So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Parallel translations
- WEB If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
- KJV If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
- NKJV Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
- NASB So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.
- NLT So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Only the Son can grant true and lasting freedom from sin. Liberation comes through Christ alone.
Overview
Building on the slave-son contrast, Jesus claims the unique authority of the Son to set people free. This freedom is decisive and real, not partial or temporary. It points directly to the gospel: through Christ's redeeming work, sinners are released from bondage and given the secure status of God's children.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 2 Cor 3:17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
- Gal 5:1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.
- Rom 8:2For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.
- John 8:31–32So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples.
- Luke 4:18“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,
- Zech 9:11–12As for you, because of the blood of My covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit.
- Isa 61:1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
- Isa 49:24–25Can the plunder be snatched from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?
- Ps 119:133Order my steps in Your word; let no sin rule over me.
- Ps 119:32I run in the path of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart.
- Ps 19:13Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless and cleansed of great transgression.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 8:36 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.