The Truth Will Set You Free
In the Gospel of John, the author records a statement from Jesus to the Jews who believed Him. If they abide in His word, they will know the truth, and the truth will set them free.
Therefore, Jesus said toward the Jews believing Him, “If you abide in My word, truly you are My disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32
The response of the unbelieving Jews was to refute their need for freedom immediately. However, all those who sin are slaves to sin, John 8:33. The sin referred to here is not the acts of sin that a person does. Instead, it is specific to the sin nature of a person. All those doing sin (the act of lawlessness) are slaves to the sin [nature].
As the steward of our dispensation, Paul is given instructions on how to have victory over the sin nature. In Romans chapters six through seven, he writes of his experience with applying the doctrine of the truth in comparison to how the law works against the sin nature. Through this, we clearly understand what Jesus was referring to as the truth. The truth is a specific doctrine that frees a person from slavery to commit sin so that he is able to produce righteousness.
The first aspect of this doctrine is to know. Those who abide, feel at ease, in His word must know it.
Know that we have died with Christ and have been raised to walk in newness of life.
Or do you not know that as many as have been immersed into Christ Jesus, into His death have been immersed? Romans 6:3
Therefore, we have been buried with Him through the immersion into the death, in order that just as Christ was raised out from the dead through the proper opinion of the Father, thus also we in newness of life should walk. Romans 6:4
This knowledge brings the understanding that since Christ’s death is attributed to all who are in the Christ, His resurrection is also imputed to them. The Christ is the new creation God made in raising Jesus, in which Christ is the head and the Church is His body, 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:22-23. All who believe the gospel for salvation, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, are immersed into the body of the Christ, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, and, therefore, Christ’s death and resurrection are credited to them. Thus, since we have died with Christ and are raised to walk in newness of life, the sin nature has been rendered ineffective. In Christ, we are no longer bound to obey the sinful desires that plague us. Instead, we have the freedom to act righteously.
experientially knowing this, that our old man was co-crucified in order that the body of the sin [nature] should be rendered ineffective, so that we are no longer slaves to the sin [nature]. Romans 6:6
Our next logical step is to take God at His word and reckon Christ’s death and resurrection to ourselves.
Thus also, you should reckon yourselves to be dead. On the one hand [to be dead] to the sin [nature], on the other hand, living ones to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:11
Since we have died to our sin nature in Christ and are raised to walk in newness of life, we are to yield our members to righteousness rather than permitting our sin nature to use them as instruments of unrighteousness.
Therefore, stop letting the sin [nature] reign as king in your mortal body unto obedience to its desires. Neither present your members instruments of unrighteousness to the sin [nature], but present yourselves to God as out from the dead being living ones, and your members instruments of righteousness to God. Romans 6:12-13
Although we are not fully redeemed at this time, therefore, we still struggle with the desire to do wrong, we have a part of us that cannot be corrupted.
Your souls have been purified in obeying the truth through the Spirit in unhypocritical fondness of the brethren, love one another fervently out from a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides into the age. 1 Peter 1:2-3
God’s seed has been placed in us; therefore, we cannot habitually sin.
Everyone born out from God does not habitually sin, because His seed abide in him and he does not have the inherent ability to habitually sin because he is born out from God. 1 John 3:9.
When we apply the truth, we use the part of us that is saved to overcome the sin nature by taking God at His word and walking in the newness of life we have in Christ as we seek to follow the desires from the Holy Spirit, which are in direct contrast to those of the sin nature. We cannot sin when we are doing the desires from the Holy Spirit.
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you desire. Galatians 5:16-17
Law does not produce freedom. The sin nature uses law to deceive us and make it impossible to live out the righteousness we have in Christ.
For the sin [nature] taking opportunity through the commandment deceived me and through it [the commandment] it killed. Romans 7:11
Through law we gain the full experiential knowledge of the sin nature.
Therefore, what will we say? Is the law sin? May it never come to be! But the sin [nature] I would not have experientially known except through law, for I would not intuitively known the covetousness, except the law said, “Do not covet.” But the sin [nature] taking the occasion through the commandment, worked out in me all covetousness, for apart from law sin [nature] is dead. Romans 7:7-8
Through grace, we obtained the ability to walk by the Spirit, freeing us from slavery to sin, which law could not do.
I am a wretched man. Who will rescue me out from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord; therefore then, I, myself, on the one hand with the mind, serve to a law of God, on the other hand with the flesh, [serve] to a law of sin. Then now there is no condemnation to the ones in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of the sin [nature] and the death. Romans 7:24-8:2
Know – Reckon – Yield. The truth sets us free to live a life of righteousness in Christ and reject the desires of our sin nature to do wrong.
