Freedom Through the Truth
John 8:31-38

In 1989, our family was preparing to immigrate to US.
As an elementary school aged kid, I didn’t know why we chose to move to US, but just knew that we were moving.
I remember asking my parents if we could go to England, instead of US.
I had read somewhere that England was a country of gentlemen, and also a Christian nation.
My parents mentioned that US was indeed a Christian nation as well.
Well, in hindsight, neither of them are really Christian nations, even though there may be some Christian spirits, thanks to large number of Christians.
England (or UK) is projected to be the first Muslim majority nation in Europe.
And in US, many claim to be Christians, but you have to wonder if they truly believe.
A statistic that came out couple of years ago says that less than half of Christians in the United States can name at least one of the four Gospels.
Then, can we really claim that they are believers?

Well, we have to ask a question here.
What is faith and what is believing?
We’ve heard that you are saved by faith, but what is that saving faith really all about?

In today’s text, Jesus is speaking to the Jews who had believed him.
“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
If you truly believe, then you abide in Jesus’ word…then you become his disciples and will know the truth…and that truth will set you free.
The question is what must you believe and how do you believe?
What does it mean to truly believe?

In verse 30, it says, “many believed in him.”
The believing in verse 30 and 31 are different.
In verse 30, many believe in him; but in verse 31, Jews who had believed him.
How are they different?
In verse 30, they believed in Jesus; but in verse 31, they believed about Jesus.
This is the difference between just faith verses faith that leads to salavation.
One is dedicating and committing your life to Jesus kind of faith, and the other is just believing Jesus and what he did.

Let me illustrate.
In 19th century, there was a famous acrobat known as Blondin.
He was born and raised in France, and as he was growing up he gained world wide reputation.
One of his performances that drew most attention was when he crossed over the Niagara Falls on a single tight rope.
Sometimes, he would go half way and then come back; he might carry a wheelbarrow across; and at other times he would stop in the middle and cook an omelet.
On one occasion, he carried a man on his back across the rope over the Falls.
As he was putting the man down, he looked at one of the audience and asked, “do you think I can carry you across?”
The man answered, “yes, I just saw you do it.”
Blondin said, “well, hop on then.”
And the man said, “not on your life.”

This is the difference between simply believing Jesus and believing in Jesus.
Believing Jesus is knowing about him and what he had done, but not being able to hop on his back.
Believing in Jesus is fully trusting him and being carried by him through the treacherous and dangerous world.
We need to have this type of faith – to believe in Jesus.

But how is the church today?
We know a lot about Jesus and we believe him.
But not many of us truly believe in him.
If we truly did believe in him, then we would abide in his word and become his disciples.
That means we would be obedient to Jesus’ words.
We would trust Jesus for things to work out.

But too many of us in the churches today only think about our own selves.
We say we believe, but are judgmental towards others and throw hurtful comments at each other.
How many of us act upon our own thoughts and calculations?
How many of us do the “Christian religion” so that we can get blessings, and not care about others?
We know about the power of prayers, but isn’t it us who do not pray?

Not this type of faith, but we need true faith that trusts Jesus wholeheartedly.

When we have this true faith, then we will remain in his word, become his disciples, know the truth, and that truth will set us free.
We will know the truth.
Concerning truth, we will share more later.
But what Jesus means here is that we will know some truth about spiritual matters.
We cannot know everything.
But we will know some truth about the Kingdom of God and spiritual world.

Christianity is the religion of truth.
Many in today’s culture believe that the truth is relative.
What I believe may be true for me, but not for others.
You, go ahead and believe in Jesus, because that’s the truth for you.
But that’s not my truth.
How silly is that?
Truth, by definition, can only be absolute.
If we think the truth is relative, then we are thrown into confusion.
Murder is evil, but if that is a relative truth, then what would this world become?
Truth is not something that even majority decides upon.
Truth is absolute, and the Word of God is the absolute truth.

If we know this truth, this truth will set us free.
Then the question becomes, free from what?

First, it’s freedom from ignorance.
Ignorance is dangerous.
There is an saying that ignorance is bliss, but in Korean there is a saying that ignorance is courageous.
But that can be dangerous and you might be risking your life.
I remember our church going on a ski trip in Boston.
One of my friends was totally ignorant of all ski things, never skied before, and went down on Double Black Diamond.

Spiritual ignorance is dangerous too.
Then you really don’t know who you truly are and where you stand.
When Jesus said that the truth will set you free, Jews replied in verse 33, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
The problem is, they have been enslaved before.
They were slaves in Egypt; Philistines and Midianites, amongst others, ruled over them during the period of Judges; Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and now Romans are ruling over them.
Yes, of course, they are saying that as Abraham’s children, and as Israelites, they have never lost their self-identity.
But they were spiritually dead and were not free.
If they were Abraham’s children, then they should have acted as Abraham did, in faith, but they didn’t.
They were ignorant of their spiritual condition, which meant they had no reason to accept the Savior.

But the truth of God will set us free from spiritual ignorance and help us see our spiritual conditions – that we truly need a Savior.
Let us then come to this Savior, humbly, through the truth of God.

Secondly, the truth will set us free from sin.
Verse 34 – “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”
Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
He’s not talking about freedom from the penalties of sin.
That comes at the moment you believe in Jesus.
You no longer have to fear death.
But what Jesus is talking about is freedom from the power of sin.
If there are habitual sin you still practice and cannot shake off, then go to Jesus and call upon him.
Let him set you free from it.
Let us, through the truth, become a mature and holy church.

Finally, in conclusion, there is something those who have experienced this freedom must do.
They need to help others to experience it too.
There are things only God can do.
But there are other things he leaves for us to do.
Making the dead live is something God does.
Helping him live is what we must do.
To receive and forgive sinners is something God must do.
To help them live in faith is something we must do.

Let’s look at some biblical examples.
It was Jesus who raised Lazarus from the dead.
But it was those around who had to take the veil off of Lazarus.
It was God, Jesus, who called Saul and changed him.
But it was Ananias, Barnabas, and others who helped him on his journey to become Paul.
When the prodigal son returned, it was the father who accepted him back as a son.
It was the servants who put a robe on him, put a ring on his finger, put a sandal on his feet, and killed a fatten calf for the feast.

When we are freed from sin, we must do these things to help others.
But we are quick to make excuses.
I am too young or I am too old.
I am too weak.
I do not have talents or skills to teach.
I do not have must gifts.
I am not a good speaker.

No, every single one of us is called by God and have been gifted by God.
When we obey and serve, then God will do amazing things through us.
Howard G. Hendricks is a professor of Dallas Theological Seminary, who spoke to a man, named Bill, and encouraged him to begin a bible study at his home.
Bill said he did not have talent or skills to teach.
Hendricks said, how do you know? Have you ever taught?
Bill said, no I have never taught, but I just know.
Hendricks said, you don’t know, so you should start.
Back and forth, back and forth, and Bill finally decided to give it a shot.
Now Hendricks say, if there are students who want to see someone who teach the Bible better than seminary professors, I send them to Bill.

Let us truly believe in Jesus, and let us be free through the truth of Jesus.
And in that freedom, let us serve for the sake of God’s Kingdom.