The Truth Will Make You Free

Everyone wants to be free. Since this is true there are two questions that must be asked. First, what do I want to be free from? This question recognizes that there are forces in the world that keeps us in bondage preventing us from being free. We want to be free from these forces and powers. We cannot be free until we learn what these forces are and then come up with an effective strategy to overcome or defeat these forces. The second question is what do I want to be free to do? Here is a reality in life. I may want to be free from something while at the same time I may not have any knowledge or desire to do anything differently. For example, a person in an abusive relationship may want to be free from the abuse, but they may not have any idea of what life without this relationship will be like. A person may become free of the abusive person, but afterward having no goal and purpose for living life any differently, return to the old relationship. So, it becomes necessary to have something that we want to be free to do when we are free from what holds us in slavery. In the gospel of John, Jesus makes a statement to some Jews who believed in Him. Jesus said to these Jews, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32, NASB). Did you get that? Jesus tells these Jews who believe in Him that knowing the truth is what will make them free. This is an interesting promise made to Jews. Now to understand why, it should be noted that in his Gospel, John generally refers to “Jews” as those Jews who generally oppose Jesus and His teachings. In chapters 5-8 Jesus is in debate with the Jews and the Pharisees. They don’t believe that He is the Son of God. They don’t believe that His works, His miracles are of God. They don’t believe that He is speaking the truth that comes from God. Yet, while Jesus constantly finds Himself in debate with the Jews and their Pharisee leaders, some of them believe in Jesus. These are the people that Jesus speaks to. They give up their old beliefs for belief in Jesus even though they don’t necessarily understand fully all that He says and do. Let us examine what Jesus is offering to these Jews who believe in Him and to all who will believe in Him. Jesus offers those who believe in Him freedom from sin. Sin is in the world and sin is the root of everything that holds us in bondage. Jesus promises those who believe in Him freedom from religion, social norms, racism, sexism, social injustices, financial distress, poor self esteem, involvement in bad relationships and anything else that holds us in bondage. Jesus offers us freedom from sin, both the sin of others and our particularly our own personal sins. Jesus does not only promise to free us from sin, He offers us eternal life. ‘“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (5:24). When His opponents objected to His offer to make the believer free, (v. 33) Jesus responded by saying ‘“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin” (8:34). You might ask, what does it mean to be free from sin? What are the benefits of being free from sin? To be free from sin is to be free from the penalty of sin. The penalty of sin is death brought upon the human race by the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the garden (Gen. 3). This death is not limited to physical death, but it is a spiritual death because humans are now separated from their creator, and they no longer have fellowship with God. As a results man is spiritually dead because the Spirit of God is not in him. Jesus comes and He offers us new life with His Spirit to sanctify us so that we will have fellowship with the Father. Jesus says, ‘“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive;”” (7:38-39). The result of sin is that we are not free to be as God created us to be. Thus, to be made free means that we are now able to be what God created us to be. The sin in us causes us to want to stay in sin, but the Holy Spirit helps us by His power to live free from the power of sin so that we can live a new life in Jesus Christ. Now, freedom from sin is given to each individual who believes in Jesus and receives forgiveness of his or her personal sins. There is nothing in the world that keeps us in bondage more than our own personal sins. So, you want to be free! Jesus tells those who believe in Him that they must know the truth and the truth will make you free. How can we come to know the truth? It is a process that we want to look at. First, as has already been stated one must believe in Jesus. This means that we believe what Jesus says about Himself. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God. He speaks the words of God. He does the works of God. Jesus is God’s exclusive representative from God to man in the earth. He is the only one who can give us fellowship with God. He alone could say, ‘“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me”’ (John 14:6, NASB). The Pharisees claimed to be the guardians of the Scriptures, but they proved to be void of understanding the Scriptures which told them how to recognize the Messiah. Second, the believer must become a disciple of Jesus. This is done by continuing in His word. The Greek word for continue means to “abide,” “remain,” “hold to,” and “to be connected to.” The believer establishes his lifestyle based on the words of Jesus which include His spiritual, moral, and ethical teachings; and especially His commandments to love God and others. The disciple is one who chooses to make Jesus their Master (teacher). The disciple follows the master, learning his words and his ways. The disciple disciplines him or herself so that they can make the necessary changes in their life to reflect the teaching of the Master. The disciple does not pick and choose what he or she wants. They accept the Master wholly. It is a relationship like that of the shepherd and his sheep. The Shepherd feeds and protects the sheep leading them to green pastures. The Shepherd knows the sheep and calls them by name. The sheep know the Shepherd’s voice and follow him, and they will not follow the voice of another shepherd (see John 10:1-15). Thirdly, as disciples come to know the truth, the truth makes them free. As they follow their master, they come to know his words and his ways. The disciple comes to know that his or her own words and ways cannot make them free. The disciple discards old beliefs and ideas learned through their life experiences in a world infested with sin. In the world there is sin, but Jesus teaches us that becoming righteous before God is the means by which we necessarily begin to eliminate sin and its worldly practices. They believe in Jesus and by continuing in His words they come to know that only God can make them free, and His thoughts and ways are different from their own. ‘“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways,’ declares the Lord” (Isa. 55:8, NASB). Finally, the truth will make you free and Jesus is the truth (14:6). In his Gospel, John does not separate the person of Jesus from the works of Jesus. Jesus does what Jesus says. John uses seven “I Am” saying to illustrate this truth. Jesus says ‘“I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst’” (6:35, NASB). Jesus is the bread from God that gives eternal life, and He sends the Spirit from God to support our new life (14:16-17). Thus, Jesus is the truth that makes us free by dying on the cross for our sins. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit so that we can live according to the Spirit instead of according to our sinful nature. Jesus, by His word and His Spirit gives us a new life free from the power of sin. When Jesus makes us free, we think differently about our life’s situations. We respond to our circumstances in new and effective ways. Troubles and conflicts will continue in our lives, but they no longer hold us in slavery. We have come to know the truth, and the truth makes us free.