31 Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." 33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's offspring, and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, 'You shall become free'?" 34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 "And the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 "If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.”

If you have time and want to understand the context, read the entire 8th chapter. Jesus is in a discussion with the Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees. They are making the claim that their relationship with God is right because they are “sons of Abraham.” They argued that since they belonged to the right group of people, they are right with God. On a previous occasion Jesus had told them: (Matt 3:9) and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves,' We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

Do we do the same thing today? Do we claim that since our ancestors served God that this makes us right with God? Do we claim that since we belong to the church that this makes us right with God? Being right with God is not about what group we belong to but about our personal relationship with Him. When we are saved through the blood of Jesus, God will add us to His church (Acts 2:47). We are not saved because we belong to the church but belong to the church because we are saved.

Too many feel that “church membership” is what it is all about. Others feel that as long as we “go to church” once in a while that is what it is about. While the church is God’s plan (so it is important) for His people to associate with each other and thus teach, admonish, encourage and help each other, it is not the savior! Jesus Christ is the Savior! So, when He said “you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free”, remember that later He said “I am the truth.” We must know Him. Not just know about Him but we must know Him in a personal relationship as our Savior, Lord, Master and Teacher.

Jesus told His apostles to go and make disciples. A disciple is one who is a follower and a learner. My relationship with God then, is based on knowing Jesus. Jesus is the only one who can set me (and you) free from sin. When we get this freedom it becomes our responsibility to learn from Him and to become like Him. This means being like Him in our attitude toward God and each other. It means being like Him in our conduct, our speech, our priorities and every part of our life. Let’s begin this day with a prayer that we may truly know Him and be more like Him.

May God bless each of us as we strive to live for Him.