Lesson 8: Now - Who Is Really In Charge? (2)

We look more deeply into this subject of freedom as it is found in the Scriptures, and we find more about the subject of our will as we go.

First, when are we free? When did we become free? We find the answer in John 8:32, "and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." A few verses later, in verse 36, we read, "if therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." There is a condition to freedom in these verses which says freedom comes only from "the Son," Jesus. If you read verse 32 alongside John 14:6, you discover that there is no disagreement at all – Jesus is the truth. Freedom is dependent solely and completely on Jesus. It is also connected very specifically to a “time” – at salvation.

Therefore, it must be stated that we are not “free” until we are saved. And since we cannot “understand” spiritual things before this event (1 Corinthians 2:14), we don’t even have the ability to “choose” spiritual things until we are given eternal life and the Holy Spirit. The Bible calls this condition “spiritual death” (Romans 8:6-7; Ephesians 4:18; Galatians 4:8).


The next question we must understand regarding freedom in the Scripture is what we are set free from.
Read each of the following Scriptures and write beside each one the thing from which we are set free:
*Acts 13:39
*Romans 7:24-25
*Romans 8:2
*Romans 8:15
*1 Corinthians 9:19
*Galatians 3:13-14
*Colossians 2:20-23
*Hebrews 2:15

If we have been "set free" from these things, then we were at some point enslaved to them. We were not free. We were slaves who could not act as we wished to even if we had known the truth – which we did not. Can a slave choose to belong to another master? No.

Then what do we do with the responsibility of man when it comes to choosing to belong to God? Is not this a choice of the human? Yes, it is man’s responsibility, and, yes, the one who denies God and turns away will be eternally held responsible for this choice. How can I say this, having just stated what I have? It is not my statement; it comes from Scripture. We will find the answer in our next lesson as we study Romans 9:6.