Freed By Truth

John 8:31-32

“And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). The simplest, clearest, straightforward understanding of this text is that truth can be known: “…you will know the truth…” (John 8:32). And rightly as followers of Jesus Christ we should seek to know the truth. Indeed, the Bible has a lot to say about knowing truth (See Psalm 25:5).

Nowadays we hear a lot of talk about the subjectivity of truth. People speak about your truth. My truth. But dear friends this is ridiculous. Truth is objective. Truth is one. You cannot have your truth and I cannot have my truth. All truth is one. In this verse we see one of the profound teachings of the faith. Truth liberates. Truth frees. Not only will you know the truth. It will set you free. But What is Truth? That brings me to the title for this morning: Freed By Truth. There will be three subtitle in this title which will come in the form of questions. What Is Truth? How Do We Know The Truth? How Does The Truth set Free?

What Is Truth?

Perhaps one of the missed opportunity for us to hear Jesus defining truth for us was during his trial. Pilate asked him a question in John 18:38 “What is truth?” Before Jesus will answer that question, Pilate walked away. So we never got to know how Jesus will have answered that question. However, we are not left in doubt as to what truth is. Indeed there are many philosophical definitions of truth, but that is not what we are after. Truth simply can be said to be what corresponds with fact. You will notice that in these passages there are two things with emphasis in the passage. The words “word” and “truth.” And I believe these two are being used interchangeably. Let me point you to these emphasis (vv 37; 40; 43; 44; 45-47).

Take note of these The point then is that the word of God is Truth. What Jesus has spoken. What has been written is considered as Truth. Ever thing the Bible teaches is true and we must indeed receive it as God’s word.

How Do We Know Truth?

By Knowing The Word Of God

If the word of God is truth, then we can say that to know the truth is to know the word of God. Observe how the text links knowing truth with the word of God. Before speaking about the freedom the knowledge of truth brings, he spoke about abiding in the word: (v.31). It is when you abide in the word that you get to know the truth. The word abide in the original language means to stay, continue, hold, remain. It is to cherish, delight in, love, long for the word. See how some versions render the word abide

“If ye continue in my word…” (KJV)

“If you hold to my teaching…” (NIV)

These renderings give us a view of our attitude towards the word of God. It is one thing to believe and another thing to continue to hold and cherish the word. Mere belief is not true discipleship. Faith and practice is what discipleship is about. In fact, discipleship is about being a student and following a teacher. Are you following Christ? Are you obeying him? Is your life evident of someone who has truly believed in Christ? Do you love the word of God? You should because that’s what shows your faith. You love to commune with Christ in prayer and you love to hear his word through the Scriptures. And this is the attitude these Jews didn’t have. Consistently you hear Jesus confronts them with their negative attitude towards the word of God. The word had no place in them (v.37). This means they didn’t cherish the word. They didn’t obey the word and they didn’t walk according to the word. They didn’t hear the word. They couldn’t tolerate the word (v.43;47).

Brethren, as believers, our source of growth, victory over sin, sanctification and everything we will become in the faith is grounded in the word.

By Knowing The Son

Knowing the truth of God’s word begins with knowing the Son. Observe the relationship between truth and the son. In verse 32, we are told “the truth will set you free” Then when you look down verse 36, we are told “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed”. Do you see that? The truth and the son all sets free.

Dear friends we cannot know the truth of God outside of Jesus. In fact real freedom begins with our knowledge of the Son. And this knowledge come by faith in him. Jesus in John 14:6 tells us that he is the only way to the Father. See, if we don’t know the Son, we cannot know the truth because he is the one who brought the truth of God’s word to us (v.40).

How Does The Truth Set Us Free?

Exposing Our Self-Righteousness

It has been said that the first step towards dealing with a problem is accepting you have a problem. If you deny you have a problem, then no one can help you. And one of the many problems we will all live with is to accept the reality of our sin and depravity.

People often see themselves as good, kind, loving and caring. It is the other person who is evil. It is the other person who is a hypocrite. And we see this picture painted clearly in this narrative. The Jews denied their need to be free. They denied their need for salvation. They denied their need for freedom. When Jesus spoke to them about freedom, they said no, we don’t need freedom. In fact we are already free. And they appealed to their natural origins (v.33). This is the reality of life. Sinners don’t accept their predicament. And people put their hopes and trust in all kinds of things. Their family background. Who is their parents. The school they attended. The community they live in. People put their trust in all kinds of things.

Exposing Our Sin

No one is saved by association. Brethren, regardless of who you are. Regardless of what family you come from. Regardless of your level of education. Regardless of your level of income, we all need one thing, freedom from sin. Perharps these Jews didn’t consider sin as what Jesus was talking about. Jesus’ response clearly tells us the freedom needed is freedom from sin (vv.34-37).

Which of us here doesn’t need this freedom from sin? We struggle with habits. We struggle with addictions. We struggle with telling lies. We struggle with lust. We struggle with jealousy and coveteousness. Maybe not you, but I have my own struggles. We all struggle under the weight of one sin or the other. And the only way… the only way of escape is to run to Jesus who died to save sinners from their sin: (v34;44). What are you struggling with. What is that pet sin, you cannot let go? Bring it to Jesus. When we pray every Sunday confessing our sins; it is simply an acknowledgement of our frailty, we are weak, we are poor, we are needy, we sin everyday in many ways and we need the Grace of God everyday to save us.

Reveals Our Need Of A Saviour

It’s not enough to be exposed to our self-rigtheousness and our sin. We have to know how to deal with them. And Jesus reveals our need of a Saviour. The need for someone to stand in the gap for us. And Jesus points to himself as the one who will do that (v.36).

Jesus offers himself to sinners and calls on them to believe in him to be saved. To be a sinner is to be a slave to sin. It is to be separated from God. You have no place in the presence of God. But Jesus offers you salvation. He offers you permamnent abode in God’s Kingdom (v.46b).

Believe. Trust. Run to Jesus and he will receive you.