“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed 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.’”
John 8:31-32
This verse is frequently misquoted and therefore mostly misunderstood. For example, many people only quote the last part: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” But knowing the truth is the result of the first two phrases: abiding in the teachings of Jesus and proving yourself to actually be His disciple. Only by doing those two things can you come to know the truth and experience true and lasting freedom.
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
John 15:7-11
Jesus promises to do whatever His disciples ask in His Name, for His glory, to the extent that we abide in Him and His words abide in us.
I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
John 17:6-8
Whatever else we conclude from the Lord’s teaching in John’s gospel there is definitely a connection between God’s Word and a blessed, fruitful life in Christ. Only through God’s Word, and specifically the teachings of Jesus, can we discover the truth about ourselves and about God.
James chapter one holds up a mirror to us, to help us see the truth about ourselves, along with clear light to see the truth about God.
“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
James 1:13-17
Where does temptation and evil come from? Clearly it does not come from God, who is the essence of all that is good, holy and righteous. And we can’t even blame the devil because the real source of temptation is our own selfish, sinful desires. Those desires, conceived in our own hearts grow and spread until they bring death and destruction to us and others.
Where do the good things in our lives and this world come from? From the unchanging God of overflowing generosity, goodness and grace.
“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”
James 1:12
As we study and meditate on God’s Word – as we abide in the words of Jesus and let His words abide in us – we will increasingly know the truth about ourselves and about God. And that is the path to blessing, now and forever.
“Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”
James 1:18