John 8:31-38 The Truth Shall Set You Free


John 8:31-33

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him,  "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will  know the truth, and the truth  will set you free."
ESV

Such an interesting promise. Please scroll down to read the fine print! (not really)

I have known several people that were what I would call "Bible scholars". Some of them lived lives that showed freedom. Most did not.

So how do I reconcile this promise. We know God, or in this case, Jesus can't lie.

Some how we have to come to terms with this statement, and many others made by Jesus. It is way to easy to say "Well this works for the other guy, just not me"

So lets take a look at the defining word in this promise "Abide".

What does that mean to you. Read 10 hours every day? Memorize 5 verses a day? Study original manuscripts?


: to wait for : await
2
a : to endure without yielding : withstand
b : to bear patiently : tolerate abide
 such bigots>
3
: to accept without objection abide
 your decision>
intransitive verb
1
: to remain stable or fixed in a state
2
: to continue in a place : sojourn
— abid·er noun
— abide by
1
: to conform to <abide by the rules>
2
: to acquiesce in abide by
 your decision>

This is better than I thought! Look at the definitions from Merriam-Webster.com.

Wait for, endure without yielding, accept without objection, continue in a place. When is the last time you applied those to any of God's promises? 
I am not willing to answer that on the grounds it would incriminate me.

So here is a challenge for us. Let's all find one of those promises that maybe we have given up on and "abide" in His word!



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