 | | | March 21, 2025 | The Truth Will Set You Free | | by Neatice Warner |
| | | So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill Me because My Word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”They answered Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.” They said to Him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of My own accord, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear My Word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right in saying that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. Yet I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks it, and He is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My Word, he will never see death.” The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet You say, ‘If anyone keeps My Word, he will never taste death.’ Are You greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do You make yourself out to be?” 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.’ But you have not known Him. I know Him. If I were to say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know Him and I keep His Word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.John 8:31-59 |
| | Spring break! Every student loves it! It’s a week with no papers due or exams to take. It’s a week of freedom—for sleeping in, hanging with friends, or a trip with the family. It’s a week to do whatever you want—freedom! John 8:32 contains one of Jesus’ most popular quotes: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” That statement at the time, however, offended Jesus’ Jewish audience at the Feast of Tabernacles, because it implied they weren’t free, and they challenged Him. The interchange became one of the most impassioned debates between Jesus and Jewish people who were interested in His teaching but also proud of their heritage. That pride kept them from really hearing and receiving Jesus’ full statement: “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free;” and then, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:32-36).The people exclaimed that they were Abraham’s descendants and never slaves of anyone. Probably, they had not forgotten all the oppression they had suffered through the centuries. But they believed that, as the heirs of God’s covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), they were a unique people and therefore “free.” They were God’s, and (they thought) they lived by His law.But Jesus responded that they were Abraham’s children physically and ethnically only. Because they refused to believe and live by His truth— that He was God’s Son and the promised Savior—they were enslaved to sin like all other people. They were not children or even followers of Abraham. In their unbelief, they were, in fact, children of the devil. They refused both the truth that they were sinners and the truth that He was the only Savior. In the truth of Jesus and in the Person of Jesus alone was their salvation and freedom.Jesus personalized truth. He said to His disciples, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Authentic, eternal life is to be found in believing the truth of Jesus, and by knowing Jesus and being known by Him. And in this relationship, created and enlivened by His Spirit, is freedom.This freedom is real right now. We escape judgment for sin, because Jesus has taken it. We experience victory over specific sins, because Jesus overcame sin’s control, and because His Spirit within us gives us His strength. 2 Corinthians 3:17says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Christian freedom is not just a spring break experience of “whatever we want,” but what God created us to be, in the image of His Son.Because of union by faith in Jesus, we are free to resist temptation. We are free to be courageous when we face fear. Because of His Spirit, we are free to be kind when others are thoughtless and calm when pressed by circumstances. Because our Savior is with us, we are liberated to speak for Him to those who reject Him. We are free to serve Him with humility and wisdom. Because He redeemed us, we follow His light through the confusion of the world. He is the Truth who has set us free. |
| | About the Author | | Neatice grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and graduated from the University of New Mexico. She is married to Terry and has 2 sons, 2 daughters-in-law, and 3 grandsons. Neatice is privileged to teach the PCPC Women’s Early Morning Bible Study; her passion, along with her family, is God’s Word and the joy of seeing God’s people transformed by His Spirit through that Word. |
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