The Truth Will Make You Free
John 8:31-36
Turn in your Bibles now for this morning to John 8, and that is not to minimize this passage, it's difficult when you're dealing with Scripture to compare it with other scripture because it's all so fantastic and so thrilling. But here we come this morning to one of the locus crucious[???] key points, critical locations in all of John's gospel in these verses 31 to 36 of chapter 8.This is a pivotal passage in understanding true discipleship and true salvation. It's critical because in this Jesus puts the emphasis on the very heart of genuine discipleship and He does it by talking about two basic subjects and they are truth and freedom. Those two subjects become the theme of this passage.
And fitting that they should be because they are the two things that man has sought since his first searching for anything. And man continues to search for truth and freedom and they are tremendously related because the only thing that ever really liberates a man is truth. The only thing that ever sets a man free is truth. And so man has searched endlessly, relentlessly for truth that he might be free from the bondage of ignorance. And so the subject of these two verses...this section is these two truths and freedom. And, of course, people have been asking all along...what is true? What is right? What is wrong? What really matters? What is meaningful? What is purposeful? What can I put my life on and know that it will hold? What can I trust? What can I count on? Where are the realities? And the search for truth goes on, it goes on in the lab, it goes on in the classroom, it goes on in the library, it goes on in the courtroom, it goes on in the home, it goes on most of all in the heart of every man. It's an endless quest that continues with every new beat of every heart. And truth alone will free a man. And so men search for truth that liberates.
Sad to say many people have given up the quest. Many people have concluded that there is no truth, that nothing really is meaningful, that meaninglessness is everything and that all you need to do is live for the moment because there is no truth. And people have substituted non truth and non morality and they have gone off into all kinds of escapes to escape the stark shock that they cannot find truth. So they go into drugs and sexual freedom and they drop out and they do every other possible thing even to the extent of killing themselves because they have discovered that there's no truth, only non truth and it's all meaningless and purposeless. It's amazing as you visit the college campus to find out how many college young people are going to college hoping to discover truth and when they get there not only do they not discover it, but they find that nobody else discovered it either and that the professor doesn't know any more than they do. In fact, he may have concluded there is no truth and he may propagate the existential philosophy and they become disciples of that. You say, "What's existentialism?" It's the idea that you've only got a moment to live, baby, nothing matters but that moment, live it and do what you want with it. That's existentialism. Grab the moment and get all you can. Milk it, squeeze it dry and it doesn't really matter what you do because there's no right and no wrong anyway. And so the search for...the search for truth in a modern educational process is something of an endless search that winds up in a discovery that there is no truth, there's only non truth and so why bother?
Kafka's story of the defiant fisherman is a parable that Kafka wrote to describe modern education. It goes like this. A man picks his way solitary way through rubble and the scorched and charred earth until he comes to a great giant deserted concrete apartment building. He enters through the door and then he hesitates. Then he climbs a cement staircase higher and higher somewhere way up in the top of a building. He begins to stumble down a narrow and black corridor. He turns by chance into a little room, it happens to be a bathroom. And as he steps into the door he sees a man sitting on the sink with his fishing pole dangling in the bathtub. The visitor looks over the scene and finally dares to say, "Sir, you're not going to catch anything in there." To which the man replies, "I know it," and keeps on fishing. Kafka said that's a picture of modern higher education. The scorched earth with all of its rubble and somebody sitting twenty stories up in a cement building fishing in a bathtub for fish that aren't there.
There was a group of Harvard students who came to their professor recently and said, "Sir, we have a group that would like to protest. Do you know of a good cause?" It's a tragic thing, I was saying to Pat Means who is a director of Campus Crusade ministry at Valley State the other day, we were walking along the campus and we were watching all these students...I'm teaching a class out there on Wednesdays. And I said, "Do you think anybody here learns anything?" He said, "Very frankly, very few." He said something about last year they gave them the option of taking an automatic passing grade if they wanted to get into a protest and even the kids that didn't want to get into the protest took the passing grade and went home. And so there is a...there's a dirth of truth and the stark reality that the place that's supposed to be the place of truth doesn't know what it is either. And Paul characterizes it by saying in 1 Timothy 6:5 that men without Jesus Christ and without a knowledge of God are destitute of truth. And Paul also said in 2 Timothy 3:7 that men are ever learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.
