"The truth will make you free.”

I apologize that a computer problem prevented me from doing my final edit to this post.

John 8:31-59 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link on links page)

The Truth Will Make You Free

³¹ So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” ³³ They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. ³⁵ The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. ³⁶ So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. ³⁸ I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.”

³⁹ They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus *said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. ⁴⁰ But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. ⁴¹ You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.” ⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. ⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶ Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷ He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

⁴⁸ The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” ⁴⁹ Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. ⁵⁰ But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges. ⁵¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.” ⁵² The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death.’ ⁵³ Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?” ⁵⁴ Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; ⁵⁵ and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷ So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” ⁵⁹ Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

“If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”.... “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.    This is one of the very foundational truths regarding being a follower of Christ as opposed to living a self-centered life of sin. The world tends to look at Christianity and say that it imposes too many restrictions on people. The truth is when they believe that what they are really resisting is the law. They incorrectly believe that following Jesus means a life of thou shall nots. This is a lie that has it's origin in the garden with Eve and the serpent. God's rules for Adam and Eve were not bondage intended to keep them from enjoying life. Rather God wanted to protect them from the knowledge of evil. The serpent, through his deceit convinced Eve that she could be free to do what ever she wanted, that she didn't need to obey God, she could be equal to God.  

The truth is though as Jesus says:  everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. Living in disobedience to God does not make us free, it makes us subject to the consequences of our disobedience. Being subject to something means that we are ruled by that thing. So when we sin we are ruled by the consequences of our sin. We are enslaved by sin. The things God tells us not to do are for our own benefit and protection not to restrict or keep us in bondage. God says:   For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.(Jeremiah 29:11) Jesus says:  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.(John 10:10)  and Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls(Matthew 11:29)

It is not the entirely worlds fault though that they have this wrong perception about freedom in Christ as opposed to the bondage of sin. Far too much of the church has for far too long focused on a message that tells the world they need to give up their lifestyle, lay aside the things they do and become obediant servants of Christ. The church too has focused more on the law, trying to prove to sinners that they need a savior. Far too often the lives of Christians look like anything but freedom. For far too long the church has only been able to attract the needy. For the world to see the truth that a life in Christ is a life of freedom, Christians need to live free. This is not a freedom that allows us to do whatever we want, to participate in the sins of the world, but rather the freedom that we have in Christ to live in abundance and  joy. 

The church tends to try to draw people to the church as opposed to drawing them to Christ. This is the same error the Jewish people Jesus was speaking to were holding onto. They believed that their salvation came from their national identity, that because they were descendants of Abraham, they were saved. The church has too often focused on membership, having people join the church rather than come to live in Christ. What Jesus said to the religious leaders of His day He might well say to the church today.

Matthew 23:13-15       “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. ¹⁴ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

¹⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

If people are to want to come to Christ they need to see joy and abundance in Christians. The other thing that is lacking in the lives of many Christians and in the life of many churches is power. In Luke 24 Jesus speaks to the disciples before He ascends to heaven to be with the Father.

 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷ and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

When the church tries to be a witness for Jesus and proclaim repentance for forgiveness of sins without the power from on high, the message is lacking. Without the power of the Holy Spirit evident in our lives and in our churches we become good organizations at best and appear as places of bondage at worst. Only a Spirit filled, Spirit led life will demonstrate the truth of Christ to the world.

Jesus says:  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.(John 14:6)  The revelation of the truth and the life that Jesus gives comes through the Holy Spirit. In John 16:7-8  Jesus says:   "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8"And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;

When Jesus walked on earth He was called Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus the Word become flesh. He has gone now to be with the Father. He tells us though that we still have God with us. The Holy Spirit is God with us. For our lives to attract people to the truth that will set them free we must live a life yielded to the Holy Spirit, God with us.

Jesus says:" an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.  God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24) 

"The truth will make you free.”