John 14:6-7
Jesus is Truth
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
John 8:31-41
The Children of Abraham
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
33 They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?"
34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father."
39 "Abraham is our father," they answered.
"If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are doing the things your own father does."
"We are not illegitimate children," they protested. "The only Father we have is God himself."
Galatians 5:1-15
Freedom in Christ
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. 11 Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Hebrews 4:15
Jesus Was Without Sin
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
Jesus stood up two thousand years ago and said He is Truth...He also said this about Truth, "If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples...Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."...And in this statement He says much about freedom and truth...And He is saying something about sin...He is also saying something about religion...
And when we really talk to others about Truth and how the Truth sets you free, that is a religious quote...And many of Jesus' quotes about Truth involve Him and His Father...But when we talk to others about Truth and how it sets us free, there seems to be a rise in tension and some disagreement or controversy in the air about the Man who said these quotes...
God gives us our free will and freedoms...Divine LOVE has the ability to set us free...And in setting us free in His eyes, we are set free from the yoke of the slavery of sin...Jesus did not say something like, when you know the truth, the truth will set you free...No, He qualified His statement...He said "If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples...Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."...So as we read these statements that Jesus said, we see that truth, freedom, and sin are linked together...We know He is the Truth, and represents Truth, and is the world's Absolute Truth...And when we are able to hold on to His teachings then we are free...We have the truest and most of freedoms and our freedom...Jesus who was without sin, is the freest of all men...
One would think that since man sins, that we are freer than Jesus might be...After all don't we have one more choice than Jesus, the ability to sin...But we are not freer than Him...Our freedoms get shackled and hamstrung by our personal sins, even though we have both the choices of sinning or not to sin...The ability to sin gives one less freedom...Jesus, who never does sin, makes Him a freer man...He is a Man with more freedoms...It is for freedom that Christ has set us free and gives us true freedom...So if we can stand firm and do not let ourselves be burdened over and over by the yoke of the slavery of sin, we can be set free...Our sinful nature makes us less free...Sin takes a toll on us...Sinning does keep us in bondage...The closer we get to Him, and the more we are like Him the more free we become...It is His teachings and His Truth that really set us truly free...