John 8:30-33

30 As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.

31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 

32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

33 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’?”

“Will We Accept the Truth and Be Set Free?”

After Jesus spoke the words in the previous verses, verse 30 says that many of the people believed in Him. But did they truly believe? Did they fully understand? We will see the answer to that in the coming verses as Jesus challenges them to fully believe and trust in Him. In verse 31, Jesus tells the Jews who claim to believe in Him that if they abide in His word, they are truly His disciples. The Greek word for “abide” is meno, which is translated as “continue”, “dwell”,  or “remain”. It means we are supposed to continually live our lives according to His word. We stay in it. We walk in it. We don’t let anything take us away from following Jesus’ words. Colossians 3:16 tells us to, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” The word “dwell” in this verse is translated differently than the word abide in John 8:31, but the implication is the same. The word “dwell” in Colossians 3:16 is enoikeo and means “to dwell in and influence him for good”. Isn’t this what Jesus means by “abide in My word”? We are to let His word abide in us and influence us to do good. As His word influences us to do good, we will teach and admonish others by our example, which influences them to do good. It is a cycle… a beautiful cycle. Colossians 3:16 is also one of the verses that we use to advocate for the use of only singing in our worship services. We are to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly through the hymns that we sing to teach and admonish each other. This carries over into our everyday life. Letting the word of Christ dwell in us richly should be seen in everything we do or say. Do the words of Christ abide in me? Do they dwell richly in me and show in everything that I do? In worship? In everyday life? How do we abide in the words of Christ? In order to do this, I have to be a student of the Word. I can’t just open it every so often, or open it when I’m feeling down. I have to be a student daily in some form or fashion. It looks different for everyone. Everyone doesn’t study the same way. We each have to find our own way of abiding in His Word that works for us. My main way of studying is writing about things as I study. Some days we may have more time than other days, and that is ok. God understands. But He won’t understand if we continually put worldly things ahead of being in His Word. A disciple of Christ consumes the Word to feed his/her soul, because he/she understands that humans can’t live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. (Deuteronomy 8:3 quoted by Jesus to combat Satan in Matthew 4:4) We may live physically, but we will die spiritually without it. This all refers back to Jesus being the bread of eternal life, and telling us we need to eat His flesh and drink His blood. (John 6:48-54) 

In verse 32, Jesus says that if we abide in His word, then we can know the truth. If we are true disciples, then we will follow the path that Jesus has laid out in His Word, and we won’t veer off that path. Jesus is the Light, and He will guide us in the way that we need to go. He is the Living Water that continually refreshes us with the truth as we travel that lighted path through this world of darkness and suffering. He is the Bread of Life that sustains us with the truth through every hardship that we face. Is it easy to find the truth? Well…..I believe it can be as hard as we want to make it. It does take digging to understand the truth. God expects us to work at it. The main thing that we have to have is the desire to know the truth. The truth may be harder to accept than it is to find. If we aren’t in a saved condition, we may not want to learn that we are lost. If we were raised in a denomination, we may not want to learn that what we have been taught was not the truth. But, Jesus says that we can know THE truth. How many truths did Jesus say we can know? Just one, right? We’ve all heard this statement, “I’m just living my truth”. Everyone can’t have their own individual truth. Jesus says there is only one truth. We can’t make up our own. It is sad how many people believe that they are right with God, but are not. The scriptures predicted that this would happen. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 says, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” We have a choice between “sound doctrine” or “our own desires”, ”the truth” or “fables”. Which will it be? 

Then Jesus says something that confuses the ones who claim to believe in Him. He says that they can know the truth and truth will make them free. The people don’t realize that they are in any kind of bondage, so they don’t understand this statement. They say in verse 33, paraphrasing, “Bondage from what? We are Abraham’s descendants, and we are not and have never been slaves to anyone. Why do you say that we will be free when we are already free?” They are referring to their physical lineage and being in physical bondage. We know what Jesus is referring to, though. He is referring to spiritual slavery… slavery to sin. Slavery to sin is the worst kind of bondage imaginable because it leads to spiritual death and an eternity separated from God. Are we slaves or are we free? Are we looking for the truth or listening to fables? Are we abiding in the words of Christ or the world? If we are abiding in the Words of Christ, then we are free. Nothing is more comforting and fulfilling than abiding in Christ. 

God means for everyone to learn what the Bible teaches about being saved. It only takes an open heart for Jesus and a willingness to put away what we’ve been taught in the past, and truly read what God’s Word says for ourselves… and then accept what it says and obey it. If I can help you in any way, I would love to! Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? Are you saved? If you aren’t, or if you’re not sure if you are, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are… believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out. 

I love God’s Word. It challenges me to be better… to do more in His service. It is interesting and keeps me on the edge of my seat, wondering what will happen next. It gives me confidence and builds me up, and it brings me to my knees when my soul needs convicting! Thank you, Father, for the wonderful gift of Your Word!

God’s Plan of Salvation

Below is the plan God has outlined in His Word for humankind to receive His grace, which leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins.  (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)