HOW FREE ARE WE?
John 8:31-36
Reformation Sunday, Year C
Analysis by Kevin Anderson
31Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”
34Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
“A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.
A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”
– Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian (1520)
“Faith moves us toward the brokenness of the world and our neighbors. In love, we are free to tell the truth about what is broken and to enter the difficult conversations – but not to earn our place, for we no longer need to earn our place.”
DIAGNOSIS: Without Freedom
Step One: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem) – Apathy, Anxiety, and Without Freedom
The freedom that Christ brings is both the greatest and, at times, the most neglected, even confusing, gift. Jesus speaks of this freedom to his critics who do not understand what freedom he brings. Luther also spoke of such freedom to critics within the church who did not understand the freedom that Christ brings.
Growing up in the church, I’ve witnessed this freedom primarily taking shape in two ways.
One group echoes the sentiment of the critics of Jesus in the gospel: “I’m already a Christian; I don’t need to do anything. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?” For such as these (our own quietist lives) living as the body of Christ appears optional. Engagement in the world in loving service of neighbor seems to arise out of “convenience.” And reading God’s word (the scriptures, let alone the confessions) takes a backseat to the news cycles, social media feeds, and “busyness.” In doing so, we turn the gift of freedom into a new kind of law – a legal loophole – a way to justify our inaction by claiming innocence, all the while the “old Adam” quietly remains in control.
Another group (our own works-righteous lives) acts frantically to prove themselves – before the world, before the church, before their own consciences, and even before God: “I’m a Christian – so I must do everything right.” More anxious about our involvement, we strive to demonstrate that we are the right kind of Christian – culturally approved, morally consistent, socially engaged. We may even shame others for not loving the “right” way or holding the “right” views. This is still a life ruled by the law – where identity depends on performance and righteousness seeks to be earned or defended.
Step Two: Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem) – The Two Kinds of Self-Righteousness
There are two kinds of righteousness at play in exemption and effort – but neither make us righteous.
In the first case, there is, on the surface, a strong desire for the eternal security of our own soul. “I know where I’m going when I die” might be the kind of the language used. It is a faith that is rooted in the next life, patterned with apathy and the cultural influence of individualism, with only a deep desire to care for one’s self. “Some people are so heavenly minded they are of no earthly good” – as the saying goes – a fitting word for those who think themselves beyond the reach of the law, unable to see how their supposed freedom only exposes another form of bondage.
In the second case, there is an equally profound desire to prove oneself as righteous by their own actions. Both ends of the politically-polarized spectrum can play this game (“Christian Nationalism” and “wokeism”, for example). The motivations vary: public perception, a genuine desire to care, even a fear of being found lacking before God. But underneath it all lies the same internal struggle – an anxious heart seeking assurance through its own efforts, the insatiable hunger.
Step Three: Final Diagnosis (Ultimate Problem) – Losing Freedom
Both are the flip-sides of a coin, like two foxes with their tails tied together as Luther once said, playing a law-based game with their own righteousness. What unites them is the same tragic focus: the self. Whether protecting it or proving it, the inward bend reveals our deeper “slavery” – to sin, to control, to self-justification.
But neither disengaged confidence nor anxious striving, for all their perceived differences, are free. The truth is, these “two groups” aren’t separated from us – they are us. We are bound to this internal pursuit, constantly working out our own salvation not with fear and trembling before God, but with the hope that our self-made projections might save us.
This is the condition that God judges – our old Adam at work, and for which we ultimately must die.
PROGNOSIS: The Freedom of Christ
Step Four: Initial Prognosis (Ultimate Solution) – Freedom from Self
In both cases, the truth of Christ’s freedom and his cross is either deemed unnecessary or insufficient. But Christ comes, nonetheless, to bear the burden of both our apathy of disengagement and our exhaustion of over-engagement, to put to death our “old Adam” on the cross and to raise us up in his grace.
In his death and resurrection, he takes the full weight of the law, breaking its power to accuse us or leave us defined by it. In baptism, we are brought into this grace-filled action by God. We are no longer bound to self-preservation or self-justification. Faith clings to the promise: the Son has made you free.
Step Five: Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution) – Terrifying but Joyous Faith
Christ has claimed us – very truly set us free. Our place in the household is not earned or revoked – it’s given by the Son. In this promise, faith gives us a new identity – no longer bound by apathy, no longer enslaved to proving or performing.
The truth is this freedom is terrifying to our “old Adam”. Counting, proving, measuring – these law-shaped ways of the world still hold an influence on our lives, offering us a distorted sense of identity, purpose, and validation. But they no longer get the final word. The “old Adam” that still hangs around our necks dies on the cross, and we are set free to live as people of the promise.
Through Christ, we are no longer subject to the forces of sin, death, and evil. We are perfectly free by faith that trusts these are defeated.
Step Six: Final Prognosis (External Solution) – Subject to None, Servant of All
But even more, the Spirit draws us out of ourselves – out of all our apathy and anxiety – into community, into vocation, and into witness for the world. Faith moves us toward the brokenness of the world and our neighbors. In love, we are free to tell the truth about what is broken and to enter the difficult conversations – but not to earn our place, for we no longer need to earn our place.
The old motivations – exemption and believing we are the bringers of the kingdom – still surround us, but they no longer command us. We are made into signs of something else – love unearned, mercy proclaimed, and the promise made known.
It is here that Luther’s words ring true: perfectly free, subject to none; perfectly dutiful, servant of all.
It is here that “the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
