#49b- Walking In The Truth?
Walking In The Truth
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(English Standard Version)
2Jn - Greeting - Walking in Truth and Love - Final Greetings
COMMENTS and QUESTIONS
by J Neil Evans:
Read 2 and 3 John yourself then …
Watch the Bible Project video 1,2,3 John
John uses the word “truth” forty-six times in his Gospel and three epistles. In fact truth is one of the main topics of the whole Bible.
Remember that Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden of Eden because they believed a liar who called God a liar. God’s standard of truth is perfection. He calls His Word “truth”. He says He “cannot lie”. If God is always truthful, it is reasonable that He would expect His followers to love truth and live truthfully. Having spent so much personal time with Jesus, John had the same passion for truth and it came out in everything he wrote. Here are some samples:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17)
“He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe.” (John 19:35)
John recognized that there were people who claimed to believe in Jesus but didn’t live like it. He described it this way:
“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” (1 John 1:6) Because it was a common problem, just as it is today, John wrote what is called Second and Third John. And he repeated his emphasis on “walking in the Truth” :
“I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.” (2 John 4)
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 4)
It should not be a surprise that misinformation about the Truths of the Gospel and specifically about Jesus’ identity were common in the time of the early Church. John says: “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.” (2 John 7) In 3 John he mentions a specific person and describes the root of his deception. “I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.” (3 John 9) It is the same untruth that has existed from Genesis 3. The Great Deceiver, the Antichrist Himself, put himself first, then, with a lie, challenged Adam and Eve to ignore God’s authority and put themselves first. He said something like: “Don’t worry about what God says, he just wants to keep you from the life you can make for yourself; you won’t die, go on thinking about yourself first.” They did, and we do, unless we work at knowing the Truths God has given us in His Bible.
It is human nature to consider what we believe as the truth. No one goes through life being committed to what they consciously believe to be untrue. We defend and try to spread what we believe is true; and we oppose and try to defeat what we believe is untrue. It is also true that our human nature tends to believe something is true simply because we feel like it is true or we want it to be true. Remember when Eve looked at the forbidden fruit she saw: “that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Gen 3:6) She didn’t turn to Adam and say: “I know what the serpent is saying is not true, but let’s taste it anyway.” They staked their life on what they believed. They should have believed God rather than their own feelings.
We tend to think of “idols” as statues on a shelf. But if we understand idolatry as holding something in high esteem and giving it our daily submission, then we should recognize that we, like Adam and Eve, hold our selves in highest esteem, and submit to our feelings every day. They believed and trusted their own thoughts and feelings more than they believed and trusted God’s Word. Isn’t it revealing how the Bible uses the term and idea of “word”. God created everything with His “words” (“God said…”) God communicated to Adam and Eve with “words”. God communicated to His people through His “words” which we now have as the Bible. John added significantly to the concept of God’s Word when he wrote: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5)
And: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Holding our own thoughts and feelings as more truthful than the Bible and Jesus is idolatry.
Look back to the last verse of 1 John. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” Thinking that what I feel and believe is The Truth, is idolatry. God’s Word (Jesus and the Bible) is The Truth. This is why John was glad to see Jesus’ followers “walking in The Truth”. We must check everything we believe by the Bible, the source of Truth. I believe that we are more easily deceived by our feelings than by anything else. If you do not believe the Bible is absolutely trustworthy, I challenge you to test it; not by your feelings but by reading and evaluating it for its’ authenticity like you would any other book. There are many resources to help you. But why not try just reading it for yourself first. Maybe you could begin by reading the Gospel of John or Mark. You may be surprised by what you find.
<<< BIBLE CHAPTER SECTIONS: >>>
(English Standard Version)
2Jn - Greeting - Walking in Truth and Love - Final Greetings
COMMENTS and QUESTIONS
by J Neil Evans:
Read 2 and 3 John yourself then …
Watch the Bible Project video 1,2,3 John
John uses the word “truth” forty-six times in his Gospel and three epistles. In fact truth is one of the main topics of the whole Bible.
Remember that Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden of Eden because they believed a liar who called God a liar. God’s standard of truth is perfection. He calls His Word “truth”. He says He “cannot lie”. If God is always truthful, it is reasonable that He would expect His followers to love truth and live truthfully. Having spent so much personal time with Jesus, John had the same passion for truth and it came out in everything he wrote. Here are some samples:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17)
“He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe.” (John 19:35)
John recognized that there were people who claimed to believe in Jesus but didn’t live like it. He described it this way:
“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” (1 John 1:6) Because it was a common problem, just as it is today, John wrote what is called Second and Third John. And he repeated his emphasis on “walking in the Truth” :
“I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.” (2 John 4)
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 4)
It should not be a surprise that misinformation about the Truths of the Gospel and specifically about Jesus’ identity were common in the time of the early Church. John says: “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.” (2 John 7) In 3 John he mentions a specific person and describes the root of his deception. “I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.” (3 John 9) It is the same untruth that has existed from Genesis 3. The Great Deceiver, the Antichrist Himself, put himself first, then, with a lie, challenged Adam and Eve to ignore God’s authority and put themselves first. He said something like: “Don’t worry about what God says, he just wants to keep you from the life you can make for yourself; you won’t die, go on thinking about yourself first.” They did, and we do, unless we work at knowing the Truths God has given us in His Bible.
It is human nature to consider what we believe as the truth. No one goes through life being committed to what they consciously believe to be untrue. We defend and try to spread what we believe is true; and we oppose and try to defeat what we believe is untrue. It is also true that our human nature tends to believe something is true simply because we feel like it is true or we want it to be true. Remember when Eve looked at the forbidden fruit she saw: “that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Gen 3:6) She didn’t turn to Adam and say: “I know what the serpent is saying is not true, but let’s taste it anyway.” They staked their life on what they believed. They should have believed God rather than their own feelings.
We tend to think of “idols” as statues on a shelf. But if we understand idolatry as holding something in high esteem and giving it our daily submission, then we should recognize that we, like Adam and Eve, hold our selves in highest esteem, and submit to our feelings every day. They believed and trusted their own thoughts and feelings more than they believed and trusted God’s Word. Isn’t it revealing how the Bible uses the term and idea of “word”. God created everything with His “words” (“God said…”) God communicated to Adam and Eve with “words”. God communicated to His people through His “words” which we now have as the Bible. John added significantly to the concept of God’s Word when he wrote: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5)
And: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Holding our own thoughts and feelings as more truthful than the Bible and Jesus is idolatry.
Look back to the last verse of 1 John. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” Thinking that what I feel and believe is The Truth, is idolatry. God’s Word (Jesus and the Bible) is The Truth. This is why John was glad to see Jesus’ followers “walking in The Truth”. We must check everything we believe by the Bible, the source of Truth. I believe that we are more easily deceived by our feelings than by anything else. If you do not believe the Bible is absolutely trustworthy, I challenge you to test it; not by your feelings but by reading and evaluating it for its’ authenticity like you would any other book. There are many resources to help you. But why not try just reading it for yourself first. Maybe you could begin by reading the Gospel of John or Mark. You may be surprised by what you find.
Check out these LINKS:
Watch Bible Project summary of 1-3John
Read "Bible Words to Ponder" related to this week study
Read "The Gospel"