Chapter 8 in the Gospel of John is wonderful. It begins with the display of grace and truth in our blessed Lord, who also as the light of the world exposes the sins of the most self-righteous. The chapter ends with the declaration of our Lord that “Before Abraham was, I am.”

After declaring that He always did what pleased the Father (Jn. 8:29), He proceeds to show the true character of sin: it is a master that holds those who commit sin in slavery. What a terrible character of sin, yet we all have proved it to some degree in our lives. It is a bondage as real as the bondage the children of Israel were under while in Egypt. As Solomon put it, “The way of the treacherous is hard” (Prov. 13:15).

As only God could deliver the children of Israel from the slavery in Egypt, only God can deliver from the bondage of sin.

The Lord Jesus, who is the light of the world, and the great “I am,” as seen in this chapter, is also the eternal Son. He can set us free. First of all, He sets us free by the truth which He brought (Jn. 8:32). This is the truth concerning Himself, the Son, and the truth concerning His work on the cross, being lifted up (v. 28). We also have to believe the truth concerning ourselves, that we are sinners, and that “in me, that is, in my flesh, good does not dwell” (Rom. 7:18).

It is through believing His truth that His grace, the grace of the Son, sets us free. Notice the emphatic phrase, “ye shall be really free.” It is not any self-help program devised by men that will really set us free. It is the Son of God Himself who will set us free when we believe and bow to the truth of His word. Has the Son set you free?