Churchwork
02-13-2006, 10:35 PM
Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8.32)
Over 1900 years ago Pontius Pilate asked this question of Jesus:
“What is truth?” (John 18.38) This is also the question of many
other people. We dare not explain what truth is in the Scripture
according to our own idea, yet we do desire to find out from God’s
written word what it really is.
The word “truth” in Greek means “the reality lying at the basis of
an appearance; the manifested, veritable essence of a matter”
(Cremer). It means absolute reality; it is “true” and “real.” We may
not know the reason of many true things, yet they are facts and
realities which we may touch.
“The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ” (John 1.17). Grace is not an attitude of God; it is a
work of God. Grace is the work which Jesus of Nazareth the Son of
God has accomplished for us. The Son of God was crucified for us;
He shed His blood to accomplish God’s work of redemption so that
we would not need to do anything but to trust Him and be saved.
Without the work of the cross, God has no way to give grace to men.
He gave law to men through Moses, but He gives grace through the
finished work of the cross. Hence, grace is the work of God.
Moreover, in the same sentence from John 1, we read of both
grace and truth. For truth as well as grace comes from the Lord Jesus.
When God gave His only begotten Son to the world, He appointed
Him to be truth as much as grace. Both grace and truth come through
the work of the Son of God. Without His work, there would be
neither grace nor truth today. For the Lord Jesus must create grace in
order to grant grace. This is what all Christians believe. In like
manner, it is required of the Lord Jesus to create truth before He can
disperse truth. Thus it is written, “even as truth is in Jesus” (Eph.
4.21). Hence God works out truth in the Lord Jesus. Truth is in the
Lord Jesus, and truth is His work.
“I am the truth,” declared the Lord Jesus (John 14.6). Truth in the
Scriptures has no other meaning than reality. What is reality? Reality
is what I actually am before God as a result of the accomplished
work of Christ. The Lord Jesus shed His blood to ransom all who
belong to Him. This is a fact. Through Christ I am a redeemed soul
before God. This is the truth. What I am through the fact
accomplished by the Lord Jesus—that is the truth. Consequently,
only after Jesus has accomplished a work will I have the truth.
Without His work, I will have no truth, no reality. I was originally a
dead person, a sinner in God’s sight. I had neither position nor
possession before Him. But now, thank God, due to the work of the
Lord Jesus, I have reality before God. I have obtained something
real, and that reality is that I am a redeemed person.
Let us keep well in mind that the truth as given in the Bible does
not refer to the doctrine preached from the pulpit but to the fact
before God. Doctrine is something people try to explain on earth;
truth is what I become before God owing to what the Lord Jesus has
accomplished. Through the work of Christ, God has transformed me
to be another person. And such is the truth; such is the reality. We
must remember that the work of Jesus Christ has already been
accomplished before God and that what becomes of me through that
finished work is the truth. For the truth is none other than Christ
himself. All realities are in Christ, all facts are in Christ.
Over 1900 years ago Pontius Pilate asked this question of Jesus:
“What is truth?” (John 18.38) This is also the question of many
other people. We dare not explain what truth is in the Scripture
according to our own idea, yet we do desire to find out from God’s
written word what it really is.
The word “truth” in Greek means “the reality lying at the basis of
an appearance; the manifested, veritable essence of a matter”
(Cremer). It means absolute reality; it is “true” and “real.” We may
not know the reason of many true things, yet they are facts and
realities which we may touch.
“The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ” (John 1.17). Grace is not an attitude of God; it is a
work of God. Grace is the work which Jesus of Nazareth the Son of
God has accomplished for us. The Son of God was crucified for us;
He shed His blood to accomplish God’s work of redemption so that
we would not need to do anything but to trust Him and be saved.
Without the work of the cross, God has no way to give grace to men.
He gave law to men through Moses, but He gives grace through the
finished work of the cross. Hence, grace is the work of God.
Moreover, in the same sentence from John 1, we read of both
grace and truth. For truth as well as grace comes from the Lord Jesus.
When God gave His only begotten Son to the world, He appointed
Him to be truth as much as grace. Both grace and truth come through
the work of the Son of God. Without His work, there would be
neither grace nor truth today. For the Lord Jesus must create grace in
order to grant grace. This is what all Christians believe. In like
manner, it is required of the Lord Jesus to create truth before He can
disperse truth. Thus it is written, “even as truth is in Jesus” (Eph.
4.21). Hence God works out truth in the Lord Jesus. Truth is in the
Lord Jesus, and truth is His work.
“I am the truth,” declared the Lord Jesus (John 14.6). Truth in the
Scriptures has no other meaning than reality. What is reality? Reality
is what I actually am before God as a result of the accomplished
work of Christ. The Lord Jesus shed His blood to ransom all who
belong to Him. This is a fact. Through Christ I am a redeemed soul
before God. This is the truth. What I am through the fact
accomplished by the Lord Jesus—that is the truth. Consequently,
only after Jesus has accomplished a work will I have the truth.
Without His work, I will have no truth, no reality. I was originally a
dead person, a sinner in God’s sight. I had neither position nor
possession before Him. But now, thank God, due to the work of the
Lord Jesus, I have reality before God. I have obtained something
real, and that reality is that I am a redeemed person.
Let us keep well in mind that the truth as given in the Bible does
not refer to the doctrine preached from the pulpit but to the fact
before God. Doctrine is something people try to explain on earth;
truth is what I become before God owing to what the Lord Jesus has
accomplished. Through the work of Christ, God has transformed me
to be another person. And such is the truth; such is the reality. We
must remember that the work of Jesus Christ has already been
accomplished before God and that what becomes of me through that
finished work is the truth. For the truth is none other than Christ
himself. All realities are in Christ, all facts are in Christ.