The Truth Shall Make You Free The Wayfarer

“The Truth shall make you Free”

from Dec 2012

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

(John 8:31 &32)

These words stand in prominence at the headquarters of our nation’s Central Intelligence Agency as a reminder of how important it is to know the truth of all things that happen in our world and how they pertain to the wellbeing and indeed the very existence of our nation.

Truth is sorely lacking in all aspects of our society, even to the very levels of its leadership and must be restored if we are to exist as a people and continue to enjoy our special relationship with God.

During the lead up to Christmas we saw, and indeed every day we still see a constant barrage of advertising offering “super deals”, and two for one sales. The problem is that many are so gullible that they fail to see that this is only a way of saying, “we just won’t cheat you as badly as we normally do.”

Our politicians carry on about issue after issue, hiding their agenda, which is not to truly represent the needs of the country, but their own selfish wants, this from both sides of the aisle, while in the meantime we travel farther down the road to socialism and government control of our lives, and the loss of the liberty promised by the founders.

Scandal after scandal is covered up, the magicians using misdirection to cover their sleight of hand to direct our attention away from their failures, and attempts to replace our morals with their own.

We slowly are becoming a society where falsehood is the norm instead of a truth that must be prevalent if we are to continue to be prosperous and more importantly blessed by our creator.

To get truth back in our society requires some simple steps in getting there. We have to get truth back in our children by teaching them that truth, truth back in our families by constant practice of that truth, truth back in the churches by making them the places of worship and prayer that they purport to be, truth back in our communities by being truthful with all we come into contact with and demanding that same truth from them, truth back in our leadership by examining their actions and holding their feet to the fire to be truthful or face expulsion.

It is possible to get truth back into our society only if we insist that only truth is acceptable. Deception cannot be tolerated and exalted if we are to be a Christian people.

This passage of scripture exemplifies the willingness of the unbeliever to be deceived and deceptive, and explains in depth who that true deceiver is.

Here once again, we find Jesus teaching in the temple. He has just confirmed for those gathered, that He is the way to God and eternal life, and once again has the attention, but not the belief, of gathered scribes and Pharisees.

 He told them that they are from beneath (this world) and that he is of heaven and not of this world. Still they fail to understand!

We too are from beneath, unless we have studied, believed and practiced the teachings of our Lord.

Those we choose to lead us must be of Faith and of the same caliber of those who established this nation with the ideal of a nation founded on the precepts that were practiced by those founders. One cannot understand, or believe in truth until they first accept the necessity of the practice of that truth.

Some of those addressed by Christ in this scripture, however, did understand and believe, so he continued teaching them.

“They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou Ye shall be made free?

Jesus answered them, Verily, verily I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth for ever.

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

(John 8:33-36)

The people ask how Jesus can free them, not comprehending that he is talking about freeing them from sin itself!

They couldn’t understand that as long as they continued in their sin, without the intercession of Jesus, they could never truly be free.

Jesus’ answer is as pertinent to us and our leaders as it was to those to whom he addressed these comments.

Once we are free form the burden of sin, we are forever thereafter free of it. This doesn’t mean we won’t sin, but that we continually have Jesus to ask God’s forgiveness for us if and only if we accept Him as Savior and intercessor!

This requires constant repentance and attention to God’s laws instead of looking to the more comfortable teachings delivered through man’s laws.

Jesus continued:

“I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

Jesus saith unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

Ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it.

And because I tell you the the truth, ye believe me not.

 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?

He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

(John 8:37-47)

Jesus continued to try to get through to them that their self-righteousness would not get them to heaven, but they continued to intentionally misunderstand what he was teaching.

We see that same intentional misunderstanding in far too many about us today, unwilling to listen to the word of God as given by Jesus, because that word disagrees with the way they were brought up to live their lives.

There are many who will tell you that they are good people, not harmful to others, but they choose a way of life that is in contradiction to what was taught by our Lord!

They choose to believe that this “goodness “, is enough. It is not! 

There is one and only one path to forgiveness, and it doesn’t come by being one of those “good people.”

 It is not available by living in the manner taught you by your forefathers. It isn’t through simply obeying man’s laws and living up to the expectations of other men.

It is only through the blood sacrifice of God’s son Jesus, the belief in him, and knowledge that He is able to forgive if we repent that grants us the path to eternal life!

The remainder of this chapter continues on with Jesus trying to teach unwilling and hardheaded people with even harder hearts the truth. They continue to persist with questions of law and irrelevance, and fail to see the truth!

It is up to us to preach and teach that truth to all who will listen. The truth shall indeed make us free.

That truth is my Savior, his sacrifice, his resurrection and his ability to forgive and intercede if we are willing to accept that truth, and grants us that path to eternal life.

The first step in knowing the truth is in knowing God’s laws and abiding by them, accepting that we cannot do so without the help offered by that sacrifice and resurrection, repentance for our sin and sinful nature and giving it all over to the only one capable of fixing it for us!

We need to do this both as individuals, (salvation is an individual gift), and as a nation, repenting and returning to the laws and promises of our God who is far greater than any man or human leader to ever exist then or now!

I conclude with the sincere prayer that we do this and return to the greatness envisioned for us by our Father.

Salutations once more from this simple sinner saved by grace hoping for you to accept the love and salvation offered through the sacrifice of the only Savior to ever be available, and that you accept the truth given us by

  JESUS.

Amen and Amen