In John 8:31-22, Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "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." For Jesus, a true believer is a disciple committed to the Word of God. Because only those who truly believe in Him will continue in His Word and know that it is the truth that makes one free.
Know The Truth
In the Bible, the word "truth" means completely reliable and trustworthy. Truth is factual and it must correspond to reality. Truth is not invented; you discover it. It is not by majority decision. Truth is timeless; universal.It can be painful. Truth is narrow and exclusive.Some people today believe there is no absolute truth. They can tolerate what others choose to believe regardless of whether it is true or not. Jesus wants us to follow Him and to know the truth because there is a real enemy - Satan, the father of lies. Satan will attack our thinking to make us doubt and deny God's Word. He can make us believe that God is selfish and a killjoy (Genesis 3:1, 4-5). The battle is in the mind. so if er do not know the truth, we can easily believe lies. God is the only truth; He wants us to know truth. He does not lie (Titus 1:2). Whatever He says and promises, He fulfils. When we encounter Jesus and submit to the Word of God, we will know the truth, be protected from lies and have great peace (psalm 119:151, 160, 165)
Be Set Free
To know the truth is to abide in God's Word - to obey and build our lives anchored on it. When we abide in God's Word, we will experience the truth, and the truth will set us free. The worst kin of slavery is when we do not know or we deny it. The Jews were so blinded that they believed that they were never enslaved (John 8:33). Jesus then pointed them to the heart of the issue that whoever commits sin is a slave of sin (John 8:34). Counterfeit freedom is thinking we can do whatever we feel like doing, without having rules, boundaries or consequences. This mindset is in fact a form of slavery. When we become so attached to things of this world such as drugs, alcohol, pornography, sex, computer games, relationships, etc., and we actually became addicted to it, that is slavery. True freedom is the desire and ability to do God's will. It also gives us the ability to say no to sin. God wants us to be free. True freedom means that we are to be all that God has designed us to be and to reach our full potential. How then can we have true freedom?Jesus is the answer
Between truth and freedom is Jesus. He is the truth that sets us free. Before we came to know Him, we were enslaved to sin, but through Him, we are freed (John 8:36). Jesus breaks the chain of bondage. The bondage is no longer there, but if we continue to believe the lies in our mind, they can control us. Then we will neither have joy nor peace. Jesus is not just a Saviour, a teacher or a prophet. He is God (John 8:57-58).When Jesus claimed, "I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6), His claim must be true or false. If this is true, then you must surrender our independence to Jesus and be fully dependent on Him. True believers are true disciples. They abide in His Word, they know the truth and it sets them free.
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