30  The Truth Will Make You Free  (John 8:31–36)

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” (8:31–36)

Throughout history people have always sought to know the truth about reality about what is right and wrong, and about what is meaningful and purposeful in life. As a result, endless philosophies, worldviews, and religious systems have arisen over the centuries, each purporting to teach absolute truth, and each in turn canceling out the “absolute” truths of those that came before it.

The belief that mankind, on his own, could formulate the perfect philosophical system—one that would fully explain all of reality—reached its peak during the Enlightenment. Human reason, it was thought, would eventually discover the answers to all of life’s questions, and thereby solve all of society’s problems. The assumption was that, through intellectual achievements and the growing body of scientific knowledge, humanity would eventually bring about a utopia. Hence, there was no need for religion, which had kept people in stifling darkness for centuries. There was no interest in divine revelation or salvation, since man believed he could save himself from his problems.

But the optimism of the Enlightenment has faded to black in recent times. The unimaginable slaughter of two world wars, the unfathomable evil of the Holocaust, and the terrifying reality of nuclear war quickly shattered the unrealistic idealism of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In its place, skepticism and pessimism began to take hold, as feelings of uncertainty (about life and even reality) became more and more widespread. Increasingly, the very concept of truth itself came under fire, especially the possibility of knowing absolute truth. Sinners want to do evil and feel no guilt, so the lack of absolutes accommodates the desperately wicked human heart (Jer. 17:9). As Francis Schaeffer put it, all of Western culture—including philosophy, art, music, literature, education, and modern theology—in rejecting Scripture plunged beneath the line of despair (see especially his books The God Who Is There and Escape from Reason). People imagined that by denying the existence of absolute truth and by throwing off the shackles of biblical morality they would finally be set free. Instead, they found themselves only more empty and enslaved to destructive passions.

The skepticism of the twentieth century culminated with the rise of postmodernism, a worldview that is still in vogue today. In contrast to the modernists, whose rationalistic optimism flowed out of the Enlightenment, postmodernists reject the notion that ultimate truth is knowable or even exists. Rather, they contend that the “truths” people believe are merely societal norms created by the culture in which they live. Thus there are no timeless truths, but only ephemeral preferences. Whatever works for people is true for them; pragmatism and relativism reign supreme. (Ironically, the only thing postmodernists are absolutely certain of is that nothing is absolutely certain. As a result, they are forced to defend an illogical position—namely that it is a universal, comprehensive truth that there are no universal, comprehensive truths.)

Because postmodernists want to sin freely (primarily, it seems, in the sexual area), they need to view all truth as culturally determined, and argue that no morality or law is supreme. The noblest virtue therefore is tolerance of other views. Such is especially true in the area of morals, where imposing one’s values on someone else is seen as an egregious offense. That makes biblical Christianity the most intolerable belief. By rejecting the possibility of absolute truth, postmodernism commits eternal suicide by simultaneously rejecting the only path to true freedom—the absolutely, universally, and exclusively true message of the gospel. Even the contemporary church no longer believes in the gospel as the only way to heaven; 85 percent of American “Christians” believe there are other ways to heaven. Ninety-one percent of Roman Catholics agree (Newsweek, August 2005). Obviously, this postmodern tolerance redefines the gospel and missions in a disastrous way, and denigrates doctrine and dogmatism as unloving, thus destroying the foundational truths necessary for salvation.

In contrast to the transient speculations of men, the Bible teaches timeless truth—truth that is absolute for all people in all cultures in all ages—about God and man, good and evil, life and death, and especially the way of salvation (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). Biblical Christianity thus rejects both the antisupernatural bias of modernism, and the skepticism and relativism of postmodernism.

While the world clings to its own uncertain wisdom, which Scripture describes as “earthly, natural, demonic” (James 3:15), believers have been given in Scripture the rock solid truth of God Himself. It declares that God is the “God of truth” (Ps. 31:5; Isa. 65:16); Jesus is “full of …truth” (John 1:14; cf. v. 17; Eph. 4:21) and “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6); and the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of truth” (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1 John 5:6). The Bible is the “word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15); as Jesus prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17; cf. 2 Sam. 7:28; Ps. 119:43, 142, 151, 160). Like God Himself, His truth is eternal (Ps. 117:2) and unchanging (Ps. 119:89).

