Passage
If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
John 8:36 (ASV)
Nearby Context
John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Every one that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin.
John 8:35 And the bondservant abideth not in the house for ever: the son abideth for ever.
John 8:36 If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
John 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham`s seed: yet ye seek to kill me, because my word hath not free course in you.
John 8:38 I speak the things which I have seen with [my] Father: and ye also do the things which ye heard from [your] father.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "therefore", "shall", "make", "free", and "indeed". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "therefore" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 35's "And the bondservant abideth not in the..." into verse 37's "I know that ye are Abraham s...", so "therefore" and "shall" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "therefore" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.