The Truth Will Set You Free, Part 10

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” John 15:1-7

The truth does not liberate us automatically. All of us can testify to knowing the truth but failing to experience its power. When Jesus said the truth would set His hearers free, He preceded that declaration with: “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine” (John 8:31). Two crucial principles are involved in the emancipation of our emotional and spiritual beings.

We must first abide in the Word of God. To abide means “to continue in.” Bondage to sin and deception did not come overnight and neither will our sense of liberty. We have to allow the Spirit of God to pour His truth into our inner man over time. He will free us with His truth, but we must be exposed to it repeatedly.

The second principle is that we must be learners. That is the meaning of the Greek word for disciple. Since God’s ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9), we have to humble ourselves, admitting we lack the wisdom or strength to save ourselves, admitting we lack the wisdom or strength to save ourselves.

Truth is leaned in all fields of endeavor, and it is no different in the spiritual realm. The truth will set us free as we look to God and in His Word with eager, open hearts, wanting all He will provide.

Doing must always accompany knowing.