Salvation comes from “faith in the truth” (2 Thess. 2:13; cf. 1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Tim. 2:25), thus the redeemed are “those who believe and know the truth” (1 Tim. 4:3). In contrast, unbelievers are those who are “deprived of the truth” (1 Tim. 6:5); “have gone astray from the truth” (2 Tim. 2:18); are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7); “oppose the truth” (v. 8); and “turn away their ears from the truth” (2 Tim. 4:4; cf. Titus 1:14).

Believers, on the other hand, are to worship God in truth (John 4:23–24), be committed to the truth (Pr. 23:23), obey the truth (1 Peter 1:22; cf. Rom. 2:8; Gal. 5:7), love the truth (cf. 2 Thess. 2:10), speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15), and walk in the truth (Pss. 26:3; 86:11; 2 John 4; 3 John 3–4). In fact, truth is central to the existence and mission of the church, which is to be “the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). Paul’s repeated command to Timothy, “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. … Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you” (1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Tim. 1:14), reflects the church’s responsibility to protect the precious truths of Scripture.

The truth that brings spiritual freedom is the theme of this brief but powerful passage. The dialogue it records took place in the waning months of the Lord’s earthly ministry. Jesus had repeatedly presented His claim to be the Son of God and Messiah, and had performed countless miracles to verify that claim (cf. 10:25, 37–38; 14:11; 15:24). Yet the people and the leaders had rejected Him. Their growing hostility had resulted in increasing opposition, culminating in a plot to murder Him (cf. 5:18; 7:1, 19, 25)—a plot that would come to fruition at the cross, now less than six months away.

But not everyone was hostile to Jesus. Verse 30 notes that “as He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him” (cf. 4:39, 41, 50, 53; 7:31). Their belief, as will soon become evident, was not saving faith, but was merely the first step toward it. Thus the Lord’s goal in this section was to point them to full saving faith in Him—the type of faith that would truly set them free from sin, death, Satan, and hell. To that end, He began by explaining the pathway to freedom—the necessary steps that lead to the freedom of genuine salvation. Then He exposed the pretense of freedom—the false notions that deceived these Jews into thinking that they were already genuinely saved. Finally, He extended the promise of freedom—the absolute guarantee of true freedom for all who come to genuine saving faith.

THE PATHWAY TO FREEDOM

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”(8:31–32)

Through His response to those who professed faith in Him, the Lord delineated the program that brings true spiritual freedom: believing in Him, continuing in His Word, knowing the truth, and being made free.

BELIEVING IN CHRIST

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, (8:31a)

“This section of discourse,” writes Leon Morris, “is addressed to those who believe, and yet do not believe. Clearly they were inclined to think that what Jesus said was true. But they were not prepared to yield him the far-reaching allegiance that real trust in him implies” (The Gospel According to John, The New International Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979], 454). Morris goes on to caution, “This is a most dangerous spiritual state. To recognize that truth is in Jesus and to do nothing about it means that in effect one ranges oneself with the enemies of the Lord” (Ibid., 454).

Belief is the initial point of contact with Christ. But the Bible warns that not all faith is saving faith. Jesus would later describe these same Jews who had believed as those who were still slaves of sin (v. 34). They did not really love Jesus (v. 42), but were actually children of the devil (vv. 38, 41, 44) who refused to believe in Him (vv. 45–46), blasphemed Him (vv. 48, 52), and sought to kill Him (vv. 37, 40, 59). Earlier in his gospel John observed,

In chapter 6, many of those who excitedly wanted to crown Jesus king (vv. 14–15) soon “withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore” (v. 66; cf. v. 60). John 12:42 records the encouraging news that “many even of the rulers believed in Him.” Their belief stopped short of saving faith, however, since “because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue” (cf. Rom. 10:9–10). In the parable of the sower, Jesus described “those on the rocky soil” as “those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away” (Luke 8:13).

The apostle Paul similarly warned against believing in vain (1 Cor. 15:2) and exhorted his readers, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” (2 Cor. 13:5). In Hebrews 10:38 God declared, “My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him,” thus making a clear distinction between “those who shrink back to destruction” because their faith is not genuine and “those who have [genuine] faith to the preserving of the soul” (v. 39). James 2:17 notes that “faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself” (cf. v. 20). Mere assent to the facts does not equal saving faith, since even the demons have that kind of faith (v. 19). But genuine faith manifests itself in a person’s changed life (v. 18), as well as an enduring love for and devotion to Christ. Speaking of such perseverance, the apostle John wrote, “They went out from us but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19).

