8:36 if the Son sets you free. Regeneration (the new birth) is the work of the Holy Spirit (3:3–8), accomplished on the basis of Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf (3:14–16).

free indeed. Jesus was not speaking of political freedom, nor merely a freedom by which we are relieved from physical bondage. True freedom is to serve God, to fulfill the purposes of those specially created in God’s image. Sin deprives us of this fulfillment because sin clouds our minds, degrades our feelings, and enslaves our wills. This is what the Reformers called “total depravity”; its only remedy is the grace of God in spiritual rebirth (3:3). See “Christian Liberty” at Gal. 5:1.