Truth Will Set You Free

Intro

John 8:30–32 CSB

30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him. 31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Abide

We finished last weeks sermon talking about Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees and their complete misunderstanding about who he is and what he came to do.

But after Jesus schooled them we read in verse 30 that many believed him.

That means that many who listened to him.

Many that heard his statements about being the light of the world.

About being from above and not below.

Hearing his declaration that he is doing what pleases the Father, many believed him.

But then v. 31 can confuse us a little bit.

Why does Jesus feel the need to clarify and or challenge these Jews who believed.

In fact, as we read the rest of the section we are going to see that there are those present that had a fickle faith.

They didn’t fully believe

They had trust issues.

Jesus had encountered this before.

John 2:23-25 “23 While he was in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. 24 Jesus, however, would not entrust himself to them, since he knew them all 25 and because he did not need anyone to testify about man; for he himself knew what was in man.”

So Jesus clarifies what it means to be his disciple. What it truly means to Follow him.

And what does he say is required to be his disciple?

v. 31 “If you continue in my Word, you really are my disciples.”

This word “continue” can and is translated multiple different ways.

Some translations say abide, some say remain, some say continue.

But the overarching theme of this word is that you don’t leave.

The true mark of a follower of Jesus is that you don’t abandon him.

That you remain trusting in his Word.

Believing in his Word.

Leaning on his word.

Holding onto his Word.

People saw his signs, heard his teachings, and they initially believed what he said and taught.

But they ended up with an untrustworthy and inauthentic faith.

If we think back to John 6, there were those who loved to eat the loaves and fish.

But When Jesus started talking about doctrine and devotion they walked away.

They didn’t hold on, abide, or continue in his Word.

They didn’t persevere.

They didn’t have genuine faith in Jesus.

They loved the gifts, but not the gift giver.

Perseverance is key to knowing you belong to Jesus.

If you don’t abide. If you don’t continue. If you don’t remain. You don’t belong.

We can like or even agree with what Jesus says, but that does not make us a disciple.

Disciples live out the teachings and replicate the teachings of their teacher.

Not only that they endure. They continue. They abide. They remain.

As a pastor, I’ve had this question come up from family, friends, and even church members.

“I have a brother, sister, son, daughter or friend, that believes in Jesus, but they aren’t following him right now.”

They used to go to church every time the doors were open.

They served in the Children’s ministry.

Momma and Daddy taught them the meaning of Christianity.

They read their bible, they did these things, but now they have gone away.

Well Jesus says right here, do they abide, did they remain, or are they continuing in his Word.

If they aren’t, then they aren’t Jesus’ disciples. They haven’t persevered. They’ve left the truth to walk in lies.

Does that mean their is no hope for their salvation? No it doesn’t, There is still hope that they would come and abide.

But if they aren’t abiding right now, they don’t have or know Jesus.

I’m convinced that the church has does a disservice to our culture and to people all together.

We have forsaken discipleship for convert numbers.

Here’s what I mean.

How many of you have been in a worship service, revival meeting, youth event, or even saw an evangelist on TV that said something like,

“Do you want to avoid going to hell? Repeat this prayer after me.”

Then the preacher uses some canned prayer.

People then repeat this prayer, and the preacher says “If you’ve said this prayer, then congratulations you are now saved.”

That’s not what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

These prayers have caused many people to walk around and think they’re good with God.

That they are saved and that they have been pardoned and one day they will be with God.

And unfortunately, that’s a lie from the pit of hell.

Has God used that prayer to save some people? Undoubtedly.

But has the enemy, the devil, the father of lies, used that prayer as a sense of false assurance? Without a doubt.

Jesus doesn’t say if you say a prayer. If you perform this deed. If you go to church. He says if you continue in my word then you are my disciples.

If there are people out there that you know that have said this prayer, but they don’t abide in the Word of God, then I believe it would be safe to say that they aren’t Jesus’ disciples.

As if that’s not heavy hitting enough, Jesus doesn’t end there.

He also says, John 8:32 “32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.””

