John 8:32, Know the truth. “The truth shall set you free” is an often-quoted axiom, but few understand its deeper biblical implications.
We violate the sanctity of Scripture if we impose on it our own meanings. This is a cavalier and presumptuous approach to understanding the Bible and can hardly be called “rightly dividing the word of Elohim” (1 Tim 2:15).This practice often occurs with this verse. To do so is to twist the meaning of the Scriptures to fit our own human vicissitudes, agendas and biases. This is humanism and insults the mind, will and sovereignty of the Almighty as divinely revealed in his Holy Word.
To properly understand this verse, we must look solely to the Bible for the keys to understanding it. We can start this process by first asking the question, what is truth?
The Bible defines its own terms when it calls the Torah truth (Ps 119:142 and 151). The truth of Torah (i.e. the law of Moses) will set a person free, for when one hears and obeys the Torah, one ceases sinning (i.e. violating YHVH’s Torah-law; 1 John 3:4), and therefore doesn’t come under the penalty of the Torah-law’s judgment for breaking it, which the Bible calls sin and which leads (ultimately) to eternal death (Ezek 18:4; Rom 6:23). When one is not under the judgment of sin, one is free. With freedom comes life.
Yeshua the Messiah himself is also the truth (John 14:6), for he is the Living Torah-Word of Elohim (John 1:1, 14). When we place our trusting faith in Yeshua and follow him, his spiritual life in the form of his Set-Apart Spirit will then flow through us and empower us to walk away from sin and follow the spiritual light of his Torah, which will keep us sin-free. This is the path that leads us toward the ultimate freedom from eternal death resulting in everlasting life (John 8:52). As such, sin will no longer have any legal claim on us, and thus we will not come into condemnation, but will pass from death into everlasting life (John 5:24). This is possible because Yeshua has taken upon himself our past sins (Rom 3:25), paid the legal penalty of them, and wiped our spiritual slate clean and has given us a fresh start in life (Gal 2:20; 1 Cor 5:17) to walk sin-free (in accordance with his standards of righteousness, which is the Torah). This is the result of knowing the truth and experiencing the freedom that comes therefrom.
It’s astounding how so many people have been taught to believe the exact opposite of the truth—that the laws of Elohim will place you under bondage instead of setting you free!
Now that you have been set free from the traditions of men, which make of none effect the word of Elohim, you now have the freedom to understand the fuller, biblical meaning of Yeshua’s statement, “And you shall know the truth and it shall make you free.”
The Truth sets us free from everything (and everyone) who is not the Truth-its not so much a “what” as it is a “Who”…Just thinking…when Pilate asked Yeshua “What is truth?” maybe he should’ve asked Who is Truth..maybe he would’ve gotten an answer but then Yeshua already proclaimed He is the Way (so we won’t be lost) the Truth (so we won’t be deceived) and the life (eternal) Like so many others Pilate wasn’t listening…the Truth is not predicated on our believing it to be true..truth is an absolute…what we believe or do not believe never changes the truth….because the Truth never changes…somethings are true whether we believe them or not…a thing may even be a fact but it is not the truth! (for example 5 yrs ago now they said I had a year to live=fact but not the truth!) Hallelu-YAH! So now that the Truth has set us free (from).and to what? What do we do from here on out? Live in the Truth-in Him we live and move and have our being! Amein!
By the Way! the 1828 Noah Webster’s dictionary defines “truth” as “…that which is.has been or shall be” Yehovah=He who was and is and is to come Rev1:8!
Thanks for encouraging.
John 8:32, Know the truth. “The truth shall set you free” is an often-quoted axiom, but few understand its deeper biblical implications. (In
context, the entire chapter 8 lays the groundwork for the meaning of v 32. The Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus using the letter of the Law. Instead, Jesus told them the truth about his relationship with our Father. Jesus words confounded them.
What Jesus really did make clear is this: “If you hold on to my teachings, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Here is a thought:
1 Timothy reveals Paul’s negative view of women. Sad but true. We are after the truth, right? 1 Timothy 2 v 11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing–if they coninue and faith, love and holiness with propriety.”
Our respected commentator writes:
We violate the sanctity of Scripture if we impose on it our own meanings. This is a cavalier and presumptuous approach to understanding the Bible and can hardly be called “rightly dividing the word of Elohim” (1 Tim 2:15).This practice often occurs with this verse. To do so is to twist the meaning of the Scriptures to fit our own human vicissitudes, agendas and biases. This is humanism and insults the mind, will and sovereignty of the Almighty as divinely revealed in his Holy Word.
Was Paul imposing his own meaning and negative bias on the Genesis account of the Fall of Man? After all, Adam was not forced to eat of the fruit of the Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil. So, who was the worst sinner, the one who was first deceived or the one who knowing the truth, disobeyed anyway?
No he was not, or else Peter is lying when he refers to Paul’s wrintings as Scripture thus ranking them on a par with the writings of the Tanakh (2 Peter 3:15-16). Elsewhere I have explained to my best understanding Paul’s instructions regarding women’s conduct in the congregation. As a head pastor for many years, I can fully understand Paul’s instructions vis-a-vis women. When one understands this, one realizes he is not being sexist but is offering a practical guide as to proper conduct in the presence of Elohim. These same instructions can be well applied to many men as well who do not know how to behave themselves in a demure manner. Blessings.