If you believe in Jesus Christ, it is indeed good but that’s not enough, nor will save you.
Let’s look into John 8, verses 31 to 36 what Christ had to say.
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him .. (John 8:31a)
Let us see what Jesus had to say to those who believed in 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. (John 8:31b-32)
Jesus asks believers to abide in His Word and become His disciples. It is only the disciples who shall know the Truth which will make them free.
Matt 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
After all, Jesus never asked anyone to make believers of all nations, but disciples.
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’?” (John 8:33)
The Jews questioned why they are in need to be free when they were never in bondage?
Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.
Being descendants of Abraham through the freewoman is always identified as being free and not born in bondage. This was a typical Jewish thinking as the apostate Paul writes in his letter to Galatians but Jesus plainly denies this school of thought.
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. (John 8:34-35)
Jesus confirms that believers of Him and Abraham’s descendants who consider themselves as free yet who commit sin are indeed slaves of sin and they will not abide in His house forever. In other words, every sinner even though He believes in Christ will be kicked out. Only disciples who abides in His Word and free from sins will be called sons and will abide in His house forever.
Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)
So, how exactly does the Son makes us free? As Jesus said earlier, it is by abiding in His Word and becoming His disciples, we shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make us free.
Luke 14:27 … whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
So, how exactly we can be free from sins?
is by being free from sins (John 8:32)
… is by knowing the Truth (John 8:31)
… is by being Christ’s disciple (John 8:31)
… is by abiding in Christ’s Word (John 8:31)
… is by bearing our own cross (Luke 14:27)
… is by following Him (Luke 14:27)
… is by loving one another (John 13:35)
… is by forsaking all that He has (Luke 14:33)
… is by hating every relative and even his own life (Luke 14:26)
… is by bearing much fruit (John 15:8)
Anyone who is not a disciple cannot know the Truth and the Truth cannot set them free. So, what exactly is the Truth that set them free?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Christ is that Truth . If we abide in what He taught, He shall set us free.
Matt 18:8 “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.
The above is a good example of Christ’s Words or what He taught, concerning the requirement of being holy to enter life at the cost of even chopping off our own body parts to be sinless. Hence, it is absolutely important for us to become disciples who will be free sons and not believing slaves.