Later in John 14:6 “6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Holding onto Jesus’ Word means that you know the Truth.

Jesus’ Word is where truth is found.

There is only one way to know the truth, that is to continue to believe Jesus’ Word.

God cares about truth.

God loves truth.

God is the author of truth.

And if we love him.

If we want to follow him.

If we want to remain with him then we have to love and continue in the truth.

This means that we have to be submissive to what God teaches whether we like it or not.

God chose to reveal himself through the pages of Scripture.

What he says Goes.

This flies in the face of our culture.

Our culture of independence tells us that we can make the rules.

That’s what’s good for me may not be good for you, so you do what you do and I’ll do me.

Our culture tells us to follow our hearts.

To do what makes us happy.

That all truth is subjective. I can live out my truth.

But abiding in Jesus is not having an earthly and temporary perspective, but a heavenly and eternal one.

Jer 17:9 “9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?”

The truth of the Word of God says that following our hearts will lead us down the road of destruction.

As a follower of Jesus, you aren’t supposed to follow your heart. You are supposed to follow his Word.

You are to submit to his truth.

The deceitfulness of our hearts wants our cake and wants to eat it too.

We want God. But we also want our selfishness.

So what can and does happen is we look to God’s word to validate and affirm what we want it to say.

We look for confirmation that we are right.

We twist the scriptures to make them fit into our mold.

But rather abiding in the Truth, means that we allow God’s Word to shape us.

To tell us when we’re wrong.

To challenge our thinking and our actions.

So that we can look and act more like Jesus.

After all he designed you.

He created you.

He knows how this life is to be lived, shouldn’t we then listen to how he says we are supposed to live?

Shouldn’t we submit ourselves to his eternal wisdom?

Jesus isn’t calling for half-hearted devotion.

He isn’t calling for part-time discipleship.

He isn’t calling for our lives to be bifurcated.

Church on Sunday, My self the rest of the week.

He is calling for people who are willing to give all that they are, all that they have, and all that they will ever be to him.

That’s what it means to be set free.

That we are set free to live as we ought to.

That we are set free to live as God has designed us to.

That we are set free from the bondage of sin.

We aren’t set free to do whatever we want. We are set free to fulfill the purposes God sets before us.

But that is only available if we are commited to the truth Jesus provides.

And if we continue in that truth.

If we abide in the truth.

If we persevere and follow Jesus.

But if we need to be set free that means that we are in bondage.

That means that there is some reality that we are missing.

And Jesus is going to address this with those who are going to challenge him.

John 8:33–41 CSB

33 “We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. 37 I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you. 38 I speak what I have seen in the presence of the Father; so then, you do what you have heard from your father.” 39 “Our father is Abraham,” they replied. “If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did. 40 But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You’re doing what your father does.” “We weren’t born of sexual immorality,” they said. “We have one Father—God.”

Slaves of Sin

After Jesus tells these leaders that they could be free, they come back with the retort

John 8:33 “33 “We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?””

Which is a silly thing to say. Obviously as descendents of Abraham, they have been enslaved before.

They were enslaved by Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and currently are enslaved by Rome.

They have a history of being under the thumb of empires.

Subject to their rule.

Subject to their reign.

So something else must be going on.

They are most likely talking about Spiritual and Religious Freedom.

Generally, they were under physical bondage, but they were usually able to worship their God whenever ruled over by a foreign power.

They were able to keep their national and religious identity even while in subjugation to other world powers.

In fact, they were the only group that were given the freedom to worship their own God under the Roman Empire.

These believers with Fickle Faith are now 2 seconds into learning from Jesus and they are already demonstrating their unwillingness to listen to Jesus.

They are already in a state of rebellion.

They are already talking without listening.

They are already showing that They aren’t abiding or continuing in Jesus’ Word.

So Jesus goes further.

He has to instruct them further on what he means by being set free.

John 8:34 “34 Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.”

Their issue with Freedom wasn’t a religious liberty to worship God.

Their issue with freedom was a spiritual slavery.

