Ephesians 4:20-21 “That, however, is not the way of life you learned21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.”
Pastor Herk gives us five observations from this passage on how to find the truth. In the phase “the truth that is in Jesus”, this is the only place in the epistle that the Apostle Paul doesn’t connect the name with the title of Lord or Christ prior. The point is the “truth” is a person, the God/man Jesus, the Truth. John 18:37-38Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this purpose I have been born, and for this I have come into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” Pilate *said to Him, “What is truth?” And after saying this, he came out again to the Jews and *said to them, “I find no grounds at all for charges in His case.”
In John 17:17 Jesus prayed to Father God, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy Word is truth.”
The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines the word “truth” as: Conformity to real fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be. The true state of facts or things. Veracity; purity from falsehood. Fidelity; constancy. Honesty; virtue. Exactness; conformity to rule. Sincerity. The truth of God, is his veracity and faithfulness. Jesus Christ is the truth. In John 14:6 Jesus *said to the Apostle Thomas, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. Jesus, as the Word become flesh (the logos - the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God, His minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature (God incarnate) in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds) is the source of grace and truth, to be worshipped in spirit and in truth. Truth is personified in the person of Jesus Christ. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.
The secular world states that there is no objective absolute truth and subjective truth is limited to what you know. Once, when a stubborn disputer seemed unconvinced about truth, President Abraham Lincoln said, “Well, let’s see how many legs has a cow?” “Four, of course,” came the reply disgustedly. “That’s right,” agreed Lincoln. “Now suppose you call the cow’s tail a leg; how many legs would the cow have?” “Why, five, of course,” was the confident reply. “Now, that’s where you’re wrong,” said Lincoln. “Calling a cow’s tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.” Conformity to real fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be. The true state of facts or things only. For those who reject the Way, the Truth and the Life, in John 8:44 the Lord Jesus states, “ You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
The truth refers to the sinless, spotless and blameless life that Jesus lived while He was here on earth in the flesh as a demonstration of the truth the resides in Him as a natural attribute. We tend to think of truth as a concept or principle, but the Bible is clear that the truth is a person – Jesus Christ. John 1:14-17 explains that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John the Baptist bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Only “the person of truth” can truly change lives. Only Jesus makes alive that which was dead. A pseudo religion, with rules and regulations, cannot change lives because it’s compliance does not change the heart and mind, therefore creates bondage because the practice of moral duties without a belief in a divine Lawgiver, and without reference to His will or commands, is not true religion.
The truth that leads to freedom what the Word of God professes. Let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without true religion and truth. In John 8:31-32 Jesus said to those who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” There are all sorts of “self-help” books, videos, internet programs and seminars that people can try to help them change their life, make you happy and give you what you want in order to deal with depression, guilt, shame, anxiety, phobias, and addictions to cope with issues. Some secular humanists believe in positive thinking and their own power to change; if they believe in themselves and have enough discipline they can accomplish anything. But, true transformational freedom is explained in 1 John 1:6-9 that says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Let's conclude Pastor Herk's message on the truth that transforms in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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