If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Parallel translations
- WEB If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
- BSB So if the Son sets you free, you will 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 that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
- Gal 5:1Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
- Rom 8:2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
- John 8:31–32Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
- Luke 4:18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
- Zech 9:11–12As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
- Isa 61:1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
- Isa 49:24–25Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
- Ps 119:133Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
- Ps 119:32I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.
- Ps 19:13Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the 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.