A slavery to rebellion, sin, and ultimately death.

Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.

That means that everyone who has ever walked on the face of this earth, with the exception of Jesus, has been under the slavery of sin.

Everyone including you has been under the mastery of Sin.

You aren’t a sinner because you sin. You sin because your a sinner.

When you are born. You come into this world under the yoke of sin and death.

You are in bondage to sin.

It masters over you.

It doesn’t matter how religious you are.

It doesn’t matter how moral you are.

It doesn’t matter how good you think you are.

If you have commited a sin, one sin, then you are a slave of sin.

If you practice sin you are a slave to it.

Just so we’re clear on what sin is, let’s talk about it.

Sin is anything that disobeys or dishonors God.

Anything that rebels against the way that God has created life to be lived.

Anything that violates his character.

For a good outline of what sin is you can look at the 10 Commandments. Exodus 20

For further study you can look at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7.

Jesus is pointing out to these Jewish Leaders that his concern isn’t for their political or religious status. It’s for their Spiritual and Moral enslavement to sin.

You can be all prettied up on the outside. But rotting away on the inside.

You need to be set free.

Set free from self righteousness.

Set free from the bondage of approval of others.

Set free from disobedience and rebellion.

Set free from anger and hatred.

Set free from unforgiveness of those who hurt you.

Set free from seeking satisfaction outside of God’s goodness.

Set free from drinking all your sorrows away.

Set free from the sin that ensnares you.

Jesus came to set you free.

To offer you the life of freedom.

Have you ever thought about your sin as slavery.

When that sin is the only thing you can think about. When it consumes you.

Let’s say you haven’t offered forgiveness to someone that hurt you.

All you can think about is getting revenge.

Waiting for the day that they get what’s coming to them.

Rejoicing when they are in pain.

Shouting with glee when things go wrong in their lives.

Thinking that “Well they deserve what’s coming to them.”

You are a slave to sin.

You are a slave to hatred. You are a slave to anger and bitterness.

Or as your at school, work, or where ever and all you can think about is getting home and hitting the bottle.

That your mind is consumed with drinking alcohol to chase away the pain.

To clear away the hurt.

You are a slave to the sin of drunkeness.

Or walking around just wishing that people would get themselves together.

That they need to work harder. Just like you did.

When will they come to realize that they need to do things like I did.

They need to follow in my footsteps.

I’ve got it all figured it out. Look at me follow me.

You are a slave to pride.

I could go on and on, but just know.

That YOU need to be set free from sin.

And there’s only one way to be set free.

The Son.

Jesus.

Abiding in his teaching.

Loving and following him.

He will set you free from the bondage of sin and death.

It’s not about what you do or who you are, it’s about who he is and what he’s done.

The argument that the Jewish leaders presented about Abraham being their father, is an argument for a special place in God’s story.

They were arguing from privilege.

They were privileged b/c God chose Abraham to be the father of the nation.

They were special b/c their ancestor was chosen by God.

And they believed that since they were his descendants they held that special place of privileged too.

And Jesus grants them that they are Abraham’s seed or descendants, but not that they are Abraham’s children.

Because if they were children of Abraham they would do like Abraham did.

Like Father, Like Son.

Instead of acting as Abraham did.

They are acting contrary to him.

They are claiming to be the Sons of Abraham but they are not acting as his sons would.

Rather than faith and obedience to God’s Word they are wanting to kill Jesus.

Their lives run in opposition to the heritage that they claim.

To equate their argument with today it would be like this.

I’m a christian b/c my mom, dad, and grandparents were Christian.

I’m a christian b/c I go to church.

I’m a Christian b/c I have devoted my time, energy, and money to Christian causes.

But you are not abiding in Jesus.

You have all the “qualifications” of being a Christian, but the life you live does not reflect the love of Jesus.

You are steeped in sinfulness.

Your Father isn’t God.

You aren’t living out the life you are claiming.

You claim to be a Christian for the blessing of heaven, but you haven’t been born again.

You haven’t been set free.