I went...one time I was talking to some hippies who had dropped out of society and were about ten of them around. And I went into this place where they lived, the kind of a commune thing. And I thought I'd ask them the ultimate question so I said, "What is truth?" Which was kind of a...you know, a stunning question. But I said, "What is truth?" And they kind of looked at each other and then one guy walked out of the group and he said, "I know."
I said, "What is it?"
He said, "Yen Yang."
I said, "Yen Yank?"
He said, 'Yen Yang is where it's at."
I said, "What's Yen Yang?"
He said, "You don't know what Yen Yang is? Man, how can you live without Yen Yang?" He said, "I'll show you." And so he took a stick and he drew a circle in the ground, kind of an oblong circle and he drew a line through the middle of it so that there were two equal parts. Then he drew two equal circles in those two equal parts so that you had two opposite sets. And he said, "See it? That's Yen Yang, man, groove on that."
I said, "So what does it do?"
He said, "Don't you get it?" He said, "Don't you know that if there wasn't a black there wouldn't be a white? And if there wasn't an up there wouldn't be a down? And if there wasn't an out you wouldn't understand what in was?" And then he said, "And if there weren't girls you wouldn't know what a man was." And he went all through these opposites.
And I said, "Well so what does that do for me?"
He said, "That's where it's at, man, that's Yen Yang, man. Life is opposites."
I said, "Wow, all your life and you've discovered Yen Yang and that's it?" All that guy had to hold on to for life was Yen Yang and he was reading a book on it. Now I don't know how long of a book it was, it doesn't take very long to tell you what Yen Yang is. But here's a guy who couldn't find truth and the only truth he could find was the most simple elemental infantile childish concept of opposites, and that's all he could find. And he contented himself with that in the hopelessness of that and constant addition to drugs.
No, people don't know the truth, they don't know. And sadly when they hear it they don't want it, you know? We go around a campus or we meet people and we share the truth and they don't want it when it comes. Look at chapter 8 verse 45, look at that. "Because I tell you the truth you...what?...don't believe it." You are so non-truth oriented that you don't know the truth when it comes. The soul of man longs for truth to set him free. He wants liberation, everybody wants to be liberated, even women want to be liberated. I'm not going to say anything about that, I have a lot of things to say, I'm not going to say it. But you can liberate them and they can smoke Virginia Slims and they can wear Superman T-shirts and they can do anything they want, but if a person's soul isn't liberated he's in bondage. And I can tell you something else, you can have a man whose soul has been liberated by Jesus Christ and you can make him a slave and stick him in a dungeon and he'll be a free man. That's the way freedom is. The only thing that ever sets a man free is truth and when the Women's Liberation Movement is over, all the disgruntled people will grab another liberation movement because they'll never stop searching for truth that they can't find in anything but Jesus Christ and only that kind of truth sets you free.
You want to meet a free man? Meet Paul. Where is he? In jail, his feet and hands are in stocks. What's he doing? Singing to the glory of God. He's as free as free could be. Well men need to be free and they need to be free only when they know truth. So Jesus comes along in verse 31 to 36, that was the introduction, and in verses 31 to 36 He tells them about truth and freedom. One of the greatest passages in the Bible, I'm just thrilled to know that Christ took the time to communicate this because it's so absolutely essential for us to understand it.
All right, here's His two subjects...truth and freedom. And it is truth that liberates. And this is permanent type freedom and eternal freedom. Now let's look at a little review of historical background. Coming to verse 31 Jesus is talking to the Jewish leaders. Now you'll recall that Jesus is wrapping up His ministry on earth. It's only a matter of several months now and He'll be crucified. He has presented His claims. He has declared who He is. He has done His miracles. He has taught His teachings and they have concluded that He is not who He claimed. They had been angered and antagonized. They have mocked Him and despised Him and are now in a midst of a plot to murder Him. But He continues to confront them and He continues to give them His claims and they continue to mock and they continue to misunderstand. But in the midst of all the mockery and misunderstanding and all the rejection and all of the plotting to murder Him, there were some people who began to respond by believing. And you see them in verse 30.
It says, "As He spoke these words many believed on Him." Now some began to believe. Now Langee[?] and rightly so, a great Bible commentator, calls these half converts. That's not a good theological word but it's a practical word. These are half converts. Their faith is not enough to set them free. Their faith is not enough even to save them. He does not say they have believed unto salvation. They merely are beginning to believe that Jesus is who He claimed to be, that is from God and the Messiah. And they're beginning to believe that. And Jesus wants to take them at the point of their baby faith, their infant faith and move them to full faith and full salvation. So He wants to capture them at the moment of their beginning faith. So when He becomes aware that they are beginning to believe, He goes right after them at that point. And what He wants to do is take them from that half faith, that beginning faith, and move them all the way to truth and liberty. And so He does it, at least attempts to do it...and incidently, as always, in the case of these leaders it was unsuccessful, He attempts to lead them from their baby faith to full commitment and to an understanding of truth and freedom in Christ.
