Truth will set you free

Introduction

the reformation of Luther

Revelation of God and His Word

Definition of the truth in the John

An example of the truth by a story of Samaritan woman

Living water is about giving you soul satisfaction

The woman’s satisfaction and desire was five men

She discover the living water by worshiping Jesus

Truth is to know that I get the salvation because Jesus became peace offering, Sacrifice on behalf of me.

Jonah swept away into sea.

2. Slavery of Sin, Bondage of Sin

Sin and Judgement of God

Two types of people - serving idols, and moral good.

Final Judgement is coming

What greatest sin is

It's time to celebrate the Reformation. Reformation Day dates back to 1517—that was over 500 years ago. When I was in university, I learned about its history. At its core, the Reformation declared that salvation comes by God's grace through faith alone. This bold message challenged the power of religious leaders in the Roman Catholic Church, who had blocked ordinary people from accessing the truth.

Think about Jesus' time: The Pharisees and Sadducees shut the kingdom of heaven right in people's faces. During the Reformation era, church authorities did the same—they closed the door to truth for the masses.

So, what about today? In my view, it's not much different. Even now, many people—including churchgoers—don't truly wrestle with what the truth really is. How can you tell? Look at what you love, trust, and obey most. If it's God, that's where freedom lies. But if it's idols like power, money, or success, that's a sign of deeper trouble.

As long as we chase those idols, truth can't take root in our hearts. We're still stuck in the same mess, with the same desperate need to rediscover it. Through this text, we'll explore exactly what truth looks like—and how all of humanity remains enslaved to sin.

God’s righeousness in the truth

31, 32 "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." The word ‘abide’ in greek is (Meinete): remain stay reside continue keep on endure. Jesus promises If you abide in the word of God, you are His disciple and you will know the truth. We are going to experience knowing the truth when we are abiding in the word.

We are thankful for that people didn’t make God’s truth, but God revealed the revelation regarding Himself. God came to people first and love them and give His word. He is God who is eternal, infinite, and unchangeable Spirit therefore, we can trust His word and HIs promise through His Son. God’s revelation through His Son, Jesus is totally different and incomparable to worldly promises. The truth does not talk about that we are able to find and get it from this world due to our sinful nature, but it talks about precious one God gave us throug the Bible. Therefore, It is reliable to hold this promise forever. God gave us the truth to save His people from their sin. This is marvelous news for those who desire the true satisfaction.

What is the truth. 14:6 "I am the Way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." 6:53 "Truly, truly, I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." How do you get the truth and the life? It is to know who is Jesus and what Jesus has done for you. Jesus is the only way that we can get true comfort and eternal joy. His death on the cross for paying out debt of sin and His resurrection for giving us living life is the truth. But it does not mean just getting the knowledge, it means you receive it and love it with all your heart. 2 Jn 9 "Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son." John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The truth is Jesus. Knowing Him, loving Him and worshiping Him are the truth. Apostle John describes about the truth in many places. I would like to precisely illustrate one story to see the truth and enslavement of human from John chapter 4.

Let us Read John 4:7–14 “A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Why does Jesus change the subject from drinking water to living water which has spiritual meaning. So what is Jesus saying to this outcast, who was a Samaritan which Jews disliked, hiding herself from others, and immoral person regarding men? What are living water and the spring of water welling up to eternal life? The metaphor of living water means the essential and basic lifesaving that it satisfies from the inside. The living water is talking about soul satisfaction and incredible contentment that does not depend on your circumstances. Jesus is talking about what makes you happy and comfort. What is your true satisfaction of you life?

Read John 4:15–18 “The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

She desired romantic love through five men. Why? Because she believed she is going to get true satisfaction and happiness in her life if she got wonderful romantic love. However, Jesus teaches her if you desire something like water from outside of you, you will eventually loose everything because these things like romantic love, money, success, career, and power make you more thirsty. What will give you a satisfying life? Most people believe that it comes from something outside of you. If I get security and comfort for the rest of my life, I will be more important and safe. However, you will be more thirsty because these things are counterfeit gods that cannot give you true happiness. Eventually, they will totally distoy you because they are fake. Jesus wants Samaritan woman and you to see this reality what you desire to be satisfied with your heart.

Then, Jesus shows her by saying “You need water that comes from even deeper down inside you than the thirst itself”. Jesus is saying I can give it. I can put it into you. I can give you incredible satisfaction in the core of your being regardless of you circumstance. This is why the woman abruptly change the topic from husband to worship. John 4:23–24 “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Why she abruptly talks about worshiping God?

When the Samaritan woman was thinking about her husbands she found her idols. On the other hand, she discovers the truth and life while she is abiding in the word of Jesus. Moreover, she gets true satisfaction and contentment when she has living water which is Jesus Christ that is the spring of the water welling up to eternal life. Finally, there is one more point that we don’t have to forget because the Samaritan woman’s salvaton will be completed in Jesus’ work that he was going to do for her about in six months. At the final stage of the book of John describes that.

6:53 "Truly, truly, I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you."

