Veritas vos liberabit, a Latin motto popular with many schools, meaning “the truth will set you free” is taken from John 8:32. Higher institutes of learning pursue truth and knowledge, but what is truth and what is the truth that will set you free? Are we to go about openly declaring truth? Do all truths have the same significance? In the justice system, if you are innocent, then truth is something you want established, but if you are guilty of a crime, then the truth will not set you free but instead land you in prison. There are many Christians who believe we must take a stand for truth. So we take the passage of scripture that says “Thy word is truth” and conclude that everything in the Bible is true and therefore must be something we should assert. We extend this to our evangelism, political and social views and our relationships with those around us. Although we are mostly sincere in our desire to be obedient to God's Word, we often don’t realize what we are doing with our position. Some of us have alienated many friends, family members and strangers who would otherwise welcome the good news of the Gospel and the person of Jesus Christ.
While I believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, inerrant in its original form, I have learned that not everything is truth that we should proclaim. For instance:
1) There are lies recorded, certainly a lie can’t be true (i.e. In 2 Sam 1:9 an Amalekite claims to have killed King Saul).
2) Satan’s words are written down, ... probably not a good idea to preach one of those passages out of context.
3) Men speak of their own understanding but not necessarily God’s understanding. ( In John 9:31 the man healed of blindness claims ‘We know God doesn't hear sinners', but God must hear sinners, or else nobody would be able to turn to Him and receive Him).
Also, when sharing the Gospel, certainly not everything in the Bible is appropriate for every situation. For example, if I met somebody who had never heard about Jesus, I would probably not start my conversation with the first 3 chapters of Chronicles (which I'm reading through now :S).
So it would seem there is a difference in something being true and what the Bible refers to as Truth. It is interesting to note that the truth of the law is not the same truth that came through Jesus. John makes the contrast in John 1:16: “The Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”. What is the distinction? While the law reveals knowledge of sin, it is powerless to help anyone. Giving sinners the truth of the law certainly does not set them free, but instead brings condemnation and kills (2 Cor 3:6).
So then what is the truth that came through Jesus? When Jesus appeared before Pilate, there was an interrogation that took place. Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” yet we don’t see Jesus’ response and it seems to be left open-ended. Whatever was said we know right afterward Pilate found no guilt in Jesus. Thankfully within scriptures we are not left without an answer. Jesus clearly stated in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
With Jesus' words in mind, when I read the Bible I see a distinction between truth and TRUTH. Little t truth says we are sinners. Little t truth says sinners deserve punishment and death. Little t truth says we must continually offer sacrifices when we do wrong. But Big T Truth says Jesus took our punishment as a sacrifice once for all and we are set free in Him. Big T Truth says that Jesus took the world’s sin upon Himself. Big T Truth says that we are made the righteousness of God in Christ. Or simply, Big T Truth is Jesus Himself, the Living Word.
In the book of Acts chapter 16, there is an interesting account where Paul is about the Lord’s work and a girl with an evil spirit keeps following and proclaiming “these are messengers of the most high!” Although what she was saying was true, Paul finally put a stop to it and rebuked the Spirit. I always wondered why he stopped her in the first place and why it took so long. For one thing, I’m sure it was getting distracting; she must have been very vocal. Secondly, it seems Paul didn't stop her at first because what she was saying was true. What we do learn from this passage is that even evil spirits can proclaim the ‘little t truth’.
If grace and truth came through Jesus and we are to follow His example, why don’t we as a church do it more often? When Jesus saw Zacchaeus in the sycamore tree He didn’t take a stand for truth and start yelling at him, “You wicked tax collector, liar and cheating thief! Don’t you know that liars and thieves go to hell?!” Instead, Jesus embraced Zacchaeus and came to his house.
Taking a passage of scripture out of context (the context being the finished work of Christ) and telling this to someone in hopes that this ‘truth’ would impact them, probably won't. Calling people sinners and telling them to repent even thought it may be true, rarely yields the desired results, but instead turns people off. So rather than taking a stand for what is true, let’s stand for Truth and share the Truth of the Gospel, the good news that God was in Christ reconciling the World to Himself. That God has forgiven everyone and through Jesus has given us wonderful, new, abundant life. Jesus is the Truth that sets us free.
I always found that account about the girl with the evil spirit interesting. She wasn't spreading lies but was rather saying the truth...the little t truth. I like your distinction between little t truth and Big T Truth. It's Big T Truth that will bring people to Jesus because He is the Truth.
