To the Jews who had believed him, 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 is a declaration that discipleship is the only true path to freedom. If you want freedom, then Jesus says the way is to become his disciple. It begins with belief. He said these things to the Jews who had believed in him. They had been intellectually grasped by his arguments and his words, but they had not yet committed themselves to him.
Then, hold to my teaching.
Listen to Jesus.
Compare what he says with your own experience.
Does what he says agree with what you have found to be true in living life?
That is the test.
The test of any religion is not whether you enjoy it.
The test is: Is it true?
Does it accord with life?
Does it explain what is going on?
That is the test, and that you can only establish as you continue in his word, as you think long and deeply, read fully and frequently.
This is a process.
When you do that, something will happen to you: If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
If you read his word and you continue in it, somewhere along the line you will find that his words have grabbed you, and you will commit yourself to him, and then you are really a disciple.
Then you will know the truth.
What an objective!
Everybody wants to know the truth, to be able to recognize the lies that you hear from the media.
What is the truth?
Truth is the nature of things as they really are.
Truth is seeing through all the illusions, the dreams, the wishful thinking, and getting down to the core, the reality, that which really is.
That is the truth.
Jesus promises that when you follow him, hear his word, and continue in it, a wonderful thing will happen —
the truth will set you free.
The truth will deliver you, permit you to be all that you were meant to be.
It frees us from all the things that keep us from being all that we were meant to be.
Fear is the biggest one; being afraid, worried, anxious, insecure and timid.
Then there is anger.
Have you ever felt angry and mad at life in general?
You felt a quiet rage in your heart and you didn't know why.
Then there is guilt.
Millions of people suffer inwardly from a sense of failure, of shame about things in their past.
Pride is another problem; a proud, aggressive, arrogant spirit.
Jesus' wonderful promise is that there is a way out.
Bring these things to me,
he tells us.
Listen to my words.
Look at life as I see it and a wonderful thing will happen: there will be a change in you.
You will be given a life that you never had before, and you will be set free.
Lord Jesus, thank you for the promise of freedom, and for providing a clear pathway to experiencing this freedom in following you.
Life Application
Where are you on this pathway to freedom? Take some time today and thank him for specific things he has freed you from.