Bible Study: Truth Part 2

Hi Everyone

Here’s Part 2 of the series on Truth. This week, we focus on why we need to really get into Truth properly, and the many reasons why numerous Christians aren't walking in Truth.

I would that all walk in the Truth (3 John 2-4) that we may all proper and be in health even as our souls proper.

Do have a listen to the audio - there's quite a bit here that is not in the notes.

Pray this blesses you. Please share it as you are.

Chris

Life in the Lord is a whole lot deeper, wider and more meaningful than any of us here will ever figure. If we think we have God figured out in a system of theology, then our God will be very small.

But I am Already Saved…

We must grow up. It can be assumed that the people that Paul wrote to in Galatia were saved – it was to the church there that he wrote. Yet Paul says this:

Galatians 4:11 I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain. (NKJV)

This tells us that his ultimate for the Galatians was not about getting saved alone. He alludes to this a few more verses down:

Galatians 4:19 My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, (NKJV)

Christ needs to be formed in us. He is already in us, having given us His Holy Spirit for all of eternity, but without our cooperation (a some labour from those preaching/teaching/fathering us), we won’t manifest Christ.

This is why there are Christians who supposedly have been in church for some time, but their lives don’t reflect this nor are they different from the people of the world.

The answer lies in encountering God in His Word, in seeing who Christ has made us to be in the Spirit. The spiritual realm is far more real than what our eyes can see – that is why we must walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). To this end, we must continue to see who Christ has made us to be, looking at who we are in Him in the Word:

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (NKJV)

These truths will invariably cause us to grow, where we become more and more the glory He truly has already made us to be in the spirit (John 17:22, Col 1:27).

Don't Reject the Truth

Proverbs 1:20 Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. 21 She cries out in the chief concourses, At the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words: 22 “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge. 23 Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. (NKJV)

“Simple” here has the meaning of “naïve”. Scorners are ultimately naïve and foolish. They scorn because they are first of all fools – in hating knowledge is the ability to scorn without responsibility. Once we encounter the truth, we are left a need to come to a decision about it. The less one knows, the easier it is to paint over everything with the same fat brush. Seeking the truth requires knowledge. Being a fool and deriding everything without first knowing it is often a much easier path that many unfortunately like to take.

Proverbs 1:31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies. 32 For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them; 33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil.” (NKJV)

Those who negate seeking Truth do so at their own peril, for Wisdom will cause us to dwell safely and to be secure, not fearing evil. This is a Biblical promise.

Some Simply Don’t Know

Simply put, in the absence of knowledge, many just wouldn't know. While it is ultimately our own responsibility to seek our Wisdom, to search for the truth, having people sent to tell us about it in part or whole makes it a lot easier.

Hence the need for teachers, fathers and blogs like this.

Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (NKJV)

Some Just Don’t Care

Complacency ultimate sends many people to Hell. It also puts a lot of Christians into a dormant mode, useless for the Kingdom and bearing little or no fruit. Jesus talked of the 3 things which choke the Word:

Cares of the World
Deceitfulness of riches
Pleasures of life

So whether we are just “too busy”, “too stressed” or lulled by the sense that life here on earth is good, complacency ultimately keeps our focus on the here-and-now. What the devil can no longer destroy, he will seek to disable.

Luke 12:16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (NKJV)

This man’s undoing was not that he had a good business running: it was that he cared not for the things of the spiritual, the things of God. We need to care enough to think through (meditate) what God has said in His Word. It will ultimately make sense over time when it comes together for you.

Some are Taught Wrong

If we don’t read enough of the Word carefully for ourselves, we might wind up in error. There are many good teachers out there, but it is ultimately still our responsibility to search it up ourselves and let God teach us.

Acts 17:10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. (NKJV)

The Bible called the Bereans “fair-minded”. Other translations used the word “noble’ or “open-minded”. We need to be open-minded and fair in looking at the Word and not let our experiences, biases, prejudices and even teachings colour it. We need to look at the Word for ourselves, fair and square and decide how we should believe it.

It is in such reading and meditation of the Word that it bears fruit, like Jesus said:

Luke 8:15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. (NKJV)

In such a noble and good heart, the Word will bear fruit with patience.

Some Hear but Don’t Believe

There are many things we read in the Word, that because of denominational leanings, various theological viewpoints and even just plain fear of the unknown or of losing face that cause us to choose not to believe.

There are “controversial” areas in scripture which many simply ignore and disbelieve. Spiritual gifts is such an example, but Paul clearly says to the Corinthian church that he did not want them to be ignorant about these:

1 Corinthians 12: 1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: (NKJV)

That the same topic was not broached with the other churches lends us the thought that perhaps these were commonplace with them and that they needed no teaching/correction in this.

Some Dumb it Down Against Experience

We need to take the Word of God as our standard. What He said in the Word should have pre-eminence over what we experience. If we believe in the Word only where it can be aligned to our experience, we will be on very shaky ground, for we will be operating by sight and not by faith.

