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The Only True Freedom

A devotional by John Piper for reading on September 18th

Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ( John 8:31 31 Jesus therefore said to those Jews that had believed him, If ye abide in my word, `then' are ye truly my disciples; –32)

What is true freedom? Are you free?

If you don’t have the desire to do a thing, you are not fully free to do it. Oh, you may muster the willpower to do what you don’t want to do, but nobody calls that full freedom. It’s not the way we want to live. There is a constraint and pressure on us that we don’t want.

And if you have the desire to do something, but no ability to do it, you are not free to do it.

And if you have the desire and the ability to do something, but no opportunity to do it, you are not free to do it.

And if you have the desire to do something, and the ability to do it, and the opportunity to do it, but it destroys you in the end, you are not fully free — not free indeed.

To be fully free, we must have the desire, the ability, and the opportunity to do what will make us happy forever. No regrets. And only Jesus, the Son of God who died and rose for us, can make that possible.

If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed.

The content above belongs exclusively to Desiring God - Solid Joys by John Piper and is provided on HopeLife.org for purely non-profit purposes to help extend the reach of their ministry.