John 8:32 Commentary and Bible Study

Verse 32 speaks of something in the future – ‘And ye shall know the true, and the truth shall make you free.’ You are not saved yet, he says to them. If you receive everything I say – about repentance, about conversion, about the new life. It is possible to believe without repentance and conversion and the new life. And as soon as he said that, ‘the truth shall make you free’ – free from condemnation, free from the guilt of sin, free from everlasting perdition, free from ignorance – as soon as he says you will be really free, something will happen to you and you will be changed, they begin to change their minds.That word ‘free’ is going to dominate the next few verses. ‘Your eyes will be fully opened and you will be free.’ Free in what sense? Well, free from sin – that’s the subject. Free not only from the practise of sin, but free from condemnation. Why he is picturing them – he is going to spell it out? He is picturing them as a people who are in bondage, not to the Romans – of course, they were, they were under the Roman yoke, under the Roman occupation – but to something much deeper, more profound; they are in bondage to sin – to the practise of sin – but they are in bondage to condemnation, it hangs over them. They have got to face judgement, they are condemned and lost; and they are in bondage to this. They can’t wriggle away from it, they can’t get out from under its cloud – it will dominate their whole lives, even though they don’t face up to it.