The Fall of Cain
In Genesis 4:7, God instructs Cain concerning the rules of his household. After God rejected the work of Cain’s hands as an offering, Cain was very angry. In response, God lays out the rule by which Cain is expected to govern his life.
And if you do good, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do good, sin lies at the opening, and its desire is unto you, and you are to rule over it – Genesis 4:7.
This is the first time in Scripture we are introduced to the sin nature. The sin nature describes the human nature bent by Adam’s fall. Through Adam’s trespass and sin, his nature became bent towards doing what is wrong, for although Eve was thoroughly deceived, Adam was not, 1 Timothy 2:14. Adam passed on this bent nature to his offspring, Genesis 5:3. Therefore, even though as humans we now inherently possess the knowledge of good and evil, we are all born with a nature that is separated from God in our spirit and bent towards wrong. However, with this knowledge, we are also to rule over our nature, not permit it to rule over us.
After Cain does not heed God’s instructions and slayed his brother as a sacrifice, he was punished. The works of his hand will no longer produce good, and he is to wander the earth, never possessing a homeland to reside in. In Cain’s response, we again encounter the sin nature when he states, “My perversity is greater than I can bear.”
And Cain said to the LORD, “My perversity is greater than I can bear.” Genesis 4:13.
In Genesis 4:7, the word for sin is in a specific form typically used for a sin offering. However, it is not restricted to only for a sin offering. חַטָּאת (hat-ta) is also used for the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis 18:20. When Jacob questioned Laban concerning what sin he had committed against him, חַטָּאת (hat-ta) is used, Genesis 31:36. Since the law had not been implemented at the time God gave instructions to Cain and used this form for sin, we cannot impose the meaning of a sin offering upon it. Until the law, even though sin was in the world, it was not imputed because there was no law, Romans 5:13. Instead, this form is used to emphasize the sinful human nature, which sought to rule over Cain.
עָוֹן (a-won) expressed perversity, which describes an action that is willfully in opposition and resistance to what is right, expected, or reasonable. This is the primary Hebrew word that is used to describe the human nature after the fall of Adam. In Genesis 4:13, some English translations use the word punishment; however, the concept of punishment is expressed in a couple of different ways. Discipline or chastening, Leviticus 26:18. Avenge, Exodus 21:20. Therefore, in Genesis 4:13, Cain is not questioning his punishment but crying out because of his perverse nature that resulted in him killing his brother. Genesis 4:13 does not say, “And Cain said to the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.” Genesis 4:13 states, “And Cain said to the LORD, My perversity is greater than I can bear.”
Although we are born spiritually separated from God, which means in our rational we lack understanding concerning spiritual things, when a person yields to their bent nature, as Cain did, their mind becomes corrupted to the point that the conclusions are contrary to the truth, Romans 1:28. When Cain rejected God’s instructions, the result was a determination in his mind that sacrificing his brother because Abel’s works were righteous and his were malignantly evil, 1 John 3:12, was an appropriate response to God’s rejection of his sacrifice.
not as Cain who was out from the malignantly evil one and slayed as a sacrifice his brother. And why did he sacrifice him? Because his works were malignantly evil and his brother’s righteous.
In the same way, the sin nature negatively impacts the minds of those who reject God today, professing themselves to be wise while becoming foolish in their minds, worshiping the creation and changing the incorruptible God into the image of corruptible man. They exchange the truth for Satan’s lie of independence from God, dishonoring their own bodies and going after vile passions, Romans 1:24-27,
Wherefore, God handed them over in the desires of their hearts unto uncleanliness to dishonor their bodies among themselves, whoever exchanged the truth of the God with the lie, and reverenced for themselves and rendered religious service to the creation rather than the Creator, Who is well spoken of into the ages, Amen. Because of this, God handed them over into dishonorable passions, for both the females among them exchanged the natural use unto that which is against the nature. Likewise both also the males sent away the natural use of the female, caused to be kindled in their longing unto others of the same kind, males among males working out for themselves the disgraceful and receiving the recompense that is necessary concerning their wandering among themselves.
and possess a mind in which no value is found, Romans 1:28.
And just as they did not approve worthy to have the God in full experiential knowledge, the God gave them over to an unapproved mind to do what is wrong,
The Doctrine of the Nicolaitans
Nicolaitans is a transliterated word; therefore, there is no English equivalent. We must look back at the original language and translate its meaning into English to understand what it expresses. Nicolaitans (Νικολαΐτης) is a combination of two words: victory (νῖκος) and people (λαός). By compounding these words, they communicate a victory over the people; therefore, it is a person who holds a position of authority over the people.
