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About Jesus Steve Sweetman The Truth Will Set You Free If you ask me why I am a Christian I will answer you this way. First and foremost I am a Christian because I have come to know that what Jesus said about Himself is true. Jesus is the central truth in our universe. Once knowing this truth my only logical choice is to commit myself to this truth. Thus I have given my life to Jesus, not for what He has done for me, or for what He will do for me, although I am eternally grateful for all of those things, but I have given myself to Jesus because He is the truth. The world is looking for freedom. Christians are looking for freedom as well. We want to be free from sin. We want to be free from the Law. We want to be free from our anxieties, inhibitions, and a host of other things. What did Jesus say about freedom? In John 8:31-32 He said, "...if you follow my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free". (NIV) According to these particular words of Jesus, it is the truth that will set us free. He also said something else that is important here. He said that you will only know the truth if you follow His teaching. There’s two points to be made here. Point one is, follow the teaching of Jesus and you will know truth. Point two is, once you know truth, it will set you free. We live in a day and age of putting a high priority on experience. In the world people do all sorts of things to have a good experience. I think Christians at times tend to do the same. We look for the experience. We want to feel the blessing of God. Not to minimize our prayer times together, but sometimes I think that we believe freedom only comes when someone lays hands on us and we experience God’s power. What did Jesus say in this verse. He said that if you want freedom you will find it by following His teaching. Following Jesus’ teaching is a little more time consuming than a time of prayer after a Sunday meeting. Following Jesus’ teaching suggests that every day we learn what Jesus taught. It means reading and studying His Word. There is a lot more involved here than a ten minute experience. Could it be that one reason why we are not as free as we would like to be is that we don’t take the time to learn on our own Jesus’ teaching. He clearly says in John 8:31-32 that the truth that comes from His teaching will set us free. Taking time to learn of the majesty of our Lord and what He has to say in His Word will make us eternally grateful to Him, producing freedom. If I gave myself to Jesus because He is the truth, I will also learn from His Word all of the truthful things He has to stay. Then freedom will come.
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