John 8:31 - Forerunner Commentary

John 8:31

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Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain The Gospel According to John 8:31:

John 8:31-36
Excerpted from: Remaining Free

Yet notice that Jesus links abiding in His word—every word of God—with knowing the truth and becoming free. God’s way leads to freedom, but it is freedom as God defines it, not as humanity defines it. While the carnal mind strives to be free of God’s law (Romans 8:7), true freedom lies in worshiping the true God in the way He instructs. That is how we remain free from bondage to this world, to its ruler, and to sin itself. Being free of those things and being one with God is true freedom.

Verse 32 mentions knowing the truth as a result of abiding in God’s word, and that leads to the truth making us free. The Greek word under truth is alethia (Strong’s 225). It signifies the essence or the reality of a thing, which goes beyond just having facts. One may have the facts about an event, but that isn’t going to make one free. The spiritual reality that Christ is talking about is understood through living His way, as He says, but ultimately, it is talking about knowing Him. He says in John 14:6 that He is the way, the truth, and the life.

So, it is not some sort of abstract, Zen enlightenment we should seek in order to be free, but rather the divine embodiment of what is real, which is Christ. This is why, in verse 36, He says that if the Son makes us free, we will have true freedom. The truth that leads to freedom, and which keeps us from returning to the house of bondage, comes from and through the Son. Seeking truth and seeking spiritual freedom means seeking Him.

What the Jews say in verse 33, on the surface, appears to be one of the most absurd statements recorded in the Bible. They had been enslaved by the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and were, at that time, under the thumb of the Romans. It seems bizarre that they could say this with a straight face.

Maybe that was the case here. However, it is also possible that the Jews meant something different than the way it comes through in this translation. The word translated “bondage” means slavery or service. What is important, though, is that the slavery or service described by this word can either be voluntary or involuntary. So, even though the Jews had been conquered numerous times, and they knew it, they may have been asserting that they had never voluntarily served anyone—it was always under duress. When ancient Judah was conquered by Babylon, the Jews proudly rebelled and refused to submit to Nebuchadnezzar’s yoke, even when God’s prophets told them to. In other words, they may have been asserting that they had retained their honor. They had never willingly submitted to servitude but had always opposed it, because servitude was seen as dishonorable.

But Jesus answered with a foundational truth with far-reaching implications: "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” Sin is what restricts our freedom. Sin causes us to serve it rather than live an abundant life with the Creator and serve Him.

This ties in with what we have seen. There are two opposing forces in our lives. On one hand, there is the worship of God in the way He prescribes. His instructions define sin—they define what takes us away from God and His freedom, and especially the First, Second, and Fourth Commandments. Idolatry and Sabbath-breaking are directly linked to slavery. When we abide in His Word, we are His disciples, and we become and remain free because we come to know the embodiment of Truth through keeping His Word.

But on the other hand is the transgression of His instructions, which is sin (I John 3:4), which enslaves us, bringing us back into the house of bondage.

John 8:31-32
Excerpted from: Simplifying Life (Part Six)

The perfect law points to God's will which was fulfilled and revealed through Jesus Christ. It is perfect because it is whole, complete, and leads to maturity (James 1:4). The expression law of liberty seems paradoxical and a blatant contradiction to most professing antinomian, anarchistic Protestants. How can any kind of law bring freedom?

Jesus' half-brother James insists that true freedom can only be found in obedience to God, not in autonomy. When God's chosen saints follow God's Word, containing God's law, they are liberated from sin's bondage and self-deception. We must remember our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ's teaching in John 8:31-32, If you abide in My word. . . the truth will set you free.

In verse 25, James uses the expression and perseveres (ESV), suggesting that the blessing does not come from merely a single act of looking or doing, but from continued, sustained faithful practice. The word suggests endurance and steadfastness. My dear brothers and sisters, we must regard our discipleship as a sustained habit, not just a momentary impulse. When James uses the phrase being not hearer but a doer who acts, he continues his contrast between passive reception and active obedience. The forgetful hearer represents superficial religion, that is, hearing sermons or reading Scripture without transformation.

The doer (that should be us) who acts lives out the Word, embodies faith through conduct. When James uses the phrase he will be blessed in his doing, he maintains that this blessing is not merely a reward after obedience but is in the doing itself. When we obey God's Word containing His holy and spiritual law, we obtain spiritual flourishing, joy, and alignment with our divine purpose, a concept which is echoed in Psalm 1, Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord.

James 1:25 forms the thesis or central theme for the entire letter, that authentic faith expresses itself in action, rejecting both legalism (mechanical and rote rule following) and passive religious behavior, asserting that obedience to Christ's teaching is not bondage, but true freedom.

Consequently, we are obligated to meditate deeply, engage in Scripture with attentiveness, reflection, and an ardent desire to apply it to our behavior. We must exercise perseverance, making obedience a consistent practice rather than an occasional response.

We are urged to actively live out faith, realizing that spiritual maturity does not come from information, but instead transformation, converting God's holy and spiritual law into genuine behavior. We must find joy in obedience, realizing that the blessing which James refers to is the inner satisfaction of walking in absolute alignment with God's will.

As God's called-out saints, we must keep God's Word central in our daily decisions, simplifying our choices by asking: What does God's Word say?

John 8:31
Excerpted from: Truth (Part 1)

This is just another way of saying what He said in John 18:37. "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed." Those who hear the voice of Christ, those who hear His truth are going to then submit to that truth. That is what is going to separate them from the world.