Your actions and your words show that you belong not to God but to sin

As Jesus says, John 8:41 “41 You’re doing what your father does.”

In rebuttal to Jesus statement, the Jewish leaders snarkely respond.

John 8:41“We weren’t born of sexual immorality,” they said. “We have one Father—God.””

This is most likely a Jab at Jesus.

These leaders probably know some of the “scandal” surrounding Jesus’ birth.

That Mary and Joseph were not yet married when he was conceived.

Which then makes his birth illegitimate in their eyes.

They were trying to wave their moral superiority in Jesus’ face.

But he will have the final word.

John 8:42–47 CSB

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Who among you can convict me of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”

Like Father, Like Son

Jesus pushes back against them.

He wants them to know that there is no way that God is their Father.

They can’t see who Jesus is b/c they have had enough religion and tradition to satisfy them.

They think they are right b/c tradition tells them they are.

They think they are right b/c what they do satisfies their need for superiority.

They think they are right b/c they are content with their bondage.

They don’t love God, because they don’t love Jesus.

Jesus once again talks about being sent from God.

Jesus is the Representative of God to them and they are still blinded.

Jesus doesn’t deny that they are descendants of Abraham.

But he isn’t concerned with their heritage.

He is concerned with their spiritual renewal.

The only thing that truly matters when it comes to God is Spiritual Sonship.

That we can get a new father and our actions can align with his.

But these Jewish Men don’t understand what Jesus is revealing to them.

And its because they cannot listen to his word.

They are incapable of hearing his word.

They are incapable of obeying his word.

They are incapable of continuing and abiding in his word.

Why?

Because they are like their father the devil.

They only want to carry out what he desires.

They seek to lie, to kill, and to destroy Jesus.

They want to rid themselves of him.

From the very beginning of creation, the Devil has been a Liar.

Tempting Adam and Eve to disobey God.

Offering them the opportunity to be like God through disobedience.

Leading them into the reality of death.

B/c of that disobedience.

The Devil loves chaos.

He loves deception.

He loves lies.

He loves death.

And he loves these things b/c they are part of his very nature.

And if they love the same things that he loves then He is their Father.

The devil hates truth.

Why b/c truth stems from the heart of God.

It shows us who we truly are.

That we are slaves to sin.

That we are in bondage.

That we need to be set free.

But Satan doesn’t want us to be set free.

He wants us to continue in bondage.

He wants us to continue serving him as master.

So he deceives us.

He is more cunning and deceptive than often we give him credit for.

It’s not a secret that sin brings pleasure.

That sin feeds our flesh.

If sin was always miserable then we would abstain from it.

But Sin brings, at least temporary pleasure.

But Sin always promises more than it can deliver.

It always costs us more than we want to pay.

It always keeps us longer than we want to stay.

But let me tell you you can be set free from the cycle of sin and disappointment.

That’s the point of this passage.

We can be free.

We can have freedom.

We don’t have to give into sin.

Jesus will set you free.

He will break the chains of sin.

But we have to listen.

We have to submit to him.

We have to abide in his word.

But the good news is we don’t have to do it alone.

We can’t do it alone.

We tell Jesus that we want to follow him and he will change our hearts.

He will open our eyes.

He will come and make us a new creation.

Where our lives and desires will align with him.

Our status will change from children of the devil to children of God.

We can be Like the Father of life instead of the Father of lies.

That’s the offer Jesus lays before you this morning.

He wants you to listen to him.

To know the truth.

To be set free.

If you aren’t a follower of Jesus he is offering you his hand.

He is saying to you give up the life of selfishness, of self-righteousness, of sin, deception, and death.

And come to him where you can have life.

You can be set free.

You can know love, grace and forgiveness.

If you have already given your life to Jesus.

He wants you to walk in the truth.

He wants you to follow him.

To Remain in him.

Knowing that he is the source of light.

The source of life.

The source of all goodness, grace, and mercy.

Extend the truth of Jesus out to those you know.

That they may be set free too.

Let’s pray.