Feeling Set Free

John 8:32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

Some teachers use John 8:32 to justify their feel-good message. They would tell their followers, “How do you tell whether a message contains truth? Ask yourself if you feel set free after hearing the message.”

Notice the keyword: “feel”. The problem with this approach is that it makes people rely on their subjective feelings in order to determine God’s objective truth. By doing that, people are using their flesh to judge whether a teaching is from the spirit.

Look at how the people responded to Jesus in the next verse:

John 8:33 They answered him: We are the seed of Abraham, and we were never enslaved to anybody. How are you saying: You shall be set free?

The people to whom Jesus was speaking to did not “feel set free” by his preaching. Does this mean that Jesus’ preaching did not contain truth? Of course not.

Feelings are a dangerous way to determine whether or not a message is true. Influential people like salesmen are able to convince people by employing techniques to make them feel good about their message. However, this does not mean that their message is true.