The Only True Freedom (by John Piper)
Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)
There are at least four kinds of freedom. And each one adds a crucial dimension of freedom to the last until we get to the full freedom—"free indeed." Let me try to sum up these four kinds of freedom in one definition of full and complete freedom: You are fully free—completely free, free indeed—when you have the desire, the ability, and the opportunity to do what will make you happy in a thousand years. Or we could say, You are fully free when you have the desire, the ability, and the opportunity to do what will leave you no regrets forever.
- If you don't have the desire to do a thing, you are not fully free to do it. Oh, you may muster the will power to do what you don't want to do, but nobody calls that full freedom. It's not the way we want to live. There is a constraint and pressure on us that we don't want.
- And if you have the desire to do something, but no ability to do it, you are not free to do it.
- And if you have the desire and the ability to do something, but no opportunity to do it, you are not free to do it.
- And if you have the desire to do something, and the ability to do it, and the opportunity to do it, but it destroys you in the end, you are not fully free—not free indeed.
To be fully free, we must have the desire, the ability, and the opportunity to do what will make us happy forever. No regrets. And only Jesus, the Son of God who died and rose for us, can make that possible. If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed. To be happy forever, our sins must be forgiven and God's wrath removed and Christ must become our supreme Treasure. Only Jesus can do that. In fact, he has already done it. He died for our sins. He absorbed God's wrath. And he rose from the dead and is today therefore supremely precious. And he offers us that now as a free gift.
I just wrote a blog entry where I ask, who would you hold as your Grand Master. The one has to be completely righteous and completely able. I said if you have identified and believe that God is the one, do not waiver, follow Him wholeheartedly.
ReplyDeleteThe one completely righteous is free! Why do we often have problem of what to do or not to do, and so, hesitate or do not feel free to do? It is we are not completely righteous, on our own. It is possible for us to do a thing, and it turns out to be not the thing to do; but NOT for God who is completely righteous. Whatever He does, it is the thing to do, it is always right, cannot be wrong; when it is like that, He is free to act. Because He is completely able, what He wants to do, He can accomplish it, and so, God is indeed with absolute freedom. Scripture recorded for us, a pagan King said of God that way, that everything He does is right, and He is able. This King was Nebuchadnezzar, and he said this (after God protected the 3 friends of Daniel in the fiery furnace):
Daniel 4:37 - Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
The Lord, He being God, glorified and restored of His Divinity, too, is with the same absolute freedom. Now, when nothing is impossible with the Lord, and indeed, nothing is impossible, for nothing He will do, can be wrong, or too difficult for Him, when He is completely righteous and completely able. When nothing is impossible for the Lord, it means He has complete freedom to do what He wants to do. In other words, there is no such a thing as "no, ain't can do" with Lord, or we say, there is no such thing as "it cannot happen", with the Lord, and when things always happen, they are not only true, but truths. Jesus Himself said of Himself as the truth (John 14:6). Scripture, in Ps 33:4 said this: For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth. And then there is the text from John you quoted: John 8:31-32 - Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, .... you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32).
Who is the Truth? The Lord, Jesus. Who has absolute freedom? The Lord, Jesus. Whose words are truths? The Lord, Jesus'. What will truth do for you? Set you free - John 8:32. Now, from whom can you get freedom or liberty? From the one who has absolute freedom and is freedom. Who is he? The Lord, Jesus. How? Abide in Him. How? Abide in His words - John 8:31. How? Be in agreement with the Lord or His words. What does in agreement with the Lord mean? It means to be right on, as to what the Lord wants done, and at the time He wants done. In other words, you do what the Lord would do. Whatever the Lord does, it is done in His absolute freedom. In other words, we, to be of full freedom, it is found only in the Lord, in abiding in the Lord. Is it not true, what you do from that abiding in the Lord, it will be right, you will not be faulted, and you cannot fail, for it is what the Lord would do. When you abide in the Lord, His will or desire has become your will or desire. Your will or desire cannot, but be the same as His will or desire, and so, why would He NOT see to it that what you do is successful.
True freedom is found in the Lord, for He is the Judge and He will judge. From this angle, one can see the Lord cannot be saying what He would do (which you will do) is NOT right or should NOT done.
Fee, hope it is NOT too deep for you!
Anthony Chia, high.expressions