Becoming A Disciple of Christ

John 8 : 30 - 36, As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. NKJV

In today’s scripture, we can see very plainly that it’s easier for us to believe in Jesus than it is to receive the truth from Him about our spiritual condition. There were many Jews who believed in Jesus that day; nevertheless, when He told them the truth about the sin in their lives, they disagreed with Him. Let’s look more closely at this scripture and see what we can find out. It’s possible to believe in Jesus and still be bound (as the Jews in today’s scripture). It’s only when we’re willing to receive and obey His instructions that we can become truly liberated.

The Lord opened my spiritual eyes to receive deeper understanding from these verses so that we can see where we may be erring in our faith walk. What does it show others when we say that we believe in Jesus (follow Him), but we disagree with Him when His Holy Spirit puts His finger on our sin issues? As followers of Christ, we haven’t been given the option to “pick and choose” which commandments and instructions we will obey.

Jesus told His disciples (and us) that in order to follow Him, we must first deny self and take up our cross. It’s not enough to say I believe, and then not follow up your belief with action. James tells us that faith without works (obedient actions) is dead.

If you read the remainder of the story in John 8, you will see that the Jews turned on Jesus. They were unwilling to deny self or receive Jesus’ Word as the truth in their lives. Consequently, they rejected Him and tried to stone Him. Self is a Christian’s biggest enemy. When we’re faced with a truth from God’s Word that challenges our wrong way of thinking, we must be willing to lay our lives down, accept that truth into our hearts, and then allow it to liberate us from sin and from bondages. Christ came to set us free; and you can be liberated today through His truth.

The Truth Sets Us Free,
Pastor Asa Dockery