Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

If ever there was a promise we needed to cling to in this day of apostasy and deception, this would be it! If only we could truly abide in His word – yet do we even really understand what that means? Do we live in, reside in, stay in what He said? Or do we allow ourselves to live in and rely on the definitions, philosophies and even “theologies” we have acquired through our flesh, this world, the “church” or even the demonic? How do we know from what source we have acquired our knowledge, our beliefs, our convictions and our opinions?

This is perhaps the most important question of the hour – from whom have we acquired our knowledge, beliefs, convictions and opinions that we hold onto as if they were incontrovertible truth? If we have acquired it from any other source other than Christ Jesus Himself, there is always included some chance that our knowledge, beliefs, convictions and opinions contain some element of distortion or deception. Even when we have acquired insight and revelation directly from Christ’s Spirit of truth, because we ourselves are involved, there is always a chance we have mixed in some element of error with the truth(s) He has shown us – this chance is increased exponentially when we routinely derive our knowledge, beliefs, convictions or opinions from some man (who himself may have been in error, perhaps even deceived by the demonic). Stop and take inventory as you (earnestly seeking the help of Christ’s Spirit of truth) review your important beliefs – from whom did I learn this thing I think I know? Selah – pause and think about that for a while.

What will truth acquired from Christ Jesus set us free from? First, it will set us free from sin and the enticements of this world. We will learn (primarily from His laws but also from instructions recorded in the New Testament) what activities are contrary to His nature and ways and we will learn to truly walk in His grace (enabling power) by overcoming all manner of sin. We will overcome the enticements of this world – the cares, excesses, luxuries and snares built into our own culture that keep us from walking in the way of Christ – because we will submit our will to His will for our life. This is basic Christianity – yet it will be brand new material for many a veteran “church”-ite.

Second, truth acquired from Christ will set us free from our self – and this is the beginning stages of spiritual maturity. There is possibly no greater enemy to the truth than our already possessed knowledge, beliefs, convictions and opinions. Because we already “know” a thing, Christ cannot easily come in and teach us His truth which is in contradiction to this thing we already “know.” So begins His loving process of disciplining, chastening and correcting us so that we give up our own “knowledge.” He will lead us to a place where we no longer lean on our own “knowledge” – a place where we are no longer propelled into anger or fear or intimidation when someone disagrees with us – but rather we can quietly reason with those whose grasp on the truth is less than what Christ has led us into. Make no mistake – anger, fear and intimidation are signals that we are holding onto something that is merely our own opinions, that we are not resting securely in Christ’s truth and that may even actually indicate the presence of the third enemy that Christ’s truth will set us free from.

Third, truth acquired from Christ will set us free from Satan and his demonic minions – the stage whereby all spiritual immaturities are systematically refined out by the fiery assaults of the adversary. The truth of Christ quietly undermines the work of the demonic far more often than it confronts the demonic head on. A lie is a thing “manufactured” by the devil and the demonic. It is their “native language.” Anytime we believe some lie as if it were truth, we have made a place (“ground”) whereby the demonic can “stand” within our heart or soul or body. The demonic will do all it can to keep its presence “on” that lie a secret, and will do everything it can to disrupt any other areas of one’s life from that vantage point without giving away its original hiding place. The truth of Christ, when it becomes effective in a believer’s life, removes the “ground” out from under the demonic’s “feet” and brings true liberty.

This is why the demonic comes at children – who are easier to deceive - getting them to make vows to “be somebody” or “something special” or “something different from their parents.” These vows of significance open up avenues of influence for the demonic within that child which will be used later on in life to work all sorts of mischief and wickedness, even in the name of Christ. Godly parents should never underestimate how beneficial all those nighttime prayers for and with their children are! Grown children who had worldly parents, or especially those who had pseudo-“Christian” parents, should not underestimate the ability of the demonic to have gained “ground” in them at very early ages.

The truth of Christ will progressively expose all works of darkness. His truth will expose our sin and worldliness, our selfishness and our opinionatedness and even our demonized deceptions. This is what the truth of Christ does for us. The question is: do we really want to come into all that light or are we more comfortable in the dark? Modern churchianity is all about providing a place where one can talk incessantly about the “facts” and “theologies” of Christ and God without ever once having to actually come into the excruciatingly uncomfortable unapproachable light that is God.

The light is not meant to make us afraid to come to God – the light is simply His being, the way He is, His existence. It is this light – in which no darkness may dwell – that shows us just how powerful the work of Christ on the cross really was. It translates us – whose lives are steeped in depths of darkness and deception and confused pseudo-“knowledge” – into His kingdom of light and progressively purges all the darkness from us. This is His grace, His enabling power given only to those humble enough to recognize their need for His help, that brings us into His truth. And it is His truth – not our opinions, “theology,” understanding, doctrines (teachings), beliefs, convictions or knowledge – that will bring us into true freedom. Anything other than this process of changing from darkness to light is merely yet one more counterfeit “form of godliness” that possess none of God’s power to transform our lives.

Let he who has ears hear.

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