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I. TRUE FREEDOM INVOLVES THAT OF THE SOUL.

1. A man may be physically free without being free indeed.

2. A man may be socially free without being free indeed. He may be in the full enjoyment of social and political privileges and yet a captive.

3. A man may be mentally free without being free indeed. His intellect may be sound and grasping, his mental vision clear and far reaching, and still be a prisoner.

4. True freedom involves that of the soul. For:

(1) The soul is the highest part of man - that which makes him a moral being and immortal, and connects him immediately with God and his government, and with spiritual existence generally.

(2) His highest nature must be free ere he can be free indeed. He may be physically bound and be really free, but if the soul, the spiritual nature, be in bondage, it affects his whole being.

II. TRUE FREEDOM INVOLVES THAT OF THE SOUL FROM SIN.

1. Sin makes the soul captive to the Divine Law. Sin is a transgression of Divine Law, and must be punished. "The wages of sin is death." The sinful soul is under the just condemnation of the Law and the displeasure of the Lawgiver, a prisoner of the Law and justice.

2. Sin makes the soul captive to itself. "Whosoever committeth sin," etc. In the degree a man is under the control of sin, he is its slave. Sin enslaves the soul.

(1) It dims its spiritual vision. Cannot see into the invisible and eternal.

(2) It vitiates its spiritual taste. Cannot relish spiritual food.

(3) It cramps and destroys its spiritual aspirations and capacities. Its wings are clipped by sin so that it cannot and will not fly aloft into its native air.

(4) It debars the soul from its spiritual rights and privileges. The peace and friendship of God, and the society of the good and pure.

3. All souls by nature are in the bondage of sin.

(1) Some are unconscious of it, like these Jews - a sad condition.

(2) Some are conscious of it - a more hopeful state.

(3) Whether conscious or unconscious of it, the fact remains. The soul by nature is the slave of sin and in the bondage of corruption.

4. In order to be truly free, the soul must be liberated from sin. A state of wilful sin is a Stats of willing captivity, and deliverance from it is essential to true freedom.

III. TRUE FREEDOM OF THE SOUL FROM SIN IS EFFECTED BY CHRIST.

1. He can liberate the soul from sin.

(1) He has power to pardon sin, Without this the soul cannot be made free. The sense of past guilt must be effaced, and a way of escape must be opened. This has been done by Christ in his self-sacrificing and vicarious life and death. In him Divine forgiveness is a glorious fact, and "he has power on earth," etc.

(2) He has power to separate the soul from sin. This is done by the creation of a new life - spiritual and Divine life. Christ by faith lives in the soul, so that the believer is made like Christ, the Son of God, and between him and sin there is an ever-widening gulf. He is in a new world - the world of love and purity, the world of spiritual joy and freedom.

(3) Christ alone has power to do this. He alone is free from sin, and he alone can make the soul free from it. He alone is divinely commissioned to do this; he is the only spiritual Liberator of the human race.

2. The freedom effected by Christ is most real.

(1) It is effected by the highest authority. By the eternal Son. From him there is no court of appeal; his decision is final. "If God be for us," etc.; "if the Son shall make you free," etc.

(2) The freedom is effected in the most satisfactory manner. If God is satisfied and man willingly consents, this is enough. No consideration nor apology is due to Satan; he is a tyrant, a usurper, and a thief, and has no right to the property. Let the Divine government be satisfied in the soul's freedom, and it is real. In Christ this is gloriously the case. "God is just, and Justifier," etc.

(3) The freedom is most thorough and comprehensive. It is spiritual, the freedom of the soul from all evil and its admission to all good, "from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom," etc. It involves the restoration of the soul into its original state and right, and is no more in harmony with God's wilt than with the sours true nature and aspirations, and is well calculated to promote its highest development and eternal happiness.

(4) This freedom is permanent. No freedom that is temporary is true. The servants of sin are only tolerated; they must be excluded from the Father's house and its privileges sooner or later. But the freedom effected by Christ is that of sonship. All made free by Christ become the sons of God, and like Christ are entitled to remain in the house forever. Their freedom is as permanent as the soul, as the existence of the great Liberator, and between them and captivity there will ever be a progressively holy nature and the infinite power of the eternal Son.

LESSONS.

1. The importance of having right views of freedom. False views on this subject are so prevalent; we are so prone to make mistakes on this. They are so dangerous.

2. The importance of having right views of the enslaving influence of sin. Without this we cannot obtain true liberty. So important is this that Christ calls special attention to it: "Verily, verily," etc.

3. The importance of obtaining true freedom. Man is so prone to be satisfied with false freedom, to be self-deceived. True freedom is the only one worth having.

4. The importance of being made free by Christ. He alone can make us free.

5. The duty of gratitude to him. He is the great Liberator of humanity. Those who are made free indeed should be indeed thankful. A view of Christ as the Liberator will make heaven all ablaze with gratitude - ought to make earth. - B.T.

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KJV: They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

WEB: They answered him, "We are Abraham's seed, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, 'You will be made free?'"