What is Truth?

John 8: 12-59

The Reformer's Fire
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Exposition by Max A Forsythe

Question 75:
What is the ninth commandment?
Answer 75:
The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

On the surface this commandment may seem to only imply a certain honesty in testimony, or at the very least it is seen as a prohibition against lying. This is certainly true, but the injunction goes further in requiring that, we who belong to Christ, must constantly tell the truth and stand always for the truth of God as well. Of course truth in our time is considered relevant and many many lawyers make a career and some wealth by manipulating the procedures of court to avoid letting the real truth come out.

Even in the churches of this century, it appears that honest to goodness truth is avoided at all costs in order to keep the offering plates full, the building program intact and theologically marginal and minimal ministers employed. Someone once asked me why our church doesn't grow as fast as those who follow different methodologies? "We tell the truth", was my reply. More succinctly, we tell people what they need to hear, rather than what they want to hear! Nothing more and nothing less than the very word of God revealed in the Old and New Covenant portions of Scripture. This timeless wisdom is not always appreciated, but then, that has always been the case.

Let us turn to the eighth chapter of John to consider what He has to say about the real truth and its acceptance by the people of His time. We begin at verse twelve. This section of John, through verse thirty-one, is titled in the New International Version as "The Validity of Jesus' Testimony". In verses twelve to thirty-one, Jesus speaks out and says that He is the light of the world. His claim is challenged by the Pharisees. Jesus observes their problem with these words: You judge by human standards ... He rests his appeal upon the authority of God the Father. He then points out that if they do not recognize of whom He is speaking, then His hearers will die in their sins.

The Pharisees, like most of our world do not recognize who He is or really hear what he has to say. The Scripture points out in John 8: 27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father." However, John 8: 30 says "Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him." Ever since, substantial numbers of people have continued to do the same - to put their faith in Him! Down to this century, there has remained a sizable core of followers who understood this simply and reasonably.

Admittedly, there is great confusion over exactly what this means. The Church as a whole has not been too successful in giving an adequate witness to this. There is, quite simply, a Christian communication problem. All to often, the Christian Church and its witnesses have called people into a relationship with Jesus Christ and then left people hanging as to exactly what that relationship really is. Left to their own imagining, people have been extremely inventive. For some, this faith becomes intuition. For others it is a warm feeling inside, or an emotional trip. Some feel sentiments of favorite hymns sung, or particular verses in the Bible. Whenever, these emotional strings are touched, there it is, that warm feeling of faith. Of course, in our age of where emotions are triumphant, this appears to be completely normal and is accepted as the real thing! Well, what is wrong with this you ask?

Let me change the scene and topic to illustrate. One of my English students once asked me to clarify a point about Queen Gwenyvere of Camelot fame. He didn't catch what I meant by Gwenyvere being more in love with love than she was in love with King Arthur. If you have ever seen and appreciated the movie Camelot, I think you can see the difference in the object of her affections. Yes, she loved the King, she also loved the court and the devoted knights. But, when it finally came down to the nitty gritty, she wasn't exactly certain if she really loved Arthur!

Now, let us transfer this notion back to our issue of faith. The tragedy of our generation is that far too much of Christiandom has placed its faith not it Jesus Christ, but instead has put its faith in faith ahead of the real Object of faith. I would suppose that your presence here today is an indication that you are interested in the truths of the Scripture. And today, I would invite you to consider He who is the object of our faith. Consider the man whom we confess is the Christ.

Looking at verse thirty-one we see one of the keys to understanding a real relationship with Jesus Christ. And what is it, it is really very simple for those who are called by the Father. "If you hold to my teachings, you are really my disciples." Now that means all that you have to do is to listen to what Jesus says and then to believe it, and lovingly try to do all that is required. This is the real faith which creeps into our whole life and changes us into His likeness. In the next verse (thirty-two) we find what the result of holding to His teachings will be. "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." In those words there is a great promise of faith, a saving faith.

If we believe His words, if we know Christ from His words, if we live His words and His word becomes part and parcel of our life. Then we will love Him and we shall be free indeed. Now, the Greek words here may be translated more fully in these words: "you shall know the divine reality and the divine reality shall make you free from sin." That is a paraphrase of verse thirty-two. Notice that the word truth has been reemphasized as something different. There it is the "divine reality". That is certainly something more then what is usually expected from our modern concepts of truth.

