Free Indeed

“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

A man on death row might be free without knowing it; a pardon may have been issued, but the news has not yet reached his ears. All the while, the prisoner is wringing his hands, fearing death. He is already pardoned and free by the word of the Governor, but not yet set at liberty—not “free indeed.”

How many of the dear people of God, pardoned and having everlasting life, are at this moment subject to bondage through ignorance! Even though deliverance from the power of sin is theirs according to the divine counsels, the word of God has not yet reached them. They are not yet conscious of their freedom, and they remain downcast in their current condition.

The Lord said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). He spoke of what the truth should bring about: that we should be in perfect liberty. Jesus Himself has broken the bars of the prison, and has opened its doors and vanquished the power of sin. He, the Victor, snaps asunder the chains of each individual believer by giving to each heart the conscious knowledge of His resurrection power, and of eternal life which secures the believer beyond the law, sin, and death.

Where the freeing hand of the Son of God has touched us, there is not only conscious liberty, but great joy in Himself, for salvation is of the Lord, and He has triumphed gloriously. Sin has been suffered for, and put away for all who believe. Satan has been overthrown—the Victor has risen from among the dead! Jesus is our strength and song.

—Condensed from The Child of God by H. Forbes Witherby.