More on freedom. This is from Herman Ridderbos’ commentary on John 8:32:
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
The freedom meant is not that of a person to manage his life free of all ties that might hinder him in the development of his own “identity” or “authority.” That, after all, would mean no more that that such a person has within himself a freedom that he merely needs to discover and maintain against everything and against everyone who would hinder him in the excersize of his own personhood. The reference is rather to a freedom that a person does not possess within himself, even if he thinks otherwise and attempts to live by that illusion. It must be granted to him as a reality coming from the outside, in which he participates by “birth from above” and that thus makes him free.