The Truth Will Set You Free
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
John 8:36
We’ll get lost if we set out on a journey with no known destination and no clear direction. Additionally, what we seek to build will eventually collapse if it doesn’t have the right foundation. “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). Jesus is the cornerstone of “God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).
Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). This statement puzzled the Jews, as they perceived themselves to be free already, having “never been slaves of anyone” (verse 33). But Jesus wasn’t talking about being subject to another person. He was talking about the freedom that comes from being His disciple. Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life” (14:6, emphasis added). Knowing Jesus and His Word liberates us from the law of sin and death and sets us free from our past so we can be the people God created us to be.
Cognitive truth is something we can intellectually know to be true by reason and observation. Biblical truth is moral truth, because it reflects the nature of God. Moral truth is far more than intellectual awareness or the ability to reason logically, because truth is inextricably bound up with the One who is the Truth. A book doesn’t set you free; Jesus sets you free. When believed, God’s eternal truth transforms the heart and affects the whole inner character of a true disciple. Paul refers to this as “knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness” (Titus 1:1). Contrast this with the devil, who did not hold “to the truth, for there is no truth in him” (John 8:44). Wicked men suppress the truth by means of their wickedness (see Romans 1:18), and those who don’t believe in God have exchanged the truth of God for a lie (see 1:25).
Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). However, there is a way to be free of sin. In Luke 4:16-21, Jesus makes it clear that He came in fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-2, which refers to the Messiah coming to deliver us from sin. “Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set [us] free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2). As liberated children of God, we are no longer subject to the law of sin and death. We are free in Christ to live righteous lives.
The only thing we as Christians ever have to admit to is the truth. Truth is not something we fear. It is the liberating agent by which we are set free from the law of sin and death. We are instructed to speak the truth in love (see Ephesians 4:15,25) and to walk in the light (see 1 John 1:7) in order to experience the freedom that Christ purchased for us on the cross. The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17). He will lead us into “all truth” (John 16:13), and that truth will set us free.
a few questions to ponder:
Why is truth an attribute of God?
When Jesus spoke about truth in John 8:31-32, to what was He referring?
What is the difference between cognitive truth and moral truth?
What direction do you have for your life if you don’t know the truth?
How sure is your foundation if you don’t have an intimate knowledge of God?
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.