus Christ. We do not have freedom to sin; rather we are freed from sin. This freedom we realize now only in part. The old sinful nature still rears its ugly head from time to time, keeping us from being as free as we truly are. On that day however, when we have been clothed with immortality, we will truly be free. 
In the name of Jesus, Amen.

(The outline for this sermon was based on a sermon by Pastor Cwirla.)