NOTES for Joh 8:31-42
If we separate what the Lord says in today's passage from the discussion with the Jews who do not want to accept His words, we will see an astonishing revelation of what salvation is. The Lord calls us to know the truth, saying that it will make us free. Repeating the same thing in another form, He says that if the Son of God sets us free, then we will be truly free. And we need liberation, because everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
Only a person thinks that he freely chooses to sin; in reality this is genuine slavery, from which only the Son of God can deliver us. It is absolutely necessary to acknowledge this fact, but it is very hard and unpleasant. That is why the Jews argue with Jesus.