John 8:32

Tuesday 2/7/12

John 8:32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Interpretation:

     Often, either I myself refer to this verse or I hear it referred to in the case of telling the truth when dealing with a lie. While this verse may be excellent advice for dealing with freeing yourself from a tangled web of lies you made, I notice two things that suggest that Jesus wasn’t just talking about keeping the ninth commandment of not bearing false witness. First, Jesus says “know the truth,” not “tell the truth.” Usually, when someone is lying, they already know the truth but they’re still not free. Second, when looking at what Jesus said just before this verse, we can see that He was talking about abiding in His Word. In John 17:17, Jesus tells His Father “Your word is truth.” So both, the word “knowing” and the fact that Jesus was talking about abiding in His Word, shows that Jesus was talking about something more than just not lying. He’s talking about knowing what His Word says about anything and everything.

     I realize that in the past, I often had wrong ideas about God and His thoughts about me. Satan would get me condemned when I did something wrong; I would feel so guilty because I could have been praying more; I would try to help the work God was doing in my life by trying harder; and on it went. The lies that I believed about God and my Christian walk would put me in bondage, get me depressed, and make me confused and aggravated. But thinking back through these struggles I had, I still remember the specific verses God would give me to encourage me. He would show me through the verses in the Bible that the condemnation, fear, frustration, discouragement, or whatever else was going on in my heart, was unnecessary and was many times a result of believing a lie about God or His character. I thank God for the work He has done in my life, the verses He gave me and continues to bring back to my mind when I struggle with believing lies, and the fact that I will always have His Word and truth to go back to when I need it.

Application:

     I will thank God for showing me the truth about His character and my Christian walk. I will thank Him for giving me the Bible and showing me who He is through the verses in His Word. In addition, I will pray for others (Christians and non-Christians alike) who are struggling with believing lies about who God really is and pray that God would comfort them through His Word and open their eyes to the truth so that they may be free.