What Is the Truth That Sets Us Free?
In the inside article, there is a statement made by Kahlil Gibran that no one should say that he knows "the truth"\Cert\Certainly, that latter statement seems like a more humble one. Modernists would probably think the latter expression is too bold. Many would object that we can know any truth. Others probably equate know "the truth" with knowing "all truth," which is not the same. To be sure, claiming to know all truth would indeed be presumptuous. We know that Jesus always spoke the truth and that He meant what He said. So, what did He mean in John 8:31-32?
These are His words: "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." These words imply that one must have had access to and learned His word. At the time Jesus spoke those words, that access came through the Lord's oral teaching. We have no evidence of anything being written down at that point. Later, after the gospel accounts of Jesus' life were recorded, one could study and meditate upon the written word, which we still do in our day. The point is, however, that by knowing the Word and continuing in it, three things occur.
First, followers are enabled to become disciples. Jesus does not, by this phrase, mean that people become pew-sitters. A disciple follows in the footsteps of his Master. They continually study the message, the character, and the methods of Jesus. They try to imitate Him in His knowledge and demeanor. Second, they learn the truth (more on that subject appears in the final paragraph). Third, that truth makes them free. Free from what? They primarily become free from sin. Sin's desire is always for us, and it frequently captivates human beings. We are not only set free by obedience to the gospel—when the blood of Christ washes away our sins after we repent of them and are baptized (Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rev. 1:5)—we remain free by obeying God's will in our daily life. We can continuously embrace righteousness while rejecting wickedness in our thoughts, our speech, and our actions.
To enable us in remaining free from sin, we must know "the truth," which refers to the entire body of New Testament teaching. The truth taught concerning salvation sets us free initially, but even that information encompasses a great deal of teaching—concerning Jesus being the Son of God, the nature of repentance, and the only way the Scriptures define obeying the gospel. But we need to know, also, about correct worship, the nature of the church-kingdom, and the major doctrines of Christianity—not to mention Christian conduct. Ignorance will not suffice; a disciple must know these things in order to remain free. No one claims to know all truth—the precise meaning of every verse in the Bible—but we can know and must walk in those teachings we do comprehend.