The Truth Will Set You Free

I was thinking today about some verses from John. And tonight I looked up what my buddy Matthew Henry had to say about them. Lots of interesting stuff.

John 8:31-33
"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

from Matthew Henry's commentary:

"The knowing, entertaining, and believing, of this truth does actually make us free, free from prejudices, mistakes, and false notions, than which nothing more enslaves and entangles the soul, free from the dominion of lust and passion; and restores the soul to the government of itself, by reducing it into obedience to its Creator. The mind, by admitting the truth of Christ in the light and power, is vastly enlarged, and has scope and compass given it, is greatly elevated and raised above things of sense, and never acts with so true a liberty as when it acts under a divine command, 2 Cor. iii. 17. The enemies of Christianity pretend to free thinking, whereas really those are the freest reasonings that are guided by faith, and those are men of free thought whose thoughts are captivated and brought into obedience to Christ."

I was thinking today about how knowing God is a process in which I am constantly being brought back to ground zero - either being pulled up from lies and fears that are unfounded, or brought down to size and distanced from false pride and selfishness. The truth is freeing because only out of an honest assessment of ourselves and our lives can we actually move forward on solid ground.

It is a bit like someone who cuts his hand, but stubbornly refuses to admit that it has become infected. He could live like that for a while, certainly with a high degree of normality. But eventually a band-aid wouldn't cover the open sore that would result. And eventually the infection would kill him, given enough time and ignorance.

It strikes me too, that the world is all about less responsibility, about blaming others for mistakes that are really our own, about explaining away sinful behavior, about psychoanalyzing selfishness to paint it as a complex. But when I have brushes with that sort of attitude in myself it is apparent that I don't ever get what I want. Ridding myself of guilt is not found in running from guilt, but in claiming it, in claiming responsibility for what is mine. And then methodically and diligently righting what I have wronged. And then guilt is gone. The truth sets us free.