Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed (John 8:31-36).
In this passage, we find the word of God to be informative and instructive. Jesus said to those who believed Him, “if you abide [remain, stay, and dwell] in My word, you are My disciples indeed” (John 8:31). We are His if we do what He says, and “you [we] shall know the truth and the truth shall make you [us] free” (John 8:32). Jesus, speaking to disciples says, “you shall be aware of the truth. You shall have knowledge of the truth. You shall be able to perceive truth. You shall be able to speak the truth. You shall be sure of the truth. You shall understand the truth.” One cannot be deceived while walking in the truth! The question is, are we truly walking in His truth?
Those who were in Jesus’ audience that day affirmed they were descendants of Abraham and had never been in bondage to anyone. Many Christians today are doing unchristian things while reading their Bible and serving in the Church. The Lord was not distracted by the error of those Pharisees, nor is He unaware of present hypocrisy. He continued to press His point saying, “whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:34-36). If the Son of God frees you from your bondage of sin through the Truth, you will be free indeed! Therefore, Jesus the Truth makes us free! Knowing Jesus gives usintimate insight and understanding when facing negative situations, dilemmas, and lies. Without the knowledge of Jesus, it is impossible to navigate through the kind of atmosphere in which we are living today.
We are living in an evil day. Therefore, we must put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against, combat, the schemes of the devil. Jesus, dealt with the Pharisees attempt at distraction, saying,“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father” (John 8:37-38). Jesus said to them, that the truth has no relationship to lies or dissimilation! Jesus raised the question they were trying to hide, namely they wanted to murder Him! Christ exposed their plans and their satanic source by saying,“You seek to kill me because my word has no place in you. I speak what I’ve seen with my father and you do what you have seen with your father” (John 8:37-38). All wickedness proceeds from one source, satan! Jesus said their deeds were the manifestation of their relationship with their father, the devil. The Church of Jesus Christ must never be complicit with wickedness nor complacent in the face of it because satan is the source of all evil. We are to be led by the Spirit of God and confront wickedness as the Spirit leads us! “They answered and said to Him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father.’Then they said to Him, ‘We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God’” (John 8:39-42). After Jesus exposed those men’s source, they quickly claimed to be Abraham’s children. Jesus replied, if they were children of Abraham, they would do the works of Abraham, but because they wanted to kill Him their source was revealed! In our day, the Lord is revealing who His children are and exposing satan’s seed at the same time. Watch and pray more than ever.
“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me’” (John 8:42-45).
Standing in the Truth,
Pastor Don