What Does Jesus Say About the Truth

Day 21

What Does Jesus Say About the Truth

Text:  John 8:31-36

Life Lessons

1. True disciple of Jesus is not by the word of mouth. So, Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples, (John 8:31) Here, Jesus makes a distinction between false disciples and a true disciple. Discipleship of Christ comes with action.
2. You can only know the truth by accepting, keeping to, or acknowledge the source of the truth himself. He is the perfect standard of what is right. In John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” Jesus is the reality of all God’s promises.
3. Sin is a Slave Master. (8:34). For the Christian, sin is a life altering reality, even though we always declare to be righteous, but we’re still functionally infected. Knowing the truth will continually set us free from slavery to sin, from self-deception, and from deception by Satan.

 

Life Applications

 Being a true child of God begins with a head level commitment to follow Jesus.

This isn’t a plea to conform to a religious system or to join a certain church, it’s a call to follow Jesus and trust his word. This means we accept Jesus for who He says He is and develop a trust in Him and not in someone or something else. I think we should ask ourselves this question constantly, Is my faith riding in the current of my parents or my pastor? Is my faith resting in a religious system? By asking these questions, we can discover whether our faith is linked directly into Jesus or if our link is dependent on something or someone else.

 

Jesus Himself is the truth that sets us free (8:36). 

Truth is far more than facts. It’s not just something we act upon. It acts upon us. We can’t change the truth, but the truth can change us. It sanctifies, that is it sets us apart from the adamic natures. As followers of Christ, we are to walk in the truth (3 John 1:3), love the truth, and believe the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). We’re to speak the truth “in love” (Ephesians 4:29-32).

 

Sin is purposely disobeying the rules of God (1 John 3:4).

To sin is to miss our mark of living in a virtuous manner, not only failing to meet God’s commandment but acting against our own interests by engaging the world in an immoral manner. To sin is to fall short of our potential, missing the mark of our highest self and best quality of life. Sin is sin, no matter how you perceive or justify it.

In the Bible passage we read Jews are attempting to justify themselves. We do the same thing. We try to ignore the real problem, which is sin, and find ways to justify ourselves. I was born a free American. I was born in a Christian Family. I’ve been a member of the church since 2007. I have a testimony of the church. I’m a pretty good person. There are countless things we use to justify ourselves, but they won’t work. It’s either eternal life or eternal death. In verse 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.