When we add one more scripture to this—John 17:17, where He said, "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth,"—we ought to be able to see that it is not enough just to assent that something is true, but rather it must be continued in. That is what the word "abide" means. It means to "live in," "continue in," "be a part of." The thought, the idea is of "making use of."

Consider this: A disciple is a learner. Discipleship—that is, the state of being a disciple—begins when a person accepts what Jesus says about Himself and about life and about God's purpose as being true. But it is continuing in, it is pressing on, that gives spiritual freedom from sin and its effects. That is what is being spoken of here.

In John 8:31-32, these people to whom He was speaking had begun. They believed in Him. Now He is taking them one step further in terms of truth. You have got to continue in it. It is not good enough to just step across the line with a measure of commitment, acknowledging that what we have so far is true. There must be a continuous searching for more truth that pertains to this top priority in life—seeking first the Kingdom of God. There must be a continuous process on to the end so that there is growth to full maturity.

John 8:31-32
Excerpted from: Truth (Part 1)

Consider this: A disciple is a learner. Discipleship—that is, the state of being a disciple—begins when a person accepts what Jesus says about Himself and about life and about God's purpose as being true. But it is continuing in, it is pressing on, that gives spiritual freedom from sin and its effects. That is what is being spoken of here.

In John 8:31-32, these people to whom He was speaking had begun. They believed in Him. Now He is taking them one step further in terms of truth. You have got to continue in it. It is not good enough to just step across the line with a measure of commitment, acknowledging that what we have so far is true. There must be a continuous searching for more truth that pertains to this top priority in life—seeking first the Kingdom of God. There must be a continuous process on to the end so that there is growth to full maturity.

But it is right here, right at this point that the devastating effects of Laodiceanism comes in. A Laodicean is one who, having judged his spiritual condition by wrong standards, has allowed himself to become distracted from his calling, and what Jesus is saying here in John 8:31-32 is that discipleship is a continuing process. Therefore, the search for truth never ends.

John 8:31-32
Excerpted from: John 7:37 Examined (Part 2)

They never knew the truth. All the way through my first part of this sermon I was telling you they did not understand the Last Great Day at all. They thought that they were free. In their sincerity in what they were doing, in their misconception, they thought they were truly the sons, the children, the daughters of Abraham, and they were not because they did not have the fruit to prove that they were the children of Abraham.

John 8:31
Excerpted from: The Awesome Cost of Salvation

Abide meaning continuing; remain in. "If you remain in My word, continue in My word, then you are My disciples indeed." A disciple is a learner. He is telling us a person who begins down the road of Christianity is not really a disciple. A true disciple is one who not only begins, but also continues on the way and abides in it.

Articles
Communication and Leaving Babylon (Part Three)
Ecclesiastes and Christian Living (Part Eight): Death
Fully Accepting God's Sovereignty (Part Four)
God's Kingdom in the Parables (Part One)
God's List
Leadership and Covenants (Part Three)
Let No One Deceive You
Prepare to Meet Your God! (Part Two)
Prepare to Meet Your God! (Part Two)
Righteousness from Inside-Out
The Awesome Cost of Love
The Whole Truth
Who Is Doing the Work of God?

Bible Studies
The True Gospel

Booklets
Prepare to Meet Your God! (The Book of Amos) (Part One)
Prepare to Meet Your God! (The Book of Amos) (Part One)
What Do You Mean . . . the Unpardonable Sin?  (2)

Essays
Are We Really Free?
Conditions of Discipleship (Part Two)
Falling Leaves
Law Enforcement
Sanctified by Truth
What Is Truth?

Sermons
Self-Government (Part 1)
The Blind See
Wilderness Wandering (Part 1)
The March Toward Globalism (Part 4)
The March Toward Globalism (Part 2)
The Handwriting Is On the Wall (2010)
The Handwriting Is On the Wall (2010)
Marriage and the Bride of Christ (Part 7)
Sincerity and Truth (Part Three)
Do You Recognize This Man? (Part 3)
Facing Times of Stress: Controlled by Doubts
Continuing on to Completion
Ecclesiates Resumed (Part Eighteen)
The Summertime Soldier and Sunshine Patriotism
Leadership and the Covenants (Part Ten)
Assurance (Part One): Self Examination
Assurance (Part One): Self Examination
God Works in Mysterious Ways (Part Five)
Do You Feel Free?
Boundaries, Incursions, Migrations, and God (Part One)
Do We Truly Honor God in Our Actions?
Wilderness Wanderings (Part One)
Liberty and Justice for All
Freedom's Dark Underbelly
The Household of God and Truth
Moral Purity
A Rewired Society (Part Two): A Post-Truth World
A Rewired Society (Part Two): A Post-Truth World
Submitting (Part 1)
Growing Into Liberty
Remembering Your Vows
Avoiding Spiritual Burnout
Liberty vs. Independence
Isaiah 58 and Fasting
Preventing Deception
Pitfalls of Scholarship
Belief with Obedience
Born Again (Part 2)
Knowing God: Formality and Customs (Part 6)
Are You Fighting the Good Fight?
John (Part 14)
John (Part 15)
Matthew (Part Twelve)
Communication and Coming Out of Babylon (Part 3)
Man's Greatest Challenge (Part 4)
Loyalty and Submission (Part 2)
Liberty Through Self-Control
Liberty Through Self-Control
Spiritual Maturity

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