Now He does it by three things. There are three various thoughts or features in this passage. First is the progress of freedom; second, the pretense of freedom; and third, the promise of freedom. And these three little ideas here, each one separate unto itself, convey to these would-be believers what they need to be full-fledged redeemed, converted and saved individuals. So He takes them where they are, endeavors to bring them to full faith and full salvation by discussing with them the progress of freedom, how you get there, the pretense of freedom and the promise of freedom.
First of all, notice the progress of freedom in verses 31 and 32. Notice in this progress that Jesus takes them where they are and transports them to full salvation in His words. Now watch it, verse 31, "Then said Jesus to those Jews, referring especially to Jewish leaders, who believed on Him, 'If you continue in My word, then are you My disciples indeed,'" alethos, in truth, the true disciple, "'and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.'" Now there you have the progress to freedom. First thing is to believe, see it there? To believe. Second thing, continue in My Word. When a man continues in the Word of Jesus Christ, that is evidence of his genuine faith, and we'll see that in a moment. Then after believing and continuing, you will know the truth and the truth will...what?...make you free. So the progress to freedom is fourfold...believe, continue, know the truth, the truth will liberate you.
Now let's see these one at a time. First of all, the idea of believing, "Then said Jesus to those Jews who believed on Him..." Now here you have the initial point of contact with Christ and that is faith, believing. With all the antagonism rolling around in these chapters and all the mockery and rejection, it's certainly refreshing to find some faith somewhere, to find somebody believing. But the character of their believing has to be seen very carefully because where you see them believing in verse 31, the very same group is in verse 45 and they're not believing. You're about to see the dissipation of artificial faith. And I'll show you what I mean.
When the Bible says somebody believes, you have to study the context and then you have to study the fruit of their life to see whether they have manifested actual saving faith, or whether it's just that baby belief, that infant belief that never has really moved to full conversion. Let me illustrate it to you, it's very clear. Go back to John chapter 2 and verse 23. Now this is a verse we've studied before, here's one of the most important truths you'll ever learn about salvation, and I want you to get it. I want God to really plant this in your minds indelibly this morning. Verse 23 of John 2, "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover," He had just come there to initiate His ministry and cleanse the temple, "in the feast day, many...what?...believed in His name when they saw the miracles which He did." But watch this, verse 23...24, I mean, "But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them because He knew all men."
Listen, Jesus knew that the quality of their faith was not saving faith. They had believed but they had not moved to commit themselves and their lives to that faith. There are many people who believe Jesus is the Son of God, many. They're not saved.
Let me illustrate it from another angle. Just mark this down, don't look it up. Luke 8:13, if you're taking notes, write it down, it's an important, important verse. Luke 8:13, now listen to this, Christ has given the parable of the seed and the sower and sowing the seed on different kinds of grounds as to how people respond to the gospel. Listen to this, verse 13, "Some seed was sown on rocky soil, they on the rock are they who when they hear receive the Word with joy and these have no root who for a while believed and in time of testing fall away." The character of their faith is not genuine. For a while they believe, and that's exactly what you have in John 8. They're believing in verse 31, they're not believing in verse 45. Now true faith doesn't do that. You can't turn off true faith. They began to believe.
Let me give you another one. Look at John 12, and here's really an important passage. John 12:42, here you have this distinction, this paradox again and you'll see it very clearly here. John 12:42, "Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on Him." You say, "Oh terrific, a whole lot of the rulers get saved." No, it says many believed on Him but watch this, "But because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him lest they should be put out of the synagogue for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." They believed, they did not confess. In other words, they believed that Christ was who He claimed to be but they would not name Him as their own Savior.
Mark it, Romans 10 says this, verses 9 and 10. What did Paul say? "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and...what?...believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." It's twofold...believe and...what?...confess. And right there in John 12:42 they did not confess Him. Why? Because they were hung up on social structures and prestige. And it was more important for them to be esteemed by the mucky-mucks of their own society than it was to be esteemed by God. Just that simple. That's not saving faith, my friend, not at all.
