31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave [2] to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” (John 8:31-38 (ESV)
“If you abide in my word, you are my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Abide in my word. Jesus puts a lot of emphasis on his word. He doesn’t talk about doing a whole lot of anything to be his disciple. Deed’s not creeds is not his slogan. He merely points out that living, abiding in his word will have the effect of making us know truth that will set us free. We can’t set ourselves free. But Jesus does. His word is forgiveness, his word is life. He speaks and we live, we abide. And his word sets us free from sin. It isn’t a matter that you will never sin again, or that you won’t be tempted to sin, but you will be free of its power. It will no longer be able to claim you and kill you. You are free from sin, you are forgiven.
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