Truth now appears to be what is said in court, or whatever serves our particular purposes. The ancients had a different view. Even a pagan philosopher Plato understood truth to be the ideas that will last forever. Plato taught, that if there was no absolute, then life, the little details, or even a person had no meaning. For him, the only thing that was truly true is that which always is: the Divine, the Logos, the Power of reality behind the universe. This is why the opening Chapter of John's Gospel is so powerful, because it invests that Word of Plato "Logos" with true reality. What Plato only dreamed of darkly was revealed in the fullness of time. We have one more translation of this verse to make. A literal word for word meaning. And that translation is this:

GREEK: "and you shall know of the right doctrine and the right doctrine free from sin shall make you." Yes, the Greek words actually say that. Doesn't that come as a shock in our day and age? Truth, Divine Reality, Correct Doctrine! This is why we are a confessional Church, because we attempt to teach the truth. When Jesus speaks, He tells the truth, from His truth we can reasonably state the correct doctrine that he requires! And if we would believe what He teaches, we can have a saving faith.

But you see there in the passage, verse thirty-three, the Jews question that they are or ever have been slaves. Hmmph, they say. "We are Abraham's children, we are already free!" They lay claim to their pedigree of birth! That's like saying that your fathers came over on the Mayflower, fought in the revolution, came through the Cumberland Gap and so on. You know, people never really change. Some still claim that their blood is bluer then that of others.

We all know that the correct pedigree does not always make for class! I remember reading a few years ago an article about what actually divided people into an upper and lower class. The author suggested that the best dividing line is a person's view of the future. Most people always think of the here and now. Others catch a glimpse of the future and then orient their lives towards that. He was right in so many ways. It would appear from my experience that those who only live for the present, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually and financially never end up getting anywhere. I wonder what Jesus would say to those people who have no vision beyond the present.

In the next few verses (34-36) we read: "... I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." John Calvin reports that it would appear that Christ is saying no more then the philosophers. And how much the world wants to believe that and thus reduce Christ to just one voice among many. Yet, Calvin points out a deeper and more hidden meaning. The philosophers think that any man by his own choice becomes slave or free. However, Jesus is not speaking of an evil that men bring upon themselves, but of the fallen state of human nature! Jesus here declares that all who are not freed from slavery by Him are slaves indeed!

During the Civil War, when the Union Armies advanced, the only slaves that truly free were those who were fortunate to live in areas conquered and occupied by the Federal Government. So it is with spiritual bondage. If we would be free, we must be freed by, in and through Jesus Christ only. Do you sin? Then the Word here reveals your true condition. You are a slave! But it is possible to be set free.

Read verses thirty-seven through forty-four carefully . Would you react as these children of Abraham did in Christ's presence? Would you exclaim that you were not illegitimate children? Look at verse 42 "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God ..." Do you love Jesus Christ? Is He really the object of your faith? Jesus tells these Sons of Abraham that they are "illegitimate children" who are really children of the Devil! If that is true, then what is the only possible reaction to the words of Jesus?

Lets look further (45-46) "Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me?" Why indeed? The worldly churches teach that any and all can come to Christ whenever they will. The popular phrase is "whosoever will may come" That misconception belittles the true faith by substituting something different from what the Scriptures really teach. Look at John 8: 47. What does it say? "He who belongs to God hears what God says. ..." Who can hear in order to believe? Paul answers this question in his letter to the Ephesians (1: 5) "He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will."

This and other passages is the basis for our confession that we are adopted into the family of God. Or in the words of our Catechism: "By God's free grace we become His sons with all the rights and privileges of being His. Even though we are illegitimate, God is willing to adopt us into His family and make us His own both now and forever as we see in: In John 8: 51 "I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." Would you claim that promise? Would you like a real confessional relationship with Jesus Christ?

It is freely offered in the Gospel of the New Testament! Believe His Word! Obey His Word! And Love Him truly! No more than that is required. And you want to do this! Because, this Jesus is somebody entirely different on the stage of World History. We see here that some of the Jews were allowed to ignore Him and His claims. They want a direct answer. Who is this man? In verse fifty-eight Jesus gives them a precise answer. "I tell you the truth, ... before Abraham was born, I am!" And what is the worldly reaction? Look, there in verse fifty-nine. They would stone him, they would kill him, they would eventually crucify him. And to their utter shame, they would not believe the truth.

We all know that there is something within the faith for us. Otherwise we would not come seeking to grow in Grace. Of course, the world will dismiss our Risen Christ as a Christian myth at best, as a miserable fraud at worst. But we do not believe that! Then what will you believe? Is Jesus Christ at the center of your faith? If you would know, read the Scriptures, listen to the very word of God! And consider your faith carefully. Remember, faith is not something that merits the favor of God. The totality of salvation resides completely in the Savior! Be certain of this: It is not faith that saves but faith in Jesus Christ. Strictly speaking, it is not even faith in Christ that saves. But it is Christ that saves through faith! Paul writes well in Ephesians 2: 5:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. Amen to the simplicity of the Gospel. And may our faith be found in Christ this day and for all eternity. Amen.

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