Free Indeed

There is one hope for our liberation, and according to Jesus, it’s this: The truth will set you free. But it’s not just a matter of hearing the truth and being free. Jesus points out some essential factors related to truth and freedom.  

God’s Word, the Truth

First, we have to go to the right source for truth. God’s word is truth.

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.” John 8:31 (NIV)

Belief in Jesus leads to remaining in his word, showing that we are truly his disciples. “Hold to my teaching” is literally, “abide or remain in my word.” Yes, that includes the teaching of Jesus. It includes the teachings of all of Scripture, which came about through his Spirit. If you are a disciple or follower of Jesus, you have to be a person of the Word.

I was blessed to drop in on our middle school ministry while we had a guest speaker recently. What a blessing! For one, the teacher was really leading the kids, 6-8th graders, into an exploration of the Word of God. After the kids got over their shyness about me being in the room, they were really engaged with the teacher in sharing their knowledge of the Bible! I was impressed! That’s the hope for the next generation: get them into Jesus’ Word. That’s the only way they will be truly free. Of course, the kids who were most engaged are being taught the Word at home, too. The church is in partnership with parents in this endeavor. So the NIV is right by saying “hold to my teaching.” But “abide in my word” is actually more than just that.  

Abide in My Word

Jesus’ word is not just a body of knowledge that he teaches, but his presence through his Word and his Spirit. Jesus is also pointing out the fact that HE is the Word, as John tells us in the first verse of the first chapter. Remember, in John 14 Jesus claims to BE the truth.  

“Remain in my word” means to take residence in God’s Word and God’s presence by the Spirit. We’re saved by believing in Jesus. Remember, Jesus is speaking to the ones who believed in him. Believing in Jesus is the essential first step. If we want to experience the freedom Jesus has for us, though, we have to abide in his word. We follow Jesus by remaining in his word. Jesus is the living word, so when we abide in his word, we learn how to surrender to his presence!

To “remain” in “my word” is ultimately to remain in “the Word.” In this sense, the “word” is not merely the message of Jesus but also his person and his work. ¹ 

So we hold to Jesus’ teaching, we abide in his word, and his presence.

Know the Truth

³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 (NIV)

You can’t have freedom without knowing the truth, which is not just a matter of knowing the Bible. Knowing the Bible is important, because it’s part of abiding in the Word. But the purpose of abiding in the Word of God is relationship.

When Jesus says, “You will know the truth,” he is really saying, “You will know me; you will know God.” The purpose of getting into the Word of God is to have relationship with God. This is why sin, and all the substitutes for true freedom, are so detrimental to our souls. They block our relationship with God! Sure, we can say things like, “He knows my heart,” and make others excuses, but our relationship with God gets stifled. If I’m feeling bad or guilty about something, I don’t want to abide in God’s word and deepen my relationship with God. I want to do like Adam and Eve did and hide from God!  

Thank God, Jesus calls us back to himself. He calls us back to true freedom. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. He wants to set us free indeed.

Take Your Place in The Family

³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:35-36 (NIV)  

A slave has no permanent place in the family. This is talking about us, when we were slaves to sin! There’s no real security. That’s not freedom!  

A family adopted an older child from an unspeakably horrific orphanage in another country. When they brought her home, one of the things they told her was that she was expected to clean her room every day. When she heard about that responsibility, she fixated on it and saw it as a way she would earn her family’s love. In other words, she isolated the responsibility and applied it to her existing frame of thinking that was shaped by life in the orphanage. Thus, every morning when her parents came in her room, it was immaculate and she would sit on the bed and would say, “My room is clean. Can I stay? Do you still love me?” Her words broke her new parents’ hearts. 

Eventually, the girl learned to hear her parents’ words as their unconditionally beloved child who would never be forsaken, not as a visitor trying to earn her place in the family. She knew then that she was an inseparable part of the family story. ²

Freedom doesn’t mean we don’t belong anywhere; freedom doesn’t mean that we’re a renegade always on the run. It doesn’t mean that we fear being rejected by the family, separated from the family. Instead, it means taking our place as a forever child in the family of God. That’s freedom! You become a son or daughter in God’s forever family through the Son, who is the way, the truth, the life, who is the living word. Know him. Learn from him. Abide in him, his word, his presence. He is the truth who sets you free! When you are set free by him, you are set free indeed.

Listen to this message and others from Pastor Ed on the podcast, here!

1. (Klink, E. W., III. (2016). John (C. E. Arnold, Ed.; p. 414). Zondervan) ↩︎
2. David E. Prince, “How Biblical Application Really Works,” PreachingToday Skills Article (January 2018)  ↩︎