TRUTH IS MORE THAN OUR WORDS

 

Titus 1:1-2- Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began

 

John 8:32- And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

 

What is this "TRUTH" and how will it set you free?  Wasn't it Jesus who set us free?  We know that in the beginning was the word and the word became flesh and dwelt among us.  Jesus is God in the flesh and also the Word. The Word is truth and Jesus is truth... So maybe we can consider that truth we must gird our waist with is in fact Jesus and His Gospel?

 

Jesus said in Luke chapter 4 when He opened up the book of Isaiah and read aloud;

 

Isaiah 61:1- “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

 

Galatians 5:1- For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

 

Jesus was proclaiming the TRUTH about how He will come and set people free, which is the Gospel or the Good news.  The way a person can be set free is to believe on Jesus Christ as their Saviour.  Is there any other way that we can be set free or receive salvation?

 

John 14:6- Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

Psalm 119:160- The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.

 

John 17:17- Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

 

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14- But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

1 Peter 1:22-23- Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

 

It is Jesus that sanctifies us and He is the living word.  Through obedience to Him (in that we should love one another) we are purified. There is no other way but Jesus.

 

2 John 1:4- I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father. 5 And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. 6 This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.

 

 

WHERE DOES TRUTH COME FROM?

 

Now that Jesus is no longer physically with us, how is it that we can receive the TRUTH?

 

John 14:16-18- And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

 

1 John 5:6- This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. 10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. 

 

John 16:13- When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

 

The Spirit is Jesus Christ in the spirit.  So the verse above could be translated: "When the Spirit of Jesus comes..."  The paralell to that verse is found in quite a few places and all of them are Jesus speaking.

 

John 12:44- Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. 45 And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46 I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. 47 And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”

 

Now that Jesus has risen from a mortal body to a spiritual one, He can now dwell within us, guiding us and teaching us in the TRUTH.

 

In conclusion, The TRUTH is not only the testimony of what Christ did and will do, it is also Jesus Christ himself and His Spirit which testifies to that TRUTH.  By putting on the BELT of TRUTH we EQUIP ourselves with the knowledge of the Gospel and the assurance of salvation so that when attacks of deception come from the enemy, we can stand firm knowing who we are in Christ, what He has done for us and what His plans for us are.