The Truth Shall Make You Free

³¹ Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you ^(A)abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³² And you shall know the ^(B)truth, and ^(C)the truth shall make you free.”

³³ They answered Him, ^(D)“We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(E)whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵ And ^(F)a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. ^36 (G)Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

Abraham’s Seed and Satan’s

³⁷ “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but ^(H)you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. ^38 (I)I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have ^[a]seen with your father.”

³⁹ They answered and said to Him, ^(J)“Abraham is our father.”

Jesus said to them, ^(K)“If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. ^40 (L)But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth ^(M)which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. ⁴¹ You do the deeds of your father.”

Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; ^(N)we have one Father—God.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, ^(O)“If God were your Father, you would love Me, for ^(P)I proceeded forth and came from God; ^(Q)nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. ^43 (R)Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. ^44 (S)You are of your father the devil, and the ^(T)desires of your father you want to ^(U)do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and ^(V)does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. ⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶ Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? ^47 (W)He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

Before Abraham Was, I AM

⁴⁸ Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and ^(X)have a demon?”

⁴⁹ Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and ^(Y)you dishonor Me. ⁵⁰ And ^(Z)I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. ⁵¹ Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(AA)if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”

⁵² Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You ^(AB)have a demon! ^(AC)Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’ ⁵³ Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. ^(AD)Who do You make Yourself out to be?”

⁵⁴ Jesus answered, ^(AE)“If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. ^(AF)It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is ^[b]your God. ⁵⁵ Yet ^(AG)you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and ^(AH)keep His word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham ^(AI)rejoiced to see My day, ^(AJ)and he saw it and was glad.”

⁵⁷ Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(AK)before Abraham was, ^(AL)I AM.”

⁵⁹ Then ^(AM)they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, ^(AN)going^[c] through the midst of them, and so passed by.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ^(A)“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(B)the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, ⁹ and do not think to say to yourselves, ^(C)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ¹⁰ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. ^(D)Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

The Promise Granted Through Faith

¹³ For the promise that he would be the ^(A)heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For ^(B)if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, ¹⁵ because ^(C)the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶ Therefore it is of faith that it might be ^(D)according to grace, ^(E)so that the promise might be ^[a]sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, ^(F)who is the father of us all ¹⁷ (as it is written, ^(G)“I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, ^(H)who gives life to the dead and calls those ^(I)things which do not exist as though they did; ¹⁸ who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, ^(J)“So shall your descendants be.” ¹⁹ And not being weak in faith, ^(K)he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), ^(L)and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰ He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, ²¹ and being fully convinced that what He had promised ^(M)He was also able to perform. ²² And therefore ^(N)“it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

²³ Now ^(O)it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, ²⁴ but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe ^(P)in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, ^25 (Q)who was delivered up because of our offenses, and ^(R)was raised because of our justification.

⁶ just as Abraham ^(A)“believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” ⁷ Therefore know that only ^(B)those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. ⁸ And ^(C)the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ^(D)“In you all the nations shall be blessed.” ⁹ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

Faith Without Works Is Dead^(A)

^14 (B)What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ^15 (C)If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶ and ^(D)one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷ Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” ^(E)Show me your faith without ^[a]your works, ^(F)and I will show you my faith by ^[b]my works. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! ²⁰ But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is ^[c]dead? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works ^(G)when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²² Do you see ^(H)that faith was working together with his works, and by ^(I)works faith was made ^[d]perfect? ²³ And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ^(J)“Abraham believed God, and it was ^[e]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called ^(K)the friend of God. ²⁴ You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

²⁵ Likewise, ^(L)was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

²⁶ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.