Why did she find the salvation? It was because Jesus was thirsty. If He was not thristy and didn’t go to the well and she would find the living water. But why was Jesus thirsty? It was because the Son of God, the making of heaven and earth, had emptied himself of His glory. He came down into the world becoming weary and thirsty. She could get the living water because He was going on the cross for her panalty of sin. Jesus’s body was given as the peace offering and sacrifice for you. He was thirsty phisically and spiritually becasue He was experiencing the loss of the relationship with His Father. He would have taken the punishment we deserved for our sins. there was a cut off from the Father, the source of a living water. He was experiencing the ultimate painful killing. Dehydration is one of the the worst death. Because Jesus Christ experienced thirst on the cross You and I can have our spiritual thirst satisfied. It is because He died that we can be born again. He did it to turn our heart away from Idols that enslaved us. Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—” The truth is that we know His amazing love He payed for our debt of eternal judgement by His death on the cross and He set us free from the enslavement of sin we get the living water by His resurrection

The truth reveals Enslavement of sin, bondage of sin

John 16:8 “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:” This is talking about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Like this verse, the text indicates sin, righteousness and judgement. Through verse 31 and 32 we saw the truth which is the righteousness of Jesus and verse 34-35 talks about sin and judgement of God. Jesus came to the earth to reveal human’s enslavement, the punishment of God on it, and God’s righteousness. That’s why Jesus talks about enslavement of people at John 8:34 “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” , John 8:35 “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.” In these two verses, Jesus teaches about sin and judgment. We must constantly remind ourselves of our sinful nature, which desires to practice sin, especially if we neglect to abide in God's Word. Yet, when we abide in the Word and truly know Christ, the enslavement of sin becomes clearly evident.

As a result of sin's enslavement, all people end up living for idols in their hearts. Without God's intervention, they cannot break free from these idols. Sin and idols blind us to our true state of sin and misery, lulling us into a false perception of safety and security. Humanity can be broadly divided into two main types of people. The first type chases tangible idols such as money, sex, career, and success. They believe these things will provide lasting comfort, safety, and satisfaction, so their hearts and minds become consumed by them. In doing so, they place greater significance on these idols than on God Himself. Colossians 3:5 “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Seeking satisfaction from any other source - such as the Samaritan woman who chased happiness through five men, is idolary. Likewise, if your love, faith, and obedience are tainted by greed, they become idols.

The second type of people relies on religion and good works for salvation. Through efforts like donations, helping others, and moral deeds, they believe their gods will reward and save them. In this view, salvation comes from human achievement rather than divine grace. This mindset dominates nearly all religions and, tragically, even some within the church, who unconsciously adopt it while striving to live morally upright lives.

When we practice sin and fall into its bondage, certain feature emerge. Our self-awareness becomes distorted, as our ability to discern right from wrong is paralyzed. Idols makes a deceptive sense of security, masking the reality of our enslavement. This is the essence of sin's bondage: a universal trap from which no one can escape on their own, held fast by the chains of idolatry.

John 8:35 says, "The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever." In Greek, the word "remain" is the same as "abide." So, this means that unless you abide in God's Word, you do not stay in God's house.

This verse points to the result of sin: God's eternal judgment. Romans 6:23 explains it clearly: "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." God's final answer to sin's slavery is separation from His kingdom and eternal punishment.

So, eternal judgment awaits everyone who becomes a slave to sin. We all face one of two paths: entering God's kingdom or facing eternal punishment. 2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

What is the greatest sin? It's not just that we fail to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—or to love our neighbor as ourselves. No, the greatest sin is rejecting the One who loved God perfectly with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength. He gave His very life to make us holy and perfect before God. Yet many people turn away from this gospel, calling it foolish. That rejection is the greatest sin of all. In our fallen state, we humans can't even see our own misery or grasp the true worth of His only Son.

A rich man never realizes why he should be happy with just a piece of bread—until his life changes and he becomes penniless. A patient doesn't grasp how serious his illness is—until the doctor says the cancer has spread fast and there's less than a 5% chance of survival. Rejecting God's only Son leads to eternal death. This isn't just a warning; it's our reality.

We have no hope unless Jesus came to us first and gave us His Word. The Bible shows how terrible things are for us humans without a true King. Without the Lord, there's no escape from idolatry. We'll never truly be okay.

When a person hears God's truth, they see their own slavery to sin and the coming eternal punishment. They stay close to the Word, recognize their cursed and miserable state, and desperately want healing.

The truth reveals the love of God

If you remain in Jesus’ word and knowing the truth, you will learn more about the love God. Matthew 12:39–40 “But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” “And now one who is more important than Jonah is here” Here is the love of God. “If I perish you survive, if I die , you will live and God threw Jesus into sea of death.” When He was on the cross, He would have been thrown into the ultimate storm and the waves of sin and death. He was going to be thrown into the only storm that can actually sink us. The storm of eternal justice that we owe for our wrong doing. This storm was not calmed not until it swept Jesus away. Therefore, you will never be thirsty again becuase you belive the truth. The truth will set free you from your thirst of your soul. The love of God gives you the true satisfaction and contentment because in Christ, He fulfilled all cost that you had to pay for your sin.

There is a comfort that so much stronger. It is greater, greater, and greater understanding the love of God. And the more you understand how much God loves you in Christ and what He did for you through His Son. If you grow in the love of God, you can do all things through Jesus who strengthens you.