James so clearly shows us this in chapter 2 and verse 17, and I'm taking time with this because this is an absolutely important truth. Listen to it in 17, "Even so, faith if it has not works is dead being alone." In other words, your faith isn't genuine if there's not something happening afterward. Now listen, "Yea, a man may say thou hast faith and I have works, show me thy faith without thy works." That's not genuine. "I'll show you my faith by my works." In other works, the pattern of living speaks of whether it's genuine. Watch this. Verse 19, "Thou believest that there is one God? Big deal. Thou doest well, the devils also...what?...believe." That's not the point. Believing is not enough. That's why Paul says confession is absolutely necessary. Jesus said, "If thou shalt confess Me...what?...before men, then will I confess you before My Father which is in heaven." There's no such thing as a secret hidden disciple. You're either open for Jesus Christ in confessing Him as Lord, or you aren't...your faith isn't saving faith. That's right. And some people who claim to name the name of Jesus Christ, claim to believe in Him are not willing to confess Him as Lord and give Him their lives, there are people...I've talked to a man for years, he says I believe everything but I'm not ready to give Him my life. Faith is not enough, not just simply believing.
A good illustration back in chapter 6 of John, in verse 14 this crowd of people said, John 6:14, they said, "This is the prophet, this is of a truth, that prophet..." you know they all believed this is Him...verse 15, let's get Him and make Him a King, this is Him. Now go over to verse 66, same crowd, "From that time many of His disciples...what?...went back and walked no more with Him." See? Not genuine faith. They never were in to begin with.
Now I want to show you one other passage. I'm really loading them up here. Hebrews 10:38, oh this is very...write this down if you're not following, Hebrews 10:38 and 39, very important truth. "Now the just shall live by faith," great statement, but watch this, "but if any man draw back...ah...My soul shall have no pleasure in him." Watch it. "But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul." You see that? There are some people who don't believe to the point of salvation. They just believe....and then they draw back. But the writer of Hebrews says, "We are those who believe to the saving of souls." See, there's a kind of a faith that's not genuine, that comes and then goes. The writer of Hebrews says we're not that kind. The kind that's believing to the salvation of the soul, that's the kind we are. And God has no pleasure in those that begin to believe and then fall away.
Now receiving is only the beginning. I mean, believing is only the beginning. I'm not trying to say that believing is not important because it is. You can't even come to Christ until you believe. But believing that just stops there and dissipates is meaningless, absolutely meaningless. It must be faith that moves in and apprehends.
You say, "What do you mean to believe in Jesus Christ? How do I mean that?" Just this, when you can believe everything that Jesus Christ said about Himself is true, when you believe that everything Jesus Christ said about you is true, when you believe that judgment of God coming upon this world is true, when you believe the love of God that is given to this world is true, and you take your whole life and you place it in the hands of Jesus Christ, that is the kind of faith that redeems your soul. Remember how often we've seen people sitting in the deadliness of unbelief here in John's gospel and they wouldn't believe and Christ just didn't bother with them? Can't do a thing with unbelief. It's got to be there. But it's not enough of itself without the next step.
Now let's look at that next step in verse 31. Jesus said to those Jews who believed, here it comes, "If you...what?...continue in My Word then are you My disciples," alethos, truly, genuinely.
What do you mean by that? Just this, now watch it, this is not a condition of salvation as much as it is a manifestation of true faith. If you continue in My Word then it becomes obvious that you're one of the true disciples, see? James said, "By your works I can tell your faith is genuine." And so Jesus says it's not enough to believe, you've got to show me the character of your faith by continuing in My Word. That's the revelation of what kind of faith you have, my friend. John said this so aptly over in his first epistle 2:19, listen to it, "They went out from us," get this one, "but they were not of us," see?
People say, "Well somebody was a Christian and then they went away. Did they lose their salvation?" They went out from us but they were not of us. It was never real to begin with. Watch this, "For if they had been of us they would have continued with us." That's as clear as it can be. Now listen to this, "But they went out that it might be made manifest that they were not of us."
You know how you can tell a true disciple? He continues in the Word. He continues in the Word of Christ. That's how you can tell a true disciple. James says, "Don't show me your faith and then say I don't have any works, that's not...that's not legitimate faith." The genuine alethos indeed disciple continues in the Word of his Master. And, you see, there's the distinction. The progress to freedom, the progress to liberty is the kind of faith that issues in a life of real discipleship. That's the genuine stuff. The gen