Saving faith consists of three elements, commonly referred to by theologians with the Latin terms notitia, assensus, and fiducia. Notitia (knowledge) is the intellectual component of faith. It involves an understanding of the basic biblical facts regarding salvation. Assensus (assent) goes one step beyond notitia and confidently affirms those facts to be true. Fiducia (trust) acts on them by personally appropriating Jesus Christ as the only hope for salvation.

The classic biblical definition of faith in Hebrews 11 embraces all three of those elements: notitia (“by faith we understand”; v. 3); assensus (“faith is the assurance of things hoped for”; v. 1), and fiducia (“[faith is] the conviction of things not seen”; v. 1). In saving faith the entire person—the intellect (knowledge), the emotions (assent), and the will (trust)—embraces Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The writer of Hebrews goes on in the remainder of chapter 11 to give examples of those whose saving faith never wavered despite suffering, persecution, and death. The pattern of their lives reinforces the truth that genuine saving faith involves trust and commitment, not merely knowledge and assent. (For a further discussion of the nature of saving faith, see my books The Gospel According to Jesus, rev. ed. [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994], The Gospel According to the Apostles [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1993, 2000], and Hard to Believe [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004].)

CONTINUING IN THE WORD

“If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine” (8:31b)

Those whose faith is the real, saving trust; those who are truly (actually, in reality) disciples of Jesus Christ will continue (remain, abide) in both faith and obedience to His word. The present tense of the verb eimi (are) suggests that Jesus was not telling them the requirements for becoming a disciple; He did not say, “If you continue in My word you will become My genuine disciples.” Instead, He declared that the nature of true discipleship consists of continued obedience to His Word. Scripture repeatedly affirms that only those who obey Christ are truly His disciples:

Such passages make it clear that there can be no dichotomy between truly accepting Christ as Savior and also obeying Him as Lord. “Surrender to Jesus’ lordship is not an addendum to the biblical terms of salvation; the summons to submission is at the heart of the gospel invitation throughout Scripture” (The Gospel According to the Apostles, 23). It is not possible to be saved without confessing Christ as Lord, and giving willing obedience to His lordship.

Disciples translates the plural form of the noun mathetes. The word primarily refers to a learner, one who adheres to the teaching of a spiritual leader (cf. Matt. 11:29). The New Testament mentions disciples of John the Baptist (Matt. 9:14; 11:2; 14:12; John 3:25), the Pharisees (Matt. 22:15–16; Mark 2:18), Moses (John 9:28), and Paul (Acts 9:24–25), in addition to those of Jesus. All Christians are disciples (“disciples” is used as a synonym for “believers” in Acts 6:1–2, 7; 9:1, 19, 38; 11:26; 13:52; 14:20–22, 28; 15:10; 18:23, 27; 19:9; 20:1; 21:4, 16); however, not all disciples are Christians (John 6:66; 1 John 2:19; cf. Matt. 13:20–21; John 15:2;2 John 9).

True disciples are Word oriented. They recognize that it is “the word of His grace, which is able to build [them] up” (Acts 20:32). They understand the importance of being “doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22). True believers are “like newborn babies, long[ing] for the pure milk of the word, so that by it [they] may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). They possess the desire that the psalmist had when he wrote, “O how I love your law!” (Ps. 119:97), “With all my heart I will observe your precepts” (v. 69), “Your law is my delight,” (v. 77), and, “The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces” (v. 72).

KNOWING THE TRUTH

“and you will know the truth,” (8:32a)

The inevitable blessing of believing in Jesus and continuing to obey His Word is to know the truth. “Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ” (1:17), He is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (14:6), and “truth is in Jesus” (Eph. 4:21). In a postmodern world, where the hope of discovering absolute truth has been largely abandoned, such knowledge is revolutionary. Like Pilate, who asked the cynical question, “What is truth?” (18:38), modern skeptics are left with nothing but their own ignorance and despair—the fruit of their futile search for truth apart from God.

The truth comes not only from knowing the revelation of Scripture concerning Christ, but also from being taught by the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of truth” (14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1 John 5:6). The apostle John referred to the Spirit’s teaching of believers in 1 John 2:27 when he wrote, “As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.”

