How to be truly free:
1. BELIEVE what Jesus said about Himself.
Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him (v. 30).
The “many” who “put their faith in him” “turn out to be, in Jesus view, slaves to sin (v. 34), indifferent to Jesus’ word (v. 37), children of the devil (v. 44), liars (v. 55), and guilty of ... attempted murder of the one in whom they have professed to believe (v. 59). (D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, 346)
2. LEARN and FOLLOW the teaching of Jesus.
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples” (v. 31).
“Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men” (John 2:23-24).
“On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is hard teaching. Who can accept it?’” (John 6:60; see v. 15).
“From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” (John 6:66).
“Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away” (Luke 8:13).
Hold [men’-o] – to remain, abide.
Meno seems to be one of John’s favorite words. It used 33 times in John and 18 times in 1 John.
• “Whoever claims to live [meno] in him must walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6).
• “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained [meno] with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John 2:19).
• “Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue [meno] in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues [meno] in the teaching has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9).
Holding to Christ’s teaching is a MANIFESTATION of saving faith, not a CONDITION. Jesus did not say “you will be” My disciples. He said “you are” My disciples.
3. Discover the TRUTH.
“Then you will know the truth...” (v. 32a).
Jesus often began His teaching with the phrase “I tell you the truth” (“verily, verily,” KJV).
“...grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17b).
“I am the way and the truth and the life...” (John 14:6a).
“[God] wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
4. The truth will LIBERATE you.
“...and the truth will set you free” (v. 32b).
a. You can experience freedom from the slavery of SIN.
“I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34).
People usually do not realize that they are in bondage (example: Jews, v. 33).
b. You can experience freedom from the search for REALITY.
“Always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7).
