So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

John 8:36 NASB.

(1) Freedom is the cry of every man and woman, every boy and every girl. And Jesus proclaimed, “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” Only a few verses earlier, Jesus explained to His followers—and to those challenging His Messianic claims, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” Those who know the Son know the TRUTH. He also said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” (John 14:6).

(2) But how important it is to recognize that there is a huge difference between knowing facts about the truth as historical information and actually knowing the truth about the unique Person and saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a vast difference between knowing about Jesus and personally knowing Him—having a relationship with Him, as revealed in God-breathed Scripture.

(3) Many people in Christ’s day knew about Him. They knew His mother and siblings. They knew He was a carpenter in the town of Nazareth. Some even knew the Messianic claims He made and may have witnessed the mighty miracles He performed, but they did not know Him as their Lord and Savior. They did not know Him as the Word of Truth, nor trust that His shed blood would pay the price for their sins.

(4) The Scribes and Pharisees knew Christ’s movements, heard His teachings, questioned His authority, and were fully conversant with the good news He presented to the lost sheep of Israel. They knew He claimed to be the eternal Son of God, who could forgive sin. They knew He claimed to be the promised Messiah and King of Israel, yet they did not combine this knowledge with faith in their hearts.

(5) They knew about the truth but were not set free by it because they did not believe the incarnate Truth. It was the Philippian jailer who asked, “What shall I do to be saved?” The simple answer was, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:30-31) He was to believe in the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, the salvation of his soul, and life everlasting.

(6) Believing the truth would set this jailer free from slavery to sin and bondage to Satan. This is the powerful testimony recorded: “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, ‘Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!’ The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.’ Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.” Acts 16:25-34 NIV

(7) Believing the truth set this man free from the curse of the Law and eternal condemnation. Believing the truth transferred him from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of Light and Life. He was not freed merely by knowing about the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, but by personally knowing Him as Savior. It was faith in the Person and Work of Jesus that brought true freedom.

(8) Jesus Himself said, “For if the Son sets you free, then you will be free indeed.” Freedom is secured through knowing Christ as Savior. He explained to Nicodemus that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. Christ was lifted up on the Cross, and His lifeblood was shed for the sins of the world. It is not merely knowing the historical facts of the crucifixion that sets people free, but believing in the redeeming truth that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again according to Scripture.

(9) Knowing the truth liberates a sinner from bondage. When one is set free from the curse of the Law and from enslavement to sin, by grace through faith in Christ, true liberation occurs. Everyone is born dead in sin. Everyone lives in bondage to sin. Everyone is a slave to sin, entrapped by it, and estranged from God.

(10) But there is one way, and only one way, to be set free from slavery to sin, Satan, death, and the curse of the Law: to KNOW Christ personally—not merely know historical facts about Him, but to know Him as one’s own Savior, who willingly died in our place to pay the price for our sin. Through His redeeming blood, we are set free forever.

(11) We know the Son as Savior, and the Son, who loves us and gave Himself for us, sets us free. Our prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You for Jesus. Thank You for sending Your Son to be our Savior and for setting us free from slavery to sin. Thank You that in Christ we are set free from the curse of the Law, and thank You that the punishment we deserved for our sins was paid by the Lord Jesus Christ, so that by faith in Him we are truly set free.

(12) Living a life of praise and glory in Jesus’ name, we receive the power to become the sons and daughters of God. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” Romans 8:2 NASB A full and believing apprehension of the Son of God confers new life and reveals the amazing possibilities of human nature in Christ.