In his teachings to the Jews at the temple, Jesus used himself as an example of how we are to live today to be Christians that are full of the holy spirit. Jesus first made it very clear that the Jews that were arguing with him were not free, even though the so-called believing Jews thought they were free.

John 8:31-32  So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

The Jews, not understanding what Jesus was conveying to them, responded to Jesus that they were descendants of Abraham and as such had “never yet” been enslaved to anyone. The Jews wondered how Jesus could say they “will” be free. They thought of themselves as always being free.

John 8:34-35  Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.

Here Jesus is telling them that slaves come and go, but the son of the house dwells there forever. This could be metaphorical for the Kingdom to come, but is certainly stating the temporariness of being a slave. What were the Jews slaves to? Jesus stated in verse 34 that they were slaves to sin. Jesus then clearly states what it is that frees us.

John 8:36  So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

Jesus Christ is the only one who could make the Jews free at that time and all of us free from sin today. Time may have passed between the earlier situation recorded in John 8:1-11 where the Scribes and Pharisees threw the woman caught in adultery down before his feet. The end result was that the Jews were convicted of their sin and left the area. The woman’s sin was then forgiven, and Jesus told her to go and sin no more. Their sin was placed before them, yet they did not see it for what it was.

Jesus’ words are showing us that there is light and darkness. The light is Yahweh and Christ, and the darkness is sin and the devil. Restated, Jesus Christ is the light and brings light into the world, and sin and darkness are temporary and belong to the devil. Following the light of the world means that we will have the light of life.

John 8:12  Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

Very specifically, Jesus is saying that when we accept him as Messiah, we will have the ability to have the light of life. The caveat is that we follow him.

John 8:38  I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.”

Jesus now is getting much more specific. The Jews were saying their father was Abraham; Jesus was saying his Father is Yahweh. They were full of murderous treachery and that comes from Satan which Jesus remarked about in John 8:44. They were doing the things that they heard from their father. We are to be as Christ and do the things that we hear from Yahweh, exclusively.

John 8:44  You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 8:47  He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.

With the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and the gift of holy spirit available to us since the day of Pentecost, we now have the ability to walk in the light. The light and truth are synonymous for Christ, and the gift of holy spirit is that which God made available for us. Without it we cannot walk in the light and truth. Without the light, we are in darkness, and our father is the devil. The new man nature (by way of holy spirit) is that which releases us from being slaves to sin. The old man nature has no choice but to be a slave to the devil and sin.

Romans 6:13  and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

We have a choice every day to remain free. We believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is the Son of God, and that God raised him from the dead into a spiritual body and seated him at Yahweh’s right hand. We receive holy spirit. Christ is exalted above all angels, principalities, and humankind. Holy spirit gives us the enablement to live as Christ loved, healed, preached, and was sinless, as well as receiving knowledge, wisdom, and power from the risen Christ and Yahweh.

Jesus was telling the Jews in this record in John that they were not accepting Yahweh as their Father because they did not accept Jesus as Yahweh’s Son. We do this so much today over and over. We accept sin in our lives deluding ourselves that we love Yahweh and He is our Father. When we consistently and deliberately allow ourselves to be deceived into thinking we can sin a little here and there or stay in sin for a long time, we are in reality following the father of lies.

When we have accepted Christ as our Messiah, we can become a new creation in Christ. We are able to rely on the holy spirit to teach us, heal us, comfort us, and guide us all day, all night, every day. Holiness and righteous living are only available if we accept Christ and his words. As the holy spirit guides and strengthens us, we consistently change our thinking and emotions that lead to freewill choices that are righteous. When we belong to Christ, we are free from being slaves to sin. We can now put on the new thoughts and emotions and build the character of the word in our hearts with prayer, knowledge of the Scriptures, faith, and self-discipline.

Jesus was the epitome of the essence of living as an instrument of righteousness. His thoughts, emotions, his will and body were all under subjection to Yahweh. The gift of holy spirit given to us today allows us to do and be as he was and is. We are enabled to live in the new man nature, having Yahweh as our Father.

Christ has sanctified us through the holy spirit to be separate and apart from sin. As the son is in the house forever, we are given a gift that enables us to be in Yahweh’s presence now and forever. This gift is free. Yet, it is not without cost. Christ paid a dear price for us. What it costs us is letting go of the past and its pains and pleasures, pride, lust and greed, selfishness, lack of compassion, and so on. Some days, we get weak and think that it is okay to indulge ourselves in the old man nature. It isn’t ever okay. We have been freed from sin. Our Father is our loving Yahweh who is full of compassion and grace. We are to live in the new nature as Jesus did all the time because we love Yahweh and we have become free indeed.

Romans 6:22-23  But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.