John 8:32,36 (NLT)
Jesus
said, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free……So if the
Son sets you free, you are truly free.”
There are two obvious key words in this
passage—truth and free. What is truth
and what is being set free?
Truth
Truth is perhaps one of those words that
you think that you know what it means (opposite of lie), but to define it
further is difficult. The Greek word for
truth is “alétheia”, meaning factual and connoting the character of God. Numbers 23:19 states that “God is not a man
that He should lie….” and Hebrews 6:18 states “….it is impossible for God to
lie”. Who is the main liar in the
Bible? The devil! Jesus called him “… a liar and the father of
lies” (John 8:44).
One of the saddest segments of the Bible is
found in John 18:37-38 when Pilate asked Jesus “What is truth?”, but the Bible
does not record an answer. The few
commentaries I have read seem to agree that Pilate’s question was one of
skepticism or cynicism, not one where he really cared to know the answer. Of course, since Jesus described Himself as
the truth, Pilate was face to face with the truth so there was no need for an
answer. Yet, Pilate represents humankind,
some more than others, where humans do not want to know the truth. The truth can be too hard, too embarrassing,
and/or requires too much from us for us to accept/believe it. And, perhaps, Jesus knew this about Pilate
and did not answer his question.
Jesus defines the Bible as the truth (John
17:17). So, when He speaks of the truth
in these verses, He is referring to the Word of God. In the latter part of verse 31 Jesus said
that “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples” so verse 32
connects truth with “My word” or the Bible.
Free
To be free means to be delivered from
enslavement, to be liberated from whatever controls you. From a biblical perspective, what is the main
thing that enslaves you, that keeps you from being completely free? SIN!
Knowing the truth of God through the Word of Christ sets you free from
the enslavement of sin. This means both
freedom from the enslavement of the sin nature of an unsaved person and freedom
from any specific sin that may continue to enslave or dominate the life of a
saved person.
To be free from the control of sin is a
wonderful thought, feeling, and experience. What are the specifics in your life
with respect to either sin nature or specific sin(s)? Do you believe the words of Christ in these
verses? Can you find the specific
guidance in the Word that will free you from whatever is keeping you from the
kind of freedom Jesus is talking about?
If He sets you free, you are free indeed. To be free you must know the truth. To know the truth, you must be a disciple of
Christ.
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