How's that for a short, simple answer?
- Truth is God's word.
- God sanctifies us in His word.
- So, His word is where we find truth.
- Truth is the word of God.
- All Scripture is God breathed... (2 Tim 3:16-17).
- The word of God is alive and powerful (Heb 4:12).
- Truth is the revelation of God through Scripture.
- Truth is God's reality.
Truth comes from God. Truth comes from God's word. Scripture is God's word. So, what truth will sanctify you? God's word, aka Scripture. (Stay tuned for the Who and How of sanctification.)
So, in John 17, why did Jesus pray that His disciples, and those who would believe through their message (John 17:20), for His Father to "sanctify them in the truth"? Simple answer, so that the truth, through God's word, would set them apart from the world.
Another way to look at this beautiful simplicity is to understand what truth is not. Truth, God's word, does not come from...
- the wisdom of humans
- personal experience
- feelings nor emotion
- anything apart from Scripture
- traditional nor ritual
- higher moral standards
- inward meditation
- legalistic self-righteousness
- reciting the Lord's prayer nor a sinner's prayer
- salvation alone
- etc.
Furthermore, which I'll save for another time, there are distinguishing features of the truth, God's reality, His word, as it pertains to the church. Huge differences from anything we've seen before.
But, for now, we've looked at a high-level of what truth is (Part 1) and where truth comes from (Part 2). Stay tuned while we ask how we acquire this truth (Part 3). We will need this 3rd part as we seek to discover the critical details of the truth as it applies to Christ's church, His body.
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)
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