Message summary: Today we consider a magnificent manumission from a glorious emancipator!

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"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).


Mark is a man we visit weekly in the course of our chaplain work. He works as a Project Manager for JK Mechanical. Last weekend he went on a Men's Retreat with a group of men from his church and I inquired as to how it went. He shared a good report and told me the speaker had built his theme around "manumission". That is a word I don't recall ever hearing and Mark told me to look it up! Based on how the word sounds, and the context of it being used at a men's retreat, I thought it must have something to do with the mission men are called to. But that is not the case.

An old article by Pastor John Piper (from 1992, link below) provides our title today. He defines manumission as "the act or process of formal emancipation from slavery". He begins the article with this succinct challenge:

"We are either slaves of sin or slaves of God. There is no third alternative. You can call it different things. But it boils down to this: we serve sin or we serve God. Sin reigns or God reigns."

When Jesus uttered the words in our daily Scripture text He was speaking of a captivity common to all humanity, our captivity to sin. What a glorious truth! "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." Are you free this day? If you aren't, Jesus is still at work in freeing people from their greatest bondage. Turn to Him today. If you are free from the bondage of sin, rejoice and be not enslaved again to the yoke of sin's bondage!

We are so blessed in our land to still enjoy political and religious freedoms though these are fading. Some of our readers experience few of such freedoms.

But today we want to share about a freedom that is available to all, infinitely greater than any political or religious freedoms we may or may not enjoy at the present time. One hundred or one thousand years into eternity, where we lived during our brief earthly sojourn will be of little regard, with the one exception of our decision to surrender our lives to Jesus Christ. We experience His freedom from sin and the future bonus of receiving our eternal heritance in heaven.

In John 8 Jesus confronted the Pharisees and religious leaders of His day who had challenged His authority. The encounter specifically began when Jesus asserted, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). The Pharisees challenged Jesus and the validity of His testimony and of course that has been at the heart of resistance to God's redemption plan ever since.

Jesus taught that those who "hold" to His teaching are truly His disciples (v. 31). He spoke to them, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32). This especially insulted the proud Pharisees who responded, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" (v. 34).

But Jesus was speaking of a slavery that impacts the entire human race; rich or poor, powerful  or weak, intellectual or unlearned, politically free or oppressed. People, no matter their background, are slaves to sin! Yet this is the very slavery that Jesus came to free us from: "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).

If you are a citizen of a free country don't take it for granted. Give thanks to God for this wonderful privilege and consider those who sacrificed for your freedoms. Pray regularly for our brethren around the world who do not have these freedoms. Above all, give thanks to God that Jesus paid the supreme sacrifice so that we might be freed from the slavery of sin. That's something that we can all rejoice in no matter the political persuasion of our country. It is a magnificent manumission from our Glorious Emancipator!



Be encouraged today,


Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, how glorious it is to enjoy freedom from sin, thanks to the sacrifice of Your Son on my behalf. My life, once enslaved to sin, now enjoys the freedom from that which once held me captive to Satan's bondage. I live in victory because You have set me free and I am now free indeed. Thank You, Father, for delivering me from the dominion of darkness and transferring me into the kingdom of Your beloved Son in whom I have redemption, the forgiveness of sin! Shake me from complacency and forgetfulness when it comes to this essential truth of the gospel. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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Our glorious emancipator provides:

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"Glorious Freedom"  Video   Gaither Vocal Band 

"No Longer Slaves"  Video  Voices of Lee

"Magnificent Manumission"  article by John Piper

Voice of the Martyrs: We remind you to pray regularly for those in persecuted lands, but it is easy to forget since most live in distant lands. We receive regular publications from Voice of the Martyrs that tell stories, feature individuals and give suggestions for how to pray for these dear persecuted brothers and sisters. They are a sound ministry and will add you to their mailing list if requested. (Website)