The Truth Will Set You Free

John 8:31-45 (NIV)

³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." ³³ They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" ³⁴ Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 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. ³⁷ I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. ³⁸ I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father." ³⁹ "Abraham is our father," they answered. "If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did. ⁴⁰ As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. ⁴¹ You are doing the things your own father does." "We are not illegitimate children," they protested. "The only Father we have is God himself." ⁴² Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. ⁴³ Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!

“Truth”—in John 18:38 Pilate asks “What is truth?” During this season of Lent I believe that there are three truths upon which God would have us focus.

1 John 1:7 (NIV)

⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Light reveals reality, truth. When we go into a dark room we turn on the light in order that we might see reality, truth. When we walk in God’s revealing light I believe three truths are revealed and become very evident.

Truth #1 – We are sinner, everyone of us.

I am deserving of death and damnation. Satan, the great deceiver and “father of lies,” would have me believe that there is something of merit in me, in myself. It is all a lie. Paul calls himself “chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). In TRUTH, that is “I.” Truth—“I” am chief of sinners, no lie! I fall as far short of my knowledge and experience of God as anyone. I fail to live up to what I have attained (Philippians 3:15-16).

Romans 3:23 (NIV)

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

1 John 1:8 (NIV)

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Truth #2 – Jesus loves us anyway. He has paid the penalty for our sin, and He is the way—the only way to salvation.

As we walk in the light and see the reality, the truth of our sin, we are met with a second truth—a GREATER truth. The GREATER truth is the truth of JESUS, His love, His grace. Even though we continue to grow and mature, we are now, 100%, God’s beloved children. THANK YOU, JESUS!!!

1 John 1:9 (NIV)

⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

John 14:6 (NIV)

⁶ Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Romans 5:6-8 (NIV)

⁶You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 3:1-2 (NIV)

¹ How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Truth #3 – We share an awesome fellowship.

I’m a sinner and everyone I meet is a sinner. Therefore I cannot judge them, nor they me. I’m forgiven, everyone I meet is forgiven (although if they do not believe in Jesus, they won’t experience their forgiveness, their redemption). I need not wear a mask. I can be authentic for we all share a common heritage of being sinners and being loved and forgiven.

Jesus, as we look forward to Good Friday and Easter, help us acknowledge these truth and the new life we have and share in YOU!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)