John 8:32-36

8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ¹  8:33 “We are descendants ²  of Abraham,” they replied, ³  “and have never been anyone’s slaves! How can you say, ⁴  ‘You will become free’?” 8:34 Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁵  everyone who practices ⁶  sin is a slave ⁷  of sin. 8:35 The slave does not remain in the family ⁸  forever, but the son remains forever. ⁹  8:36 So if the son ¹⁰  sets you free, you will be really free.

Romans 6:18

6:18 and having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.

Romans 6:22

6:22 But now, freed ¹¹  from sin and enslaved to God, you have your benefit ¹²  leading to sanctification, and the end is eternal life.

Romans 6:1

The Believer’s Freedom from Sin’s Domination

6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase?

Colossians 1:22

1:22 but now he has reconciled you ¹³  by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him –

Galatians 5:1

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom ¹⁴  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke ¹⁵  of slavery.

Galatians 5:13

Practice Love

5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; ¹⁶  only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, ¹⁷  but through love serve one another. ¹⁸ 

James 1:25

1:25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, ¹⁹  and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he ²⁰  will be blessed in what he does. ²¹ 

James 2:12

2:12 Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom. ²² 

James 2:2

2:2 For if someone ²³  comes into your assembly ²⁴  wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy clothes,

James 2:19

2:19 You believe that God is one; well and good. ²⁵  Even the demons believe that – and tremble with fear. ²⁶ 

[8:32]  ¹ tn Or “the truth will release you.” The translation “set you free” or “release you” (unlike the more traditional “make you free”) conveys more the idea that the hearers were currently in a state of slavery from which they needed to be freed. The following context supports precisely this idea.

[8:33]  ² tn Grk “We are the seed” (an idiom).

[8:33]  ³ tn Grk “They answered to him.”

[8:33]  ⁴ tn Or “How is it that you say.”

[8:34]  ⁵ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[8:34]  ⁶ tn Or “who commits.” This could simply be translated, “everyone who sins,” but the Greek is more emphatic, using the participle ποιῶν (poiwn) in a construction with πᾶς (pas), a typical Johannine construction. Here repeated, continuous action is in view. The one whose lifestyle is characterized by repeated, continuous sin is a slave to sin. That one is not free; sin has enslaved him. To break free from this bondage requires outside (divine) intervention. Although the statement is true at the general level (the person who continually practices a lifestyle of sin is enslaved to sin) the particular sin of the Jewish authorities, repeatedly emphasized in the Fourth Gospel, is the sin of unbelief. The present tense in this instance looks at the continuing refusal on the part of the Jewish leaders to acknowledge who Jesus is, in spite of mounting evidence.

[8:34]  ⁷ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

[8:35]  ⁸ tn Or “household.” The Greek work οἰκία (oikia) can denote the family as consisting of relatives by both descent and marriage, as well as slaves and servants, living in the same house (more the concept of an “extended family”).

[8:35]  ⁹ sn Jesus’ point is that while a slave may be part of a family or household, the slave is not guaranteed a permanent place there, while a son, as a descendant or blood relative, will always be guaranteed a place in the family (remains forever).

[8:36]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Son.” The question is whether “son” is to be understood as a direct reference to Jesus himself, or as an indirect reference (a continuation of the generic illustration begun in the previous verse).

[6:22]  ¹¹ tn The two aorist participles translated “freed” and “enslaved” are causal in force; their full force is something like “But now, since you have become freed from sin and since you have become enslaved to God….”

[6:22]  ¹² tn Grk “fruit.”

[1:22]  ¹³ tc Some of the better representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts have a passive verb here instead of the active ἀποκατήλλαξεν (apokathllaxen, “he has reconciled”): ἀποκατηλλάγητε (apokathllaghte) in (Ì⁴⁶) B, ἀποκατήλλακται [sic] (apokathllaktai) in 33, and ἀποκαταλλαγέντες (apokatallagente") in D* F G. Yet the active verb is strongly supported by א A C D² Ψ 048 075 [0278] 1739 1881 Ï lat sy. Internally, the passive creates an anacoluthon in that it looks back to the accusative ὑμᾶς (Juma", “you”) of v. 21 and leaves the following παραστῆσαι (parasthsai) dangling (“you were reconciled…to present you”). The passive reading is certainly the harder reading. As such, it may well explain the rise of the other readings. At the same time, it is possible that the passive was produced by scribes who wanted some symmetry between the ποτε (pote, “at one time”) of v. 21 and the νυνὶ δέ (nuni de, “but now”) of v. 22: Since a passive periphrastic participle is used in v. 21, there may have a temptation to produce a corresponding passive form in v. 22, handling the ὑμᾶς of v. 21 by way of constructio ad sensum. Since παραστῆσαι occurs ten words later, it may not have been considered in this scribal modification. Further, the Western reading (ἀποκαταλλαγέντες) hardly seems to have arisen from ἀποκατηλλάγητε (contra TCGNT 555). As difficult as this decision is, the preferred reading is the active form because it is superior externally and seems to explain the rise of all forms of the passive readings.

[5:1]  ¹⁴ tn Translating the dative as “For freedom” shows the purpose for Christ setting us free; however, it is also possible to take the phrase in the sense of means or instrument (“with [or by] freedom”), referring to the freedom mentioned in 4:31 and implied throughout the letter.

[5:1]  ¹⁵ sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.

[5:13]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[5:13]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “as an opportunity for the flesh”; BDAG 915 s.v. σάρξ 2.c.α states: “In Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as σ. or flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likew. present, and no good thing can live in the σάρξ…Gal 5:13, 24;…Opp. τὸ πνεῦμα…Gal 3:3; 5:16, 17ab; 6:8ab.”

[5:13]  ¹⁸ tn It is possible that the verb δουλεύετε (douleuete) should be translated “serve one another in a humble manner” here, referring to the way in which slaves serve their masters (see L&N 35.27).

[1:25]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “continues.”

[1:25]  ²⁰ tn Grk “this one.”

[1:25]  ²¹ tn Grk “in his doing.”

[2:12]  ²² tn Grk “a law of freedom.”

[2:2]  ²³ tn The word for “man” or “individual” here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” But as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, “equivalent to τὶς someone.”

[2:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “synagogue.” Usually συναγωγή refers to Jewish places of worship (e.g., Matt 4:23, Mark 1:21, Luke 4:15, John 6:59). The word can be used generally to refer to a place of assembly, and here it refers specifically to a Christian assembly (BDAG 963 s.v. 2.b.).

[2:19]  ²⁵ tn Grk “you do well.”

[2:19]  ²⁶ tn Grk “believe and tremble.” The words “with fear” are implied.