The Words of the Lord Jesus
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin, and a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:31-36, NKJV)
The words I want to emphasize tonight are really verse 32, the words of the Lord Jesus: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Is There Such a Thing as Truth?
There’s something unique about truth. It’s a fact that truth cannot be denied — truth is irrefutable.
I want to ask: do you believe there is such a thing as truth? Or such a thing as absolute truth? Some people might say, “No, there is no truth.” But that itself is a truth claim, isn’t it? It would be saying it is true that there is no truth — “the truth is that there is no truth.” That’s a contradiction in terms. Truth is irrefutable. There is such a thing as truth, and we know that in everyday life.
Sometimes people assume that when it comes to spiritual things, maybe there’s no truth — maybe we can’t know. But the Bible is clear that there is such a thing as truth. Do you know the truth? Truth about God. The truth about yourself, and how you stand before God. The truth about eternity. There is such a thing as truth.
Truth Does Not Come From Us
What’s marvelous about truth is that it can be known — that’s implied right in our passage: “And you shall know the truth.” Truth is not determined by our faith.
We live in a world where, spiritually speaking, people tend to think it’s everyone for themselves. Whatever you believe about God, well, that’s true for you. A different culture over there believes something else — well, that’s true for them. I have my own beliefs about God, and that must be true for me.
That’s not true, is it? Our belief does not somehow magically create what is true. Truth is not what I believe, and truth is not what you believe. Truth is found in the word of God.
Does Believing Something Make It True?
There was a woman one day who said she was an atheist and didn’t believe in God. I don’t know if it was the wisest thing to say, but I told her, “Well, we’re all going to have to meet God someday.” She said, “Well, that doesn’t make any sense. If I don’t believe in God, then I’m not going to meet God.”
That’s the prevailing belief in our world: whatever I believe is true. But it’s not because I believe in God that there is a God, and it’s not because you don’t believe in God that there is no God. Either there is a God, or there is no God. Regardless of what people believe, the truth is that there is a God. There is a Creator. There is One who has revealed Himself, and we are not left to ourselves to imagine, to conjure up in our own minds, what truth is.
Truth Is Revealed by God
“And you shall know the truth.” Truth stems from God — it is something that is revealed. It comes from God and is revealed to man. That’s why truth is universal. It’s not my truth, it’s not your truth — it’s God’s truth. All truth comes from God, and truth can be known because God has given us His testimony. God has given us His word. The Lord Jesus Himself said, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). The word of God is truth.
Are You Searching for the Truth?
Sadly, there are many people in our world — maybe someone here tonight — who are seeking for truth. Maybe you’ve been seeking for many years. People search in various places, various groups, various organizations, different religions. They’re searching.
There was one woman doing such a search, and when asked whether she had ever read the Bible, she said, “No, I’ve never read the Bible.” Have you found the truth? “Well, I’m searching.” I thought that was telling — someone who has searched for years and years and years, and so far has come to the conclusion, “I’ve not found the truth,” and on the other hand says, “I’ve never read the Bible.” That’s exactly where truth is found.
Truth can be known. We trust that tonight, as a result of these gospel meetings, you will come to know the truth.
The Truth Sets You Free
Truth is not only something that can be known — our passage says, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Truth is liberating.
Many people who are seeking for truth are also seeking for freedom — maybe both. They’re looking for a truth that will free them.
Does Doing Whatever You Want Make You Free?
Many assume freedom means removing whatever is restraining you — that true freedom is just doing whatever you want. If only I could do what I want, then I might be free at last.
Is that really true? If we ask, “Who do you think the freest people in this world are?” you might say the famous people, the entertainers, the rulers of this world. They have all the wealth, nice houses, nice cars, and can get whatever they want — no obstructions. You might think they’re free.
But the reality is that most people who chase the longing of their hearts, who delve into the pleasures of sin, discover that it’s actually a snare. They become enslaved to sin, enslaved to self. Freedom is not doing after our own hearts.
Sin Promises Freedom but Brings Slavery
What’s also implied in this verse is that those who do not know the truth are not free. Those who do not know God and do not know the Lord Jesus as their Saviour are enslaved — slaves to their own compulsions. They can’t help but do the things they’re drawn to. Slaves to the depravity of their own hearts, slaves to the darkness of their own minds. They keep going back to a habit, back to a substance. They’re tangled and shackled. What they thought would give them freedom turns out to be the very snare.
