Galatia 5:1

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom ¹  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke ²  of slavery.

Galatia 5:13

Practice Love

5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; ³  only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, ⁴  but through love serve one another. ⁵ 

Yohanes 1:12-13

1:12 But to all who have received him – those who believe in his name ⁶  – he has given the right to become God’s children 1:13 – children not born ⁷  by human parents ⁸  or by human desire ⁹  or a husband’s ¹⁰  decision, ¹¹  but by God.

Yohanes 8:36

8:36 So if the son ¹²  sets you free, you will be really free.

Ibrani 2:14-15

2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in ¹³  their humanity, ¹⁴  so that through death he could destroy ¹⁵  the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), 2:15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.

Ibrani 2:1

Warning Against Drifting Away

2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

Yohanes 3:1-2

Conversation with Nicodemus

3:1 Now a certain man, a Pharisee ¹⁶  named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council, ¹⁷  3:2 came to Jesus ¹⁸  at night ¹⁹  and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs ²⁰  that you do unless God is with him.”

[5:1]  ¹ 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]  ² sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.

[5:13]  ³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[5:13]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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).

[1:12]  ⁶ tn On the use of the πιστεύω + εἰς (pisteuw + ei") construction in John: The verb πιστεύω occurs 98 times in John (compared to 11 times in Matthew, 14 times in Mark [including the longer ending], and 9 times in Luke). One of the unsolved mysteries is why the corresponding noun form πίστις (pistis) is never used at all. Many have held the noun was in use in some pre-Gnostic sects and this rendered it suspect for John. It might also be that for John, faith was an activity, something that men do (cf. W. Turner, “Believing and Everlasting Life – A Johannine Inquiry,” ExpTim 64 [1952/53]: 50-52). John uses πιστεύω in 4 major ways: (1) of believing facts, reports, etc., 12 times; (2) of believing people (or the scriptures), 19 times; (3) of believing “in” Christ” (πιστεύω + εἰς + acc.), 36 times; (4) used absolutely without any person or object specified, 30 times (the one remaining passage is 2:24, where Jesus refused to “trust” himself to certain individuals). Of these, the most significant is the use of πιστεύω with εἰς + accusative. It is not unlike the Pauline ἐν Χριστῷ (en Cristw) formula. Some have argued that this points to a Hebrew (more likely Aramaic) original behind the Fourth Gospel. But it probably indicates something else, as C. H. Dodd observed: “πιστεύειν with the dative so inevitably connoted simple credence, in the sense of an intellectual judgment, that the moral element of personal trust or reliance inherent in the Hebrew or Aramaic phrase – an element integral to the primitive Christian conception of faith in Christ – needed to be otherwise expressed” (The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, 183).

[1:13]  ⁷ tn The Greek term translated “born” here also involves conception.

[1:13]  ⁸ tn Grk “of blood(s).” The plural αἱμάτων (Jaimatwn) has seemed a problem to many interpreters. At least some sources in antiquity imply that blood was thought of as being important in the development of the fetus during its time in the womb: thus Wis 7:1: “in the womb of a mother I was molded into flesh, within the period of 10 months, compacted with blood, from the seed of a man and the pleasure of marriage.” In John 1:13, the plural αἱμάτων may imply the action of both parents. It may also refer to the “genetic” contribution of both parents, and so be equivalent to “human descent” (see BDAG 26 s.v. αἷμα 1.a). E. C. Hoskyns thinks John could not have used the singular here because Christians are in fact ‘begotten’ by the blood of Christ (The Fourth Gospel, 143), although the context would seem to make it clear that the blood in question is something other than the blood of Christ.

[1:13]  ⁹ tn Or “of the will of the flesh.” The phrase οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκός (oude ek qelhmato" sarko") is more clearly a reference to sexual desire, but it should be noted that σάρξ (sarx) in John does not convey the evil sense common in Pauline usage. For John it refers to the physical nature in its weakness rather than in its sinfulness. There is no clearer confirmation of this than the immediately following verse, where the λόγος (logos) became σάρξ.

[1:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “man’s.”

[1:13]  ¹¹ tn The third phrase, οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρός (oude ek qelhmato" andros), means much the same as the second one. The word here (ἀνηρ, anhr) is often used for a husband, resulting in the translation “or a husband’s decision,” or more generally, “or of any human volition whatsoever.” L. Morris may be right when he sees here an emphasis directed at the Jewish pride in race and patriarchal ancestry, although such a specific reference is difficult to prove (John [NICNT], 101).

[8:36]  ¹² 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).

[2:14]  ¹³ tn Or “partook of” (this is a different word than the one in v. 14a).

[2:14]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the same.”

[2:14]  ¹⁵ tn Or “break the power of,” “reduce to nothing.”

[3:1]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[3:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “a ruler of the Jews” (denoting a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[3:2]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ¹⁹ tn Or “during the night.”

[3:2]  sn Possibly Nicodemus came…at night because he was afraid of public association with Jesus, or he wanted a lengthy discussion without interruptions; no explanation for the timing of the interview is given by the author. But the timing is significant for John in terms of the light-darkness motif – compare John 9:4, 11:10, 13:30 (especially), 19:39, and 21:3. Out of the darkness of his life and religiosity Nicodemus came to the Light of the world. The author probably had multiple meanings or associations in mind here, as is often the case.

[3:2]  ²⁰ sn The reference to signs (σημεῖα, shmeia) forms a link with John 2:23-25. Those people in Jerusalem believed in Jesus because of the signs he had performed. Nicodemus had apparently seen them too. But for Nicodemus all the signs meant is that Jesus was a great teacher sent from God. His approach to Jesus was well-intentioned but theologically inadequate; he had failed to grasp the messianic implications of the miraculous signs.