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Matthew Porter: Welcome to Key Life. I'm Matthew Porter, executive producer for Key Life. All this week, we've been enjoying a sermon from Steve called "Thank God, I’m Free," a message given nearly 50 years ago and based on John 8. Yesterday, we learned that the freedom Jesus offers is born only in obedience. He also gave a beautiful illustration of how a violin isn't truly free to sing until it's bound to a violin. Powerful stuff.

And if you're enjoying this series, you can thank the supporters of the Vault project. Over the last several years, we've been busy digitizing hundreds of these timeless messages of grace, and now they are available at KeyLife.org/vault. We're adding more content each and every single month, so there's always something new to explore. More about the Vault later, but for now, let's sit back and enjoy the conclusion of the sermon we've been listening to called "Thank God, I’m Free." One more time from 1978, here's Steve.

Steve Brown: Now, let's look at that Romans passage under this point where it properly ought to be. It reads this way: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies to make you obey their passions. Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourself to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you."

This past week, I met a dear brother who's the Vice President of Pillsbury. His name is Ray, and his delightful wife Peige Good are—or Peige Good—and we were sitting at a breakfast table in Colorado Springs this week, and at that table were the executives of some rather large organizations across America. I think the President of Kellogg's was there. Earl Butz, who's the former Secretary of Agriculture, was there.

I watched Ray, my brother in Christ, to see what he would do. Just as everybody had their fork up, ready to eat, Ray said, "Bow your heads. We're going to pray." I was so proud of him I could have popped. After this thing was over, I went to Ray and said, "Ray, that said something significant about you." He laughed and said, "You know, I thought about it before I did it." Then I thought, Ray, five years ago, you never would have done that. You wouldn't have been that obedient because you would have been too scared.

What had happened? Ray had been walking the crosswalk, and as he walked it, the gift God gave him was the gift of obedience. Dr. Raymond Edmond, the former President of Wheaton College, used to say, "At Wheaton, we don't encourage dating. We don't have to." I think the Father wants to bring his people to the point where he can say, as a part of his gift, "Among my people, the people called after my name, I don't encourage obedience. I don't have to."

Then fourthly, note that the freedom given by Christ is not only born in obedience, expanded by the knowledge of truth, and rewarded by obedience, but also that it is defined by sonship. John 8:35-36: "The slave does not continue in the house forever; the son continues forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."

Then you have to flip over to the 12th verse of the first chapter of John, and it reads this way: "But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the power to become the children of God." Galatians 3:26 says this: "For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith." I love the analogy Jesus gives us here, and it is desperately important for the person who wants to be free.

If I hire somebody in our household to wash our dishes and I pay them a good salary and they leave dirt on the dishes, I may give them a second chance and maybe even a third chance before I kick them out of the house and fire them. But if I ask my daughters to wash the dishes and they leave dirt on the dishes, they don't cease to be my daughters. My love never slackens for them because there's a difference between a slave and a child.

What is Jesus saying here? "I am the Son, and the Son has made you a brother or a sister. You also are a child of God in the household of faith, and out of that belongingness, you become free." One of the dangerous things about the overemphasis on the law of God without first understanding the grace of God is the danger of wiping people out before they start.

First determine who you are, then determine what you will do. Who am I? I'm a son of God. And because I'm a son of God, I'm free to accept the inheritance that will be mine. As a son of God, I am free to what? To fail. I'm free to blow it. I'm free to sometimes go down the tube and to get dirt all over the dishes, and it's okay because I'm a child of God.

And then finally, note that the freedom given by Christ is not only born in obedience, expanded by knowledge, rewarded by obedience, and defined by sonship, but note that it is not limited by time. John 8:35: "The slave does not continue in the house forever. The son continues forever." Then over in the 51st verse of the eighth chapter of John, and we're going to be studying that next week, listen to this: "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word," the same thing, "continue in my word, a son, he will never see death."

Let me tell you something about me. Every inch of obedience that I have in my life was gained inch by inch by inch with all of the strain and the push and the prayer and the sweat and the blood and the tears that I could possibly muster. Two steps forward, three back. Three forward, two back. A little bit at a time, obedience. And the freedom has come exactly the same way. Inch by inch, the obedience. Inch by inch, the freedom.

