More "Truth" from John
Last week, we saw the phrase "I am telling you the truth," as used in the Good News Bible. "Truth" is a prominent word in the gospel of John. Let us spend a bit more time today seeing what John has written about the "truth."
"Grace and truth" are associated with Jesus. John 1:14 tells us that He, who came in the flesh, is "full of grace and truth." Being the only begotten of the Father, all the fullness of the Father is seen in Him (John 14:9; Hebrews 1:3). As great as Moses was, the Law being given through him, Jesus is greater, for "grace adn truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).
charis [khar'-ece], rendered "grace" in John 1, has the idea of benefits, gifts, or favour. The apostle Paul, writing to the Ephesian church revealed that "all spiritual blessings" are available in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3). The Law which Moses gave contained many blessings, but in Christ, there is manifold grace.
In addition to the grace in Christ, He also is full of truth. This is not in contrast with the idea that a lie might be in Him, but rather an indication that He IS truth. Jesus declared of Himself:
I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)
2+2=4 is a truth, but this is not what the Lord meant about Himself. He is the source of spiritual truth; whatever is needed to be in a right relationship with the Father can be found in the Son. Access to the Father is available in Jesus Christ which was not available under the Law of Moses, and which secures the hope of heaven.
In a heated discussion with a crowd, Jesus made the accusation,...because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. (John 8:45)
Why would they not believe? In the previous verse, He identified them as the children of the devil, who was a murderer and liar from the beginning. Focussed on Satan's lies, they would not hear Jesus' words, which are truth.
He very bluntly stated:
He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God. (John 8:47)
“...turn away from the lies of the devil and believe the testimony of Jesus.”
Jesus came for our benefit, but we must turn away from the lies of the devil and believe the testimony of Jesus. He is the light of the world (John 8:12), He is from above, and not of this world (John 8:23), if we do not believe He is I AM, we will die in our sins (John 8:24).
After Jesus was taken into custody, and had been tried by the Jewish council, He was taken to Pilate. The Roman official asked Jesus about His kingship. Jesus said,
You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice. (John 18:37
Not only did Jesus affirm His kingship, but He also affirmed one of His reasons for having come. He had come to "...bear witness to the truth." This explains to us why Jesus prefaced so much of His teaching with the words, "I am telling you the truth." He came to bear witness to the truth. He is the truth - He bore witness to Himself and His part in the Father's plan to redeem mankind.
He continued, "Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." This is similar to what the Lord had said in chapter 10, namely that "the sheep follow him, for they know his voice" (John 10:3). Those who know the Lord will hear the Lord. Again, this is why the people in John 8 wouldn't listen to Jesus, for they did not know Him (John 8:19, 43, 55).
Pilate's response? "What is truth?" (John 18:38) It would be nice to think that he had asked this honestly and earnestly. However, it is likely that his tone was one of skepticism. Though Pilate found no fault in Jesus, he did not believe in Him nor His message. Had he known what truth was, he would not have heard the voice of the people, but rather the voice of the good shepherd.
Truth! Jesus is truth. His word is truth. We need to hear His voice, and obey all that He has said.
Article Navigation:
Answering The Atheist
Complaint:
Paul says without law there is no sin. How then was God able to judge people like Cain, the people killed in the great flood, and Sodom & Gomorrah if they didn't have the Law? It's not good enough that right and wrong be written on the heart by God, because the heart is deceitful beyond measure, who can understand it. Is there a contradiction?
Response:
Today's inquiry comes from a web site visitor.
First, we need to deal with the misapplication of Jeremiah 17:9 (deceitful heart). The prophet is addressing the heart which has departed from God (see verses 5-7). A verse later, God says that He searches the heart, and tests the mind, "even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doing" (Jeremiah 10:17). Paul expressed the same thought in Romans 2:5-7, revealing that eternal life awaits some, but tribulation and anguish for others. If all hearts were desperately deceitful, then destruction would await all. This is simply not the case.
The questioner's use of Jeremiah 17:9 is akin to the Calvinist's use of it - to demonstrate the total inherent depravity of all humanity. The text addresses no such thing. A text must be taken in it's context! Man is not born dead in sin, but is innocent (Matthew 18:3; 1 Corinthians 14:20; 2 Samuel 12:23). Sin is a learned trait, not an inherited disease (James 1:13-15; Deuteronomy 32:4-5; Isaiah 59:1-2; Ephesians 1:1-3).
No text was supplied by the questioner regarding the absence of law. Paul mentions it twice, Romans 5:13-14 and also Romans 7:7-11. In the latter of these, the apostle is referring to his childhood, when he was not yet amenable to the Law (ie. he was alive once, but then the Law came upon him). When Paul became of age that he was accountable to the Law, he transgressed the commandment, and thus died in sin.
It is likely that the questioner had Romans 5:13-14in mind. Is Paul saying that there was no law from Adam until Moses? No, for he bluntly says, "...until the law (of Moses, wjs) sin was in the world..." A law throughout that time is implied, for "...sin is not imputed when there is no law." Since sin was in the world and death reigned, we rightly conclude that these were subject to God's law - not that which would be given through Moses, but that which was otherwise revealed. The Hebrew writer characterizes God's revelation of old as being "...at various times and in various ways..." (Hebrews 1:1). His law was revealed, whether by the fathers, the prophets, Moses, or eventually the Christ. Paul asserts that even among the Gentiles, who did not receive Moses' law, a law of conscience was present (Romans 2:14-15). God was certainly able to judge humanity, even those before Moses.
There is no contradiction.
This article is in response to a web site visitor's inquiry.