The concept of the Nicolaitans doctrine comes from the Jews and the priestly structure under the law. From the very beginning of the Church, it is a false doctrine that continually attempts to creep into the local assemblies. The apostle John writes of this doctrine while addressing the first of the seven assemblies in the book of Revelation. Those in Ephesus were indifferent to the Nicolaitans doctrine, even though some attempted to impose it.
But this you have, that you are indifferent to the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also am indifferent to. Revelation 2:3.
In Christ, the distinctions of sex, class, and race have no value; instead, it is the new creation, Galatians 6:15. This new creation is the body of the Christ, in which Christ is the head and the Church is His body, 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 1:22-23. Within the body of the Christ, there is no separation based upon any of these statuses, for we are all part of one body, 1 Corinthians 12:13. The doctrine of the Nicolaitans is distinct from the Mosaic law, which implemented a priesthood and specific classes of people. However, in the local assemblies of the Church, the Pastors and other leaders are not separated from the congregation.
In its full form, the doctrine of the Nicolaitans is found in Catholicism and her daughters. In a more subtle form, it is found within elder-ruled assemblies and those who merchandise the saints.
But I have a few things against you because you have there those grasping hold of the doctrine of Balaam, who taught to Balak to cast a scandal before the sons of Israel, eating things offered to idols and fornicating. Thus, likewise you also have those grasping hold of the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. Revelation 2:14-15.
The Nicolaitans doctrine is in direct contrast to the doctrine of the Christ. Any assembly with a board separated from the people and not fully liable to the congregation partakes in this type of false doctrine. The position of a Pastor is not as the head of the Church, for that spot solely belongs to Christ, Ephesians 1:22. Instead, he is an overseer of healthy doctrine so that the assembly comes to a oneness of the faith unto maturity in Christ, 1 Timothy 3:1. He has no authority to lord over the assembly, 1 Peter 5:1-3. A Scriptural assembly structure is managed by deacons appointed by and answering to the congregation, with a pastor serving as an overseer in doctrinal matters, Acts 6:3-4.
Might (κράτος)
Might (κράτος) expresses the ability of resident strength, the quality of being able.
When the exorcists of the ruling religious party attempted to rebuke a malignantly evil spirit by using Jesus’ name, for they had seen the Apostles doing this, the spirit responded by first stating that he has an intuitive knowledge of Paul but not of them. He then proceeded to strip them naked and sent them running. This caused great fear in the city of Ephesus, and the Word of the Lord grew in the region.
thus, according to the might of the Lord, the Word increased and became strong – Acts 19:20.
As Christians, our eyes are opened to the truth so that we may know the hope of His calling, the riches of the proper opinion of His inheritance among the saints, and the exceeding greatness of his inherent ability towards us according to the working of the might of His strength, Ephesians 1:18-19. Wicked hands crucified Christ. In response to such malignantly evil work, God the Father raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand. He is now over all authorities and is the head of the Church, which is the new creation God made in raising Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:17. This was a display of the resident strength of His inherent ability.
When it comes to battling Satan, we are not called to rebuke demons or to exercise authority over them; instead, we are instructed to stand firm against them by the strength we have in the Lord. For it is in the might of His strength that we have victory, Ephesians 6:10. Our battle is not physical – of flesh and blood. It is a spiritual battle against malignantly evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, they seek to influence our minds to persuade us to follow Satan’s ways and reject God. When we put on the armor of God, it directly relates to the ability of His strength, reminding us of the truth in what God has done so that we overcome all the methodologies of the devil to get us to act independently from God.
As we govern our lives in this wicked world, we are to walk in a worthy manner of our Lord so that we are being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the full experiential knowledge of God being able in all inherent ability according to the might (resident strength) of His proper opinion in all patience and long-suffering, Colossians 1:11.
Through Christ’s death, He rendered ineffective Satan’s might over death, for throughout the life of those under law, they were in bondage, fearing death. Therefore, in all things, He was made like His brethren so that He is a merciful and faithful High Priest of the things facing God and inherently able to help those who are tempted, Hebrews 2:14-18.
Might expresses the resident strength of God to do what He says He will do. Through His might, He caused a young virgin to be with child, fulfilling His promise to David and Israel, Luke 1:52. Through the working of the might of His strength, He raised Christ from the dead so that He can die no more, answering His supplication to save Him from death. In Christ, we are able to have victory over Satan because through the might of Christ’s strength, He has overcome, and since we are in Christ, we are also victorious. Therefore, in understanding such incredible displays of the might of God’s strength, for He can do what He says He will do, let us properly manage our lives, bearing fruit in righteousness and growing in our experience with God.