If the disciples in scriptures took some of their experiences to heart instead of believing in the Lord, some of the things we read of in scriptures might have turned out very differently. Take the following passage for example:

Matthew 14:28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (NKJV)

Peter was the only one of 12 to jump out of the boat onto the water. He took Jesus on His word and moved by faith, walking on water. But when he was rattled by the wind and the waves, he began to sink. If he went by experience alone, he would NEVER have gone out on a limb again. He might have come up with various explanations as to why the Word of the Lord did not work for him: “Come” meant come when on the shore, “Come” meant bring the boat nearer etc. Everything except for the fact of what Jesus said – that he just did not have the faith and that he doubted.

The Word must be pre-eminent in our lives. If something we stood on failed, we must be settled in our hearts that the Word is true and that we, like Peter, just need more faith and less doubt. Otherwise, we will find explanations to reconcile our experiences against the Word and we will end up making doctrines that don’t line up with the Word.

See what Jesus said to the disciples when they failed to heal the epileptic boy:

Matthew 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”

20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. (NKJV)

Without mincing words, Jesus called them faithless and perverse. He fully expected that His disciples would be taking over what He was doing once He was gone (see John 20:21) and that they were off the mark, further chiding them for their unbelief. Jesus is not here in the flesh today, but with us.

A very common and untrue thought is this: that God heals sicknesses according to His will and that sometimes it is not His will to heal. He told us to heal the sick, and Jesus Himself healed ALL who came to Him (Acts 10:38) and Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8). This happens because we’ve brought the Word down to our level of experience, because we have failed so often. God is true and every man a liar (Rom 3:4). We need to believe the Word, not our experiences.

Jesus says faithless and perverse. We turn it on Him and declare our inability to heal as His will. That is not right. Truly we must admit that we don’t have it altogether. We need to walk by faith and not by sight.

It Isn’t What You See

Hence I conclude that comparing what you read against what you experience is not a good idea. It is all by grace through faith.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (NKJV)

For the instance of salvation, we have no firm evidence of going to heaven, yet we believe. None of us has ever put our faith in the Lord only to be able to confirm if it was true or otherwise. Apart from the testimonies of a few people who have come back from near-death experiences, we don’t know it by sight, but only by faith. And we believe by faith simply because we have no control. It really ought to be the same thing for anything that the Bible promises. The same Jesus who said believing Him gives eternal life said to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, declare the kingdom, do as He did, do greater works in His name.

The trouble with these things is that we can see them, and it is hence in the realm of the 5 senses, the flesh, and subject to doubt. In areas we have to option to walk by sight instead of faith, we have the ability to doubt.

Paul said:

2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. (NKJV)

It is What’s in the Word

It must be from the Word. Whatever the Word says is the truth and we must believe it above what we see in the natural. This is walking by faith.

There can be no faith without knowing the Word.

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (NKJV)

Looking into the mirror, we see the perfect law of liberty, the glory of the Lord (2 Cor 3:18). We see who Christ has made us to be, no longer under the law of sin and death, but under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

If we continue in this, we are doers of the Word and we will be blessed in what we do.

It Must Seem Too Good to be True

The word “gospel” refers to news that is almost too good to be true. If it doesn't seem to be that way to you, you probably haven’t heard the whole truth. The promises of the Gospel are so superlative that it often makes people want to tone it down, for fear of people experiencing less than what it proclaims and getting discouraged.

However, if what we are believing towards is only mediocre, then where we end will be mediocre, too. Put it this way - when was great news ever boring? Scriptures in their entirety are either real and absolutely amazing, giving us hope for the future and meaning and purpose in life (we call it the Gospel) or it is not true and we shouldn't believe in it at all. After all, if we believe that God’s love for us is the greatest force in the universe, than no one thing should top it and only superlatives should be left to describe it.

Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (NKJV)

Indeed, if we can plumb the depths of His love, than we truly can do all things. We all will only catch a glimpse of this in this life. Paul said:

Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (NKJV)

What He can do exceeds all we can think of, but it is only according to the power that works in us. We have the key to His power in our lives. It is up to us to try it for ourselves to know for sure.

Psalm 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! (NKJV)

This is a process – taste a little, like a little, taste some more, try some more. Like a foreign dish, we have to try it to see if we like it. Those who don’t will never be in the position to comment.

It is a Lifelong Pursuit

Thankfully, none of us is ever “there” in this lifetime. We never get there till we die, but as long as we are pressing on for more of what Christ died to gain for us, we are making progress.

Philippians 3:7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. (NKJV)

Even Paul wanted to attain to the resurrection from the dead – become what we will be when we resurrect in our glorified bodies, like Christ! This is the goal this side of Heaven, that Christ may be formed in us (Gal 4:19), that the world may see His glory in us.

It is comforting and liberating for me to know that I will need to grow for the rest of my life. It frees me to know that I don’t have to know it all before I can teach and guide others. It gives me room, knowing that I too am on a journey, rallying others along.

This is the walk of faith – knowing more of His love each day.

The Take Away