All of us have been snared by sin. All of us have been marred by sin. The Bible says there is not a single person in this room, in this world, who has not sinned against God — and the Bible says that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
Can Religion or Good Works Set You Free?
Sometimes, to counter that slavery, people yoke themselves to a certain religion or spiritual system — one that teaches them to try their best: say your prayers, go to church every week, and so on.
But the Bible says the truth shall make you free. Are you free? I’m not here to point fingers — I was religious myself before I was saved, with my own rituals and traditions. But I see many people who are well-intentioned, religious, and sincere, and it’s bondage. They’re in bondage to a system of man, a tradition of men. That’s not freedom.
God says the truth shall make you free. If you’re enslaved to a certain system, that can’t possibly be the truth — the truth frees. Others aren’t religious but are just trying to live a good life. They think, “God has given me a life of so many years — we don’t know how many — and if I just do my best, if I’m good enough, if I’m careful not to do wrong, help my neighbours, stay honest at work, I’ll get to heaven one day.” Again — that’s slavery. It’s not freedom.
Freedom Comes Through Knowing the Truth
The Lord Jesus says, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Notice it doesn’t say, “And doing the truth shall make you free.” Once somebody is saved, that’s where knowing the truth begins — when they realize who they are before God, that they have sinned against Him, and that no system of man, no religion, can help them. It’s a burden too heavy to carry.
People who realize their own good living is all in vain, people who commit the truth to the Lord Jesus Himself — these people are free. Sometimes people look at Christians and assume they’re enslaved, because they go to meetings and talk to people, so they must be forced. No. People who have known the truth and are free — they’re free to serve God. They do it with joy, not because they’re forced, and certainly not because it earns them any favour with God.
Real, true freedom is having the desire and the ability to do the will of God — and in our sins, we cannot do that. We have no desire in ourselves to please God, to live for Him. But people who have come to the Lord Jesus are free — free to have a God-given desire to now live for the glory of God.
Notice there’s nothing in this verse about doing — it’s clear that it speaks about the word of God. What God is saying is that you can be reading the word of God, hearing the word of God — perhaps being preached tonight — and by believing what you hear, knowing the truth, you can be made free. It doesn’t say that doing something makes you free, or that being baptized makes you free. It says, “Knowing the truth, believing the truth,” shall make you free.
The Truth Is a Person
What is the truth? The truth is not in us — we’re not the truth. Some might say it seems society increasingly thinks God is in us. Sure, God is in believers — the Spirit of God indwells believers when they first believe the truth. But naturally, God is not in us; we’re not gods by any means. The truth is not in us. The truth is in the person of the Lord Jesus.
In keeping with the truth making you free, the Lord Jesus says, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” Has the Son made you free? Or have you been looking for freedom in rituals, in a system? Tonight we want to point you to the Lord Jesus — the One who Himself said, “I am the truth” (John 14:6). He is the truth.
Christ Has Done Everything Needed for Salvation
The truth is that the Lord Jesus has done everything for you to be saved. The problem of sin is one that you and I cannot solve on our own — we cannot fix ourselves, we cannot remove it ourselves. On the cross, the Lord Jesus was doing a mighty work — a once-for-all-time work, once forever. A work by which sin could be put away. A work by which people could have forgiveness of sins. A work by which you could have eternal life. A work by which you can be made free.
The Lord Jesus died upon the cross. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. What God required for sin is totally satisfied in the work and death of the Lord Jesus — so much so that God raised Him from the dead, a proof that the work is finished. There is nothing to be added. If you’re trying to add to it, you go right back to bondage — there’s no freedom there.
This is for someone willing to take God at His word — He says, “If you abide in My word” — you might say, “if you read My word” — “you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” For someone looking by faith at the cross, who understands what the Lord Jesus has accomplished, that’s enough to get you to heaven. You don’t need to work anymore, you don’t need to labour anymore — He has done it all. Have peace, and be free — free from sin, free from self, and even free from the fear of death.
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Are You Free?
We trust that tonight you will look to the Lord Jesus, that you will come to know Him and trust Him — that you will not only know the truth, but by the very truth you will be set free.
