Yet notice that Jesus links abiding in His word—every word of God—with knowing the truth and becoming free. God’s way leads to freedom, but it is freedom as God defines it, not as humanity defines it. While the carnal mind strives to be free of God’s law (Romans 8:7), true freedom lies in worshiping the true God in the way He instructs. That is how we remain free from bondage to this world, to its ruler, and to sin itself. Being free of those things and being one with God is true freedom.
Verse 32 mentions knowing the truth as a result of abiding in God’s word, and that leads to the truth making us free. The Greek word under truth is alethia (Strong’s 225). It signifies the essence or the reality of a thing, which goes beyond just having facts. One may have the facts about an event, but that isn’t going to make one free. The spiritual reality that Christ is talking about is understood through living His way, as He says, but ultimately, it is talking about knowing Him. He says in John 14:6 that He is the way, the truth, and the life.
So, it is not some sort of abstract, Zen enlightenment we should seek in order to be free, but rather the divine embodiment of what is real, which is Christ. This is why, in verse 36, He says that if the Son makes us free, we will have true freedom. The truth that leads to freedom, and which keeps us from returning to the house of bondage, comes from and through the Son. Seeking truth and seeking spiritual freedom means seeking Him.
What the Jews say in verse 33, on the surface, appears to be one of the most absurd statements recorded in the Bible. They had been enslaved by the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and were, at that time, under the thumb of the Romans. It seems bizarre that they could say this with a straight face.
Maybe that was the case here. However, it is also possible that the Jews meant something different than the way it comes through in this translation. The word translated “bondage” means slavery or service. What is important, though, is that the slavery or service described by this word can either be voluntary or involuntary. So, even though the Jews had been conquered numerous times, and they knew it, they may have been asserting that they had never voluntarily served anyone—it was always under duress. When ancient Judah was conquered by Babylon, the Jews proudly rebelled and refused to submit to Nebuchadnezzar’s yoke, even when God’s prophets told them to. In other words, they may have been asserting that they had retained their honor. They had never willingly submitted to servitude but had always opposed it, because servitude was seen as dishonorable.
But Jesus answered with a foundational truth with far-reaching implications: "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” Sin is what restricts our freedom. Sin causes us to serve it rather than live an abundant life with the Creator and serve Him.
This ties in with what we have seen. There are two opposing forces in our lives. On one hand, there is the worship of God in the way He prescribes. His instructions define sin—they define what takes us away from God and His freedom, and especially the First, Second, and Fourth Commandments. Idolatry and Sabbath-breaking are directly linked to slavery. When we abide in His Word, we are His disciples, and we become and remain free because we come to know the embodiment of Truth through keeping His Word.
But on the other hand is the transgression of His instructions, which is sin (I John 3:4), which enslaves us, bringing us back into the house of bondage.
The perfect law points to God's will which was fulfilled and revealed through Jesus Christ. It is perfect because it is whole, complete, and leads to maturity (James 1:4). The expression law of liberty seems paradoxical and a blatant contradiction to most professing antinomian, anarchistic Protestants. How can any kind of law bring freedom?
Jesus' half-brother James insists that true freedom can only be found in obedience to God, not in autonomy. When God's chosen saints follow God's Word, containing God's law, they are liberated from sin's bondage and self-deception. We must remember our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ's teaching in John 8:31-32, If you abide in My word. . . the truth will set you free.
In verse 25, James uses the expression and perseveres (ESV), suggesting that the blessing does not come from merely a single act of looking or doing, but from continued, sustained faithful practice. The word suggests endurance and steadfastness. My dear brothers and sisters, we must regard our discipleship as a sustained habit, not just a momentary impulse. When James uses the phrase being not hearer but a doer who acts, he continues his contrast between passive reception and active obedience. The forgetful hearer represents superficial religion, that is, hearing sermons or reading Scripture without transformation.
The doer (that should be us) who acts lives out the Word, embodies faith through conduct. When James uses the phrase he will be blessed in his doing, he maintains that this blessing is not merely a reward after obedience but is in the doing itself. When we obey God's Word containing His holy and spiritual law, we obtain spiritual flourishing, joy, and alignment with our divine purpose, a concept which is echoed in Psalm 1, Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord.
James 1:25 forms the thesis or central theme for the entire letter, that authentic faith expresses itself in action, rejecting both legalism (mechanical and rote rule following) and passive religious behavior, asserting that obedience to Christ's teaching is not bondage, but true freedom.
Consequently, we are obligated to meditate deeply, engage in Scripture with attentiveness, reflection, and an ardent desire to apply it to our behavior. We must exercise perseverance, making obedience a consistent practice rather than an occasional response.
We are urged to actively live out faith, realizing that spiritual maturity does not come from information, but instead transformation, converting God's holy and spiritual law into genuine behavior. We must find joy in obedience, realizing that the blessing which James refers to is the inner satisfaction of walking in absolute alignment with God's will.
As God's called-out saints, we must keep God's Word central in our daily decisions, simplifying our choices by asking: What does God's Word say?
They never knew the truth. All the way through my first part of this sermon I was telling you they did not understand the Last Great Day at all. They thought that they were free. In their sincerity in what they were doing, in their misconception, they thought they were truly the sons, the children, the daughters of Abraham, and they were not because they did not have the fruit to prove that they were the children of Abraham.