But let me tell you something that's wonderful. The beautiful thing is that someday I'm going to stand before the throne of God, and I'm going to be totally—can you believe that?—absolutely, holy, obedient to the God that I worship. Totally obedient. And what's going to happen then? I'm going to be totally, holy, completely free. That's the promise of God, and you can hang your hat on it, and it's going to last forever.

I discovered a letter written by a dear saint of God, an elderly lady by the name of Mary A. Ellers. I want to read it to you in closing. Listen carefully. "The owner of the tenement which I have occupied for many years has given notice that he will furnish little or nothing more for repairs. I am advised to be ready to move. At first, this was not a very welcome notice. The surroundings here are in many respects very pleasant, and were it not for the evidence of decay, I should consider the old house good enough."

"But even the light wind causes it to tremble and totter, and all of the braces are not sufficient to make it secure. So I'm getting ready to move. It is strange how quickly, when one moves, one's interest is transferred to the prospective home. I've been consulting maps of the new country and reading descriptions of its inhabitants. One who visited it has returned, and from him I learn that it is beautiful beyond description. Language breaks down in attempting to tell of what he heard while there."

"He says that in order to make an investment there, he has suffered the loss of all things that he owned here and even rejoices in what others would call making a sacrifice. Another whose love to me has been proven by the greatest possible test is now there. He has sent me several clusters of the most delicious fruit. After tasting them, all food here seems insipid. Two or three times I have been down to the border of the river that forms the boundary and have wished myself among the company of those who were singing praises to the King on the other side."

"Many of my friends have moved there. Before leaving, they spoke of my coming later. I've seen the smile upon their faces as they pass out of sight. Free." Think about that.

Matthew Porter: Thank you, Steve. And with that, we wrap up the sermon that we've been working our way through all this week. It's a message from 1978 called "Thank God, I’m Free." Next week, we will dive back into our ongoing teaching series based on Steve's new book. The title is, if you didn't know, "God's Not Mad At You." Don't forget to grab your copy of the book at KeyLife.org/notmadbook. It's also available, of course, at Amazon if you prefer that.

As a reminder, if you enjoyed the sermon we listened to this week, it is just one part of a 66-sermon series on the book of John that you can find right now at KeyLife.org/vault. That's V-A-U-L-T. Be sure to stop by and learn more about the work we're doing to preserve these sermons. We have more than a thousand sermons available right now, and you can access all of those for less than the cheapest tier of Netflix. That's something.

And tomorrow, join us again for another episode of the nearly world-famous Friday Q&A with Steve and Pete. That is when they'll address this question among others: "How do I know that Christianity is the right religion?" It's a great question that deserves a great answer, and you will get it when you join us again tomorrow.

Hey, if you're tired of pretending you have it all together when it comes to your faith, I'd like you to meet somebody. I would like you to meet Drew Hensley. Drew is a pastor, he's an author, and the host of a podcast called "Still Becoming." Drew points out that following Jesus isn't about having arrived; it's about staying open to the work that Jesus is still doing in your life.

We had a great conversation with Drew recently on our talk radio show, "Steve Brown Etc." And by the way, if you're curious, you can learn more about the show at SteveBrownEtc.com. But back to what we're talking about, we want to send you that entire episode with Drew Hensley on a CD for free. If you're interested, then just call us right now at 1-800-KEY-LIFE. Let us know where to send it. Again, that number is 1-800-539-5433.

You can also email Steve@KeyLife.org to ask for that free CD. Or to mail your request, go to KeyLife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the US and Canada. Again, just ask for the absolutely free CD featuring Drew Hensley. And by the way, as we're on this subject, if you find yourself liking Drew as we have grown to over the last several years, you can find his podcast that I mentioned, "Still Becoming," on the new Key Life Podcast Network at KeyLife.org/podcastnetwork.

There you'll find a wide array of grace-fueled and grace-filled podcasts. Again, that's KeyLife.org/podcastnetwork. And before you go, if you've been blessed by the work of Key Life, would you help share that blessing with others by giving as generously as you're able? Giving is easy. You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. And because it's 2026, you can also give by text. Just take out your phone and text KEYLIFE to 28950. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada, and we are a listener-supported production of Key Life Network.