John 8:31-47
Following Jesus' Teachings Will Set You Free
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, “Very truly I tell you, 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 that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way 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 are doing 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 what Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are looking for a way 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 works of your own father.”
“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
Solomon tells us that what has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun...The Grace of Jesus is forever, and always the same...Following Jesus sets one free...If we hold to His Teachings, we are His disciples...Then when we are His disciples we will know the Truth, and the Truth will set us free...Following Jesus and being set free is Something New under the sun...If one believes this then Jesus is the One who makes all things new...Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation...The old has passed away; behold, the new has come...He then is free...
Jesus teaches us that if God is our Father, then we love Him...He came to this world from God...He could not have come on His Own; God sent Him...Jesus made that clear when He walked and taught among us...Some are unable to hear what He teaches and spoke about His Father...The non-believer is close to the evil one...The evil one was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him...When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies...Jesus speaks the truth, so we should believe Him...He never sinned on earth, nor has He ever sinned...One who only sins a few times in his life is close to God...One who has never sinned is very, very close to God, and One with God...One who has never sinned is in the Father and the Father is in Him...Whoever belongs to God hears what God says and listens to His Son...The Grace of Christ is One with the Father and in the Father...Anyone who has seen Jesus has seen the Father...
Philosopher Criss Jami says this of God, His Son Jesus, man, and the gospel: “There is nothing new under the sun but that of the Son...Man's rebellion against God has always been because he would rather fall in pride than rise in humility.”...“Speaking a painful truth should be done only in love - like wielding a sword with no hilt - it should pain oneself in direct proportion to the amount of force exerted.”...“The Christian God seemed the most offensive to people precisely because He was the Most Godlike...He was Too Perfect even to be coaxed by human efforts, and therefore sent His Son to do the job.”...“Some days you feel like you're the worst of sinners; others like you're the most righteous person on earth...I am convinced that the former is when you're closest to God.”...“God is not a God of confusion, although at times one's judgment, for a period, may become clouded in the mi(d)st of one's growth process...I stopped fooling myself into thinking that Christ is always for the cool kids and never for those upright and uptight religious people everybody hates.”...“To me, many of what seemed to be Bible contradictions only pointed to the Grace of Christ...It is not so much a rule book on how to be holy as it is a prophecy of the One who can make you holy...In this, I see God as the least bigoted of all in existence: While men always, in their hearts, delight in vengeance for being wronged, God is the Only Being who wants to free you from the penalty of His Own Laws.”...