Teaching Text

john 8:31-47

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 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?”

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”

“Abraham is our father,” they answered. “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the works of your own father.”

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Sermon Recap

This week, Pastor Tim continued the FREED sermon series with a teaching on freedom from lies: the false beliefs quietly underneath our sins, the truth that replaces them, and the real freedom on the other side through Jesus Christ.

In a culture shaped by optimization, especially in a city like New York, it’s easy to assume that closeness with God is something we achieve through better habits or more disciplined spiritual systems. But the problem isn’t a lack of effort. It’s that we are often building our spiritual lives on distorted beliefs about God, ourselves, and how true transformation actually happens.

In John 8:30–36, we see people who believed in Jesus, yet He calls them deeper into something more than just agreement. He invites them to remain in His Word, to stay, to abide, and trust Him even when His truth confronts them. This reveals the distinction between believing in Jesus and trusting that what He says is true. True freedom comes not from a moment of belief, but from a sustained relationship of dependence and trust, where His words are allowed to take root over time.

Scripture tells the truth about God, humanity, and the spiritual battle we are in, but lies distort that truth and often attach themselves to our identity. These lies don’t usually appear as obvious. They come disguised as wisdom, self-protection, or even righteousness. Beneath patterns like fear, comparison, approval-seeking, or resentment, there is often a deeper false belief driving those behaviors. These lies often fall into three main categories: the belief we are unlovable, the fear we’ll be abandoned, and the belief that we aren’t significant.

But Jesus doesn’t just expose these core lies; He replaces them with truth. The only thing strong enough to dethrone a lie is a greater truth that is allowed to take root deeply within us. This happens through abiding in His Word and consistently returning to it while trusting His promises are true. Many people have had moments with Jesus, but freedom is found in staying rooted in Him over time.

When we open Scripture, we are invited to do so with faith, trusting that God will meet us and that His truth will both convict and heal. His Word is not just meant to inform us, but to transform us at the deepest level, reshaping how we see Him and ourselves. This process requires patience, because real transformation happens beneath the surface before it becomes visible in our lives.

On the other side of this process is the freedom Jesus promises. He describes the difference between a slave and a son: both may live in the same house, but only one truly belongs. Many Christians continue to live like slaves, fearful and unsure of their place, when they have already been invited into the house of the Father. Refusing to believe that God truly loves us ultimately keeps us from experiencing Him as Father.

The gospel is this: the Son sets us free. Jesus became what we were, so that we could become who He is. Through Jesus, we are fully welcomed, fully loved, and fully secure in God’s family. Freedom is not found in trying harder or optimizing our spiritual lives, but in believing the truth, abiding in it, and learning to live as those who already belong.