John 8:30-36

"As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.' They answered Him, 'We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free?' Jesus answered them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the The Cost and Benefits of Discipleship
house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."

In this passage of Scripture we find Jesus discussing both the cost and the benefits of discipleship.

First, the cost of discipleship. In v. 31 Jesus said "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed." A disciple is a person who follows another as his teacher and leader. He is one who loves the master, trusts him, obeys him, and listens to him. It is logical, then, that Jesus said that if you abide in His word you are his disciple indeed.

Why is it necessary that we abide in His word? It is because the word of God is both simple and complex. It is simple enough for a child to understand it. It is profound enough so that a person could study the Bible for a lifetime and not begin to plumb its depths. Studying the Bible is like climbing a mountain. One sees the peak of the mountain and decides to climb it. On arriving at that point, however, one discovers that there is yet another peak to be climbed and another and yet another. It is that way with the word of God. We understand immediately some of what the Scriptures declare to us, but as we travel the peak we discover that there is yet more to be discovered and more and still yet more.

Jesus had a purpose in mind when He stated that we are to abide in His word. His purpose was that we go from facts about His word to acts that come from His word. From facts to acts. It is not enough that we simply acquire Scripture knowledge. God wants our lives to be elevated by being in contact with the word of God. James, the half-brother of the Lord Jesus, stated it so well: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was." James 1:22-24

But what is the link that carries us from facts to acts? The link is discipline. We discipline ourselves to follow the teachings of Scripture. Practice. Discipleship.

I remember when I was learning to drive a standard. It was a horrible experience at first. Too much gas, too much clutch. Sputter, sputter, die. Jerk. Grind. Die. It seemed I would never be able to get out of first gear. But there came a day when I was backing out of our narrow driveway in reverse and fixing my hair in the rearview mirror and I had not even thought about clutch or gas. It had simply become a part of me by discipline and practice. The same is true of the Scriptures. Whether it is learning to tithe, or refraining from gossip, or sharing your faith with other, all comes through discipline. There is no discipleship without discipline.

And we must remember that if we do not discipline ourselves, then we leave it for God to discipline us. Far better it is for us to discipline ourselves than to fall under the chastening hand of God.

The second thing to notice in this passage of Scripture is the benefit of discipleship. Jesus said "And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." The first benefit is that we will know the truth.

I have a friend of mine who was building a house. As he built the house he noticed that things kept getting further and further off. He checked it with his level and it said that the wall was straight, but when he checked the level he discovered that the level was off! He told me that he through the level out into the woods. I asked him why he through away his level and he said that a false level is of no use to him.

If it is important to build a house with a true level, it is doubly important to build a life with truth.

The truth in this passage of Scripture is truth concerning the person of Jesus Christ. We will know by experience, through answered prayer, through a disciplined life, that Jesus is exactly who He claims to be -- the Messiah, the Son of God.

The second benefit of being a disciple is that we will be free. "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." We shall be free from sin. In particular, we shall be free from the penalty of sin. This is justification. Someone once asked what does justification mean. A wise person stated that justification means that we are pronounced clean and just by God, or "just-as-if we had never sinned." No longer shall we be under the tyranny and bondage of sin's condemnation, we shall be set free from all that.

Then, we are set free from the power of sin. This is sanctification. God is working in our lives to cleanse us and to conform us to His own image. I once read that in ancient times the gold smiths used to heat up freshly mined gold until it was molten. They would then scoop up the dross, or the impurities, that would float to the top of the gold. They would do this until the gold smith could see his own reflection in the gold. This is exactly what God is doing for us. He shall work in our lives until He sees His own reflection in our values, in our attitudes, in our ways and hearts.

Then again, we shall be set free from the presence of sin. This is glorification. One day, when the Lord's prayer is answered and the kingdom of God comes, Satan and all of his minions shall be brought down into Hell where they belong, and we shall no longer experience the pull or even the presence of sin any longer.

He set me free, yes He set me free
He broke the bonds of prison for me
I'm glory-bound my Jesus to see
For glory to God
He set me free.