ReplyDeleteYou mention that God has forgiven everyone and given us a new life through Jesus, but we would be remiss if we fail to also advise as Peter did in Acts 3:19 to "repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away." It is repentance that leads to life (Acts 11:18, 2 Corinthians 7:10).
ReplyDeleteTo The Effusionist, thank you for your comment. In John 1:17, you correctly point out that the ‘but’ was not in the original Greek. I am aware of this and actually thought someone might mention it. Some Bibles will use a semicolon between the sentences and others indicate using italics that the ‘but’ was added. However the meaning does not change as there are still two distinct contrasting thoughts. The Law was given through Moses; Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ. (The ‘but’, as with many other words, is added to help the flow in English)
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing wrong with the preaching of repentance, but what does that look like? (you gave me an idea for another post... ;) ) For many years of my Christian walk, I had an old covenant mentality when it came to repentance: Sackcloth and ashes. I had to get really sorry for my sins and really hard on myself before I could get forgiveness from God. But God told me that I shouldn't beat myself for my sins when His Son already took that beating. God revealed to me some wonderful truths so I finally understood and experienced His grace and in His grace freedom from the bondage of sin.
1) Repentance is a gift that God grants - 2 Tim 2:25.
2) Repentance (grk - metanoia ) simply means to change your mind/inner being. By extension change your mind towards the Gospel.
3) It’s the goodness and kindness of God that leads people to repentance - Rom 2:4.
4) God has already forgiven me - 1 John 2:12.
(also food for thought, some NT passages speak of repentance from dead works which is not necessarily the same thing as repentance from sin and repentance for salvation)
It is important to note that the age old problem of “none being Righteous” was solved by Jesus Christ. He gave us His Righteousness. The great exchange -> Just as our sin was put on Him so was His righteousness put on us (2 Cor 5:21)
I share your zeal for the Church to enjoy peace. But I believe it isn't something far off or a long time away. It is available now and comes through edifying believers in God’s grace and preaching the Big T Truth: Jesus Christ, Him crucified and the wonderful new life we have in Him. It may seem counter to what we learned in some circles, but I recommend to try it :)
Excellent comment regarding God has forgiven everyone. The Bible teaches that Jesus is the Lamb of God who took the sins of the whole world (not just believers). 1 John 2:4 “He (Jesus Christ) Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” 2 Cor 5:19 “Namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation”
ReplyDeleteThe Good News we share with those who don’t know Jesus is that God is not mad at them, God has reconciled them. Btw reconciliation is even better than just forgiven. You can forgive someone but never have to see them again. Reconciliation means God is there and has come to us, knocking at the door. When we receive Him, we receive His life and in our turning toward (repentance) Him we have turned away from dead works.
God gave everyone a conscience and so we all really know that we are sinners. We don't need to be told this. That's why we preach good news and not bad news. "Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Ps.96:2
ReplyDeleteJesus opened His ministry by reading from Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound."
Jesus is the One we follow. You never find Jesus using hell as an evangelism tool. Jesus showed love to the unloveable and this is His model.
"Grace and Truth came through Jesus" John 1:17. Truth must be tempered with Grace. Sometimes the loving thing to do is to choose when and what truth to teach.
My life-verse sums it up 1 Cor. 13:8 "Love never fails."
Steve, thanks for the encouraging comment.
DeleteThe passage Jesus read from Isaiah 61 is definitely Good News!
Also, I like your life-verse. I might take it. :) I've been using 1 Cor 15:10 "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain" Which is good too, but not as good.
James Bond-servant,
ReplyDeleteI like your perspective. I agree that calling people sinners and telling them to repent rarely yields the desired results but instead turns them off. Just today I read an article by Jen Floyd Engel of Fox Sports relevant to this issue. She writes about Jason Collins, the NBA Center who came out as homosexual on April 29th, and she says:
“For every President Obama call and Kobe tweet, there was an army of judgmental, homophobic, angry Christians condemning Collins to hell in Jesus’ name on Twitter, in columns, on TV and radio…The sad reality is this bellowing minority has drowned out the silent majority of Bible-believing Christians who take very seriously Jesus’ call to ‘love one another as I have loved you’ (John 13:34).”
It is so distressing that Christians have become known for being hateful and judgmental instead of kind and forgiving. Jesus never condemned sinners. He only condemned religious hypocrites. Jesus told us to love others as He loves us. I think we should therefore focus on showing love to others and stop condemning people if we want them to pay attention to the good news of the gospel we want to share.
http://sports.ca.msn.com/headlines/collins-bashers-spew-gospel-of-hate