Scripture is the revelation of divine truth. In it Jesus Christ, truth incarnate, is revealed, and through it the Holy Spirit teaches the truth to believers. Thus Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17; cf. Ps. 119:142, 151, 160). The all-sufficient Scripture is “inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17). And not just “the man of God,” the preacher, but all who are taught by him.

BEING MADE FREE

“and the truth will make you free.” (8:32b)

The reality of believing in Jesus, obeying His Word, and knowing the truth brings spiritual freedom. Such freedom is multifaceted, and includes freedom from the bondage of falsehood, Satan (John 17:15; 2 Cor. 4:4; 1 John 5:18), condemnation (Rom. 8:1), judgment (John 3:18; 5:24), spiritual ignorance (8:12), spiritual death (8:51), and, most significantly in this context (v. 34), sin (Rom. 6:18, 22).

It was to liberate lost sinners that Jesus came into the world (Luke 19:10). In the synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth, the Lord applied the following words from Isaiah to His ministry: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18). Those who are set free in Christ must heed Paul’s admonition to the Galatians: “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1).

THE PRETENSE OF FREEDOM

They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” (8:33–34)

Indignantly rejecting Jesus’ offer of freedom, the Jews insisted that they were already free. They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” Since they had been enslaved by Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Syria, and finally Rome, they must have been referring to spiritual, not political freedom. Secure in their identity as Abraham’s descendants, they were confident that though in pagan bondage, nationally they were spiritually free.

But the freedom to which Jesus referred does not derive from racial and religious identity (cf. vv. 39–44).”For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly,” Paul wrote, “nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God” (Rom. 2:28–29; cf. Luke 3:8; Rev. 2:9).

The Lord’s reply to their assertion was simple and devastating:“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” As it does throughout John’s gospel (cf. 1:51; 3:3, 5, 11; 5:19, 24–25; 6:26, 32, 47, 53; 8:52, 58; 10:1, 7; 12:24; 13:16, 20–21, 38; 14:12; 16:20, 23; 21:18), the solemn phrase amen, amen (truly, truly) introduces a statement of great importance. The present tense of the participle translated commits views sin as a life principle, innate fallenness and essential wickedness, not merely as individual acts. Despite their proud, self-righteous pretense of freedom, the Jews were in reality slaves to sin, since “by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved” (2 Peter 2:19). To be a slave is to be totally under the control of another and unable to free one’s self. Sin, like a cruel taskmaster, controls every aspect of an unbeliever’s life, enslaving that person “to various lusts and pleasures” (Titus 3:3) “in the bondage of iniquity” (Acts 8:23). While these Jews thought their religion and relationship to Abraham united them to God, Jesus pointed out that they had no relationship to God. As slaves to sin, and deceived about it, they desperately needed to be set free from their spiritual bondage.

The only way for sinners to be released from sin’s grip and penalty is to be united by faith with Jesus Christ, who in His death and resurrection provides deliverance (Rom. 6:1–7). Having then died to sin in Christ (Rom. 6:2; cf. 7:4; Gal. 2:19–20; 1 Peter 2:24), it will no longer be their master (Rom. 6:14, 18, 20, 22; cf. 8:2). Instead, they will become free to be servants of God and righteousness (Rom. 6:22; 1 Peter 2:16).

THE PROMISE OF FREEDOM

“The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” (8:35–36)

The Lord used the analogy of slavery again in these two verses, but for different purposes. His statement that the slave does not remain in the house forever, but the son does remain forever was a warning. The son has permanent rights in the household; the slave does not. Even though the Jews were Abraham’s descendants (and thus part of God’s chosen nation), they were like slaves, not sons, and in danger of eternally forfeiting the privileges they had received. In Matthew 8:11–12 the Lord warned, “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” It is only those who receive Jesus Christ as the Son of God (whether descended from Abraham or not) who are truly sons of God (1:12; Rom.8:14; Gal.3:26;4:6; 1 John 3:1–2).

In verse 36 Jesus reiterated His promise of verse 32, declaring that those whom the Son makes free, will be free indeed. As the Son who rules over God’s house (Heb. 3:6), Jesus has the authority to release those who put their faith in Him from their bondage to sin and make them sons of God. Through Him they are “set … free from the law of sin and of death” (Rom. 8:2). And not only does He release them, but He also adopts them into God’s household (1:12; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5), taking them from a position of slavery to one of sonship (cf. Rom. 8:17). As Charles Wesley’s magnificent hymn “And Can It Be” so wonderfully summarizes: