| Christian Life and Doctrine | November 1969 |
Our Liberty in Christ
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” —John 8:31-32
ACCORDING to our text, freedom in Christ depends upon the believer’s continuance in his “word.” What is the word of Jesus? Briefly we might say that it is his teachings, particularly those instructions which pertain to his consecrated followers. These teachings emanated from his Heavenly Father, for Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” (John 14:10) In a prayer, near the close of his ministry, Jesus said of his disciples, “I have given unto them the words which thou gayest me.”—John 17:8
The teachings of Jesus were a true reflection of the plan of God for the human salvation as set forth by God’s inspired servants throughout the entire Bible. Continuance in these teachings is a prerequisite to our abiding in the grace of God, and enjoying the freedom which is provided for us through Jesus. Continuance in the Word is essential to the obtaining of the fruition of our glorious hope. Paul speaks of those “who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.”—Rom. 2:7
While the teachings of Jesus embraced the whole plan of God, of special concern to us, his disciples, are those teachings which relate to our discipleship. What is involved in being a disciple of Christ? Jesus said to Peter, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matt. 16:24) Note that this is a denial of self, not the denial of special pleasure which we might enjoy. It is the renunciation of self, and all that that implies.
Different illustrations of this are given in the New Testament. One of these is “beheading.” (Rev. 20:4) What this means is that we give up our own wills, and accept Christ’s headship over our lives. It is thus that we become qualified for membership in his body, as outlined by Paul in the 12th chapter of I Corinthians. Every member in this body has a function to perform, even as in a natural body, but only the Head does the directing, for all the members have renounced the right to direct their own lives. It is incumbent upon them to seek, through study of the Word and through prayer, to determine the Lord’s will for them under all circumstances.
The “Strait” Gate
Jesus said, “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matt. 7:14) The Greek word here translated “strait” has more the thought of “narrow.” Strong defines it as being narrow “from objects standing close about.” Because this gate is made narrow by “objects standing close about” it is difficult to enter, and after we pass through the gate, the way beyond is also narrow and difficult. Only if we continue in this narrow and difficult way will we know the truth and will the truth make us free.
And oh, how many things there are which are standing close about to limit easy access to the narrow way! Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matt. 19:23,24) The “needle’s eye” here mentioned by Jesus is evidently a reference to the small gate within one of the larger gates in the wall surrounding Jerusalem. This small gate was called the needle’s eye. A camel could pass through this gate only by having its load removed, and edging through on its knees.
Thus we are reminded that “riches” is one of the things “standing close about” which makes the gate to the narrow way very difficult to enter. These riches are not necessarily of money, or lands. They might be worldly ambitions, or any of the old things of the world and the flesh which stand in one’s way and make difficult the entering of the narrow way of sacrifice. Worldly friendships and pleasures are among these. One may not actually have riches, but have a consuming ambition to attain riches. This too would stand in the way and make it difficult to enter the gate into the narrow way.
The Narrow Way
After entering the “strait” gate we find ourselves in a way that is also narrow and difficult. It is here that we need the quality of steadfastness and of patient endurance. To pass through the “gate” calls for the renouncing of self, and this abnegation of self must continue throughout our entire Christian course if we are to continue rejoicing in the Lord and in his truth. This endurance must be to the very end of the narrow way, the way that ends in death, if we are to receive the crown of life.
And it is difficult to maintain a position of full consecration to the Lord, for on every side there are influences which would draw us away from our steadfastness if we willfully permit them to do so. The spirit of the world and its pleasures never cease to have some attraction for the disciple of Christ—more so for some than for others. The love of the flesh for ease and comfort might very well lure one away from full devotion to the Lord’s will, when his will calls for sacrifice in his service.
As disciples we are followers of Jesus, and he is our great Exemplar. Paul admonished us to look unto him who is “the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.”—Heb. 12:24
The Hebrew brethren to whom Paul wrote had endured much. In the beginning of their walk in the narrow way they endured “a great fight of affliction.” They had been made a “gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; … partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.” They had taken joyfully the spoiling of their goods. (Heb. 10:32-34) But, as Paul pointed out to these brethren, they had not, as had Jesus, “resisted unto blood”; that is, they had not as yet fully laid down their lives walking in the narrow way of sacrifice. This we must all do before we hear the Master’s “Well done.”
The Easy Yoke
Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30) The promise here of the easy yoke and the light burden is not out of harmony with Jesus’ teachings relative to the difficulties of the narrow way of sacrifice. The contrast is with the burden which the scribes and Pharisees had laid upon the people, burdens which were too heavy for most of them to bear. The yoke of the Law was also a most restricting one for the imperfect Israelites to wear.
Jesus offered his disciples a new yoke, a yoke which they could share with him. The yoke placed upon cattle, or other beasts of burden, is a restricting device. We cannot think of wearing a yoke of any kind without being reminded of bondage. In our case the bondage is to Jesus, for sharing the yoke with him means that we go where he wants us to go. When a pair of oxen are yoked together their liberty for individual action is lost. They must pull together and work together.
It is thus that we enjoy liberty in Christ. He is our yoke-fellow, and we have full liberty to work with him in his yoke. He is the One who decides the direction in which we should go. If we gladly yield our wills to him, the yoke is easy, and the burden we bear together is light. But if we resist, we find ourselves in a very difficult position, feeling restrained and burdened. If we work with Jesus in the yoke, he helps us to bear our share of the load, thus making the yoke easy and the burden light.
Knowing the Truth
Jesus said that if we continue in his word we shall know the truth. This means the truth concerning him and concerning his Father’s plans and purposes. It means also that we shall know the truth concerning our own part in the plan of God; that part being the privilege we have of walking in the Master’s footsteps. We come to know more and more by precept and by experience why the Christian way is called a narrow way. We learn of the restrictions imposed upon those who travel this way against yielding to the influences of the world, and the cravings of our fallen flesh.
As we grow in grace and in knowledge we learn that there is a real and blessed purpose in our being called to walk in the narrow way. We learn that while this way will lead to life for ourselves, if we are faithful to the end, it also means that the faithful ones will share with Jesus in his rulership through which all the families of the earth will be blessed. (Gal. 3:8,16,27-29) We learn that those who in the future will have the privilege of attaining life will travel over a different “way of life,” a “highway” which will lead to holiness and to perfection of human life.—Isa. 35:8
Made Free
These are but some of the points of truth which are learned and appreciated by those who continue in the word of Jesus; and, as Jesus said, those who know this truth and continue in it are made free by it. Those who first heard these wonderful words of life from the lips of Jesus replied to him, saying, “We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?” (John 8:33) These Israelites tried to make themselves believe that they had never been in bondage, but in reality they were. Even then they were in bondage to the Roman Empire; and they were in bondage to their own religious leaders.
But in his reply to their question Jesus ignored these aspects of bondage, and explained what he really had in mind when he said that the truth would make those free who would continue in it. He said, “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house forever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”—John 8:34-36
It is plain from this that Jesus was referring to being made free from the bondage of sin, and this, he said, would be accomplished by him. The whole world, through the transgression of our first parents, is in bondage to sin, and is held in a slavery to it which leads eventually to death. Jesus alone can and does give freedom from this bondage. He prepared the way for this through his work of redemption in giving his life a ransom for sin. By faith, those who accept this provision, and demonstrate their faith by their works, are released from slavery to sin by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
This is the freedom that is attained and maintained by continuing in the word of Jesus; that is, by faithfulness to the terms of discipleship which he so clearly and unequivocally set forth. This freedom does not imply liberty of action as we lay down our lives in his service, but it does call for faithfulness in the divine cause; a faithfulness which leads to sacrificial death following in his footsteps.
Paul wrote, “He that is dead is freed from sin.” The reference here is to being dead with Christ, being planted together in the likeness of his sacrificial death. (Rom. 6:7,8) The marginal translation reads, “He that is dead [with Christ] is justified from sin”; that is, his justification makes him free from the penalty of sin, which is death. His freedom from sin means freedom from the penalty of sin, and this freedom is granted only to those who have dedicated their lives to continuing in the word of Christ. Their freedom is on the basis of faith, and they have the privilege of laying down their justified lives in sacrifice for sin, as Paul points out in Romans 6:10,11. Paul adds the admonition, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” (Rom. 6:12) This is one of the great struggles of the Christian. Having been made free from sin, and now laying down his justified life as a sacrifice, as a part of the “better sacrifices” of the Gospel Age, he must not allow sin to hold sway over him. He must hate sin, and struggle against all the efforts of his fallen flesh to serve sin rather than the Lord Jesus with whom he is yoked.
Proper Use of Liberty
Paul wrote that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (II Cor. 3:17) Those who have renounced self and become filled with the Spirit of the Lord as the directing influence in their lives have full liberty to lay down their lives in his service, following his instructions as they are outlined in his Word. They do not have the liberty to walk in one direction while their yokefellow, Jesus Christ, goes in another. If they do not work with him, then they are in bondage. The Spirit of the Lord does not grant anyone liberty to do as he pleases, except as he pleases to do the will of his Heavenly Father.
The Apostle James presents a meaningful lesson. We quote: “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”—James 1:22-25
From this it is clear that “the perfect law of liberty” is the law of the new creation revealed in God’s Word. It is the “word” of Jesus, which, if we continue therein, assures freedom from condemnation to death. It is the “new commandment” which Jesus gave; the commandment which calls on his disciples to love one another as he loved them, which means to lay down our lives for the brethren. Only by looking into this law, and applying it, can we expect to be blessed of the Lord.
James presents the truth concerning a common human failing, which is to be hearers of the Word and not doers. How easy it is to read and study the harmonious and inspiring plan of God as we find it in the Bible, and do nothing about it, except to be glad that God has such a plan! But the truths of the divine plan are in the Word in order to guide and strengthen us in the laying down of our lives. We are to manifest self-sacrificing love for our brethren, and for all mankind. It is this that the truth gives us the liberty of doing.
Standing Fast in Liberty
The Apostle Paul wrote, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Gal. 5:1) The “yoke of bondage” here referred to is the Law Covenant under which the Israelites served the Lord from Sinai to the cross. It was a “yoke of bondage” because of the inability of the Israelites to meet the conditions of the Law, and they did not have the merit of Christ to cover their unwilling imperfections. We wear the yoke of Christ, but it is not bondage; first, because we delight to do our Heavenly Father’s will, and because the merit of Jesus’ sacrifice guarantees that as we lay down our lives in divine service our sacrifice will be holy and acceptable to the Lord. What a glorious freedom from bondage even while wearing the “yoke” of Christ!
Made Free by the Son
Our liberty in Christ, then, is a liberty we enjoy because we have been made free by the Son, and those who have been made free by the Son “are free indeed.” (John 8:36) This is an individual freedom from the death condemnation, made possible through the redemptive work of Christ, and which had come to us through a faith which has been demonstrated by the dedication of ourselves to the doing of God’s will as expressed through Christ.
And, as we have seen, this dedication to the divine cause makes us bond slaves of Jesus Christ. We are made free from sin that we might serve righteousness, and our service of the righteous cause of the Heavenly Father is the laying down of our lives in sacrifice that others may be blessed. But how blessed the thought that while we are sacrificing our little all in divine service we can have the assurance that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!—Rom. 8:1
How wonderfully, then, is the love of God manifested toward us through Christ Jesus our Lord! And since it is God, through Christ, who has justified us, no one can lay anything to the charge of God’s elect, and we have the blessed assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God. How precious is the truth that makes us free!