by Romans of The 4 Gospels Christian Network
There are two particular, inter-related
questions that are asked in Scripture that are of monumental importance.
One is in the Old Testament and the other is in the New Testament.
Tonight, I am going to ask the first, and then answer it very briefly,
and then I am going to ask the second question and focus on its answer
for the rest of the Discussion. In both cases, and in response to both
questions, the answers I will provide this evening are out of the Word
of God.
The first question appears in the Book of Genesis. Let's begin in Genesis 22:2:
“And he (God) said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou
lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a
burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And
Abraham rose up early in the morning... and took two of his young men
with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering,
and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on
the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off...
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he
said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but
where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
That is the first of the two monumental questions I am asking, tonight: Where is the lamb?
One
commentator whom I read, said that the entirety of the Old Testament
echoes Isaac's question to his father Abraham: “Where is the lamb... ?”
A Prophet gave us a brief glimpse of where we could find the lamb: We read in Isaiah 53:7:
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth:
he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”
In the New Testament, John the Baptist looks up from the banks of the Jordan River, and sees Jesus coming to him. He says in John 1:29: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
The second monumental question was asked by Pilate when Jesus was on trial before him. We read in John 18:37
Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered,
Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause
came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every
one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” Pilate asks in Verse 38:
“What is truth?”
This is what I want to focus on for the remainder of the Discussion: What is Truth?
Or, more specifically, Can we know it?
Jesus,
and His disciples and Apostles after Him warns us repeatedly not to be
deceived. With that in mind, last week I conducted a Discussion that I
titled “Prove All Things.” I was motivated with a single objective: to
stress the need to become familiar enough with the Word of God to be
able to know when a doctrine or a claim strayed from what the Bible
actually says on a given subject. As I prepared it, I fully expected it
to be a stand-alone Discussion, neither having nor needing a Part 2.
But
a few mornings ago, I began to think about a theme that could serve as a
Part Two. When there is more than one understanding about what a Verse
means, about what it is to be a Christian, and about what is acceptable
to God, and about which commands are binding, how can we know the Truth?
There are hundreds of denominations with a wide variety of
understandings, practices, lists of commands they tell us to either obey
or ignore, and claims as to what is required in order to be saved.
Can
we know the Truth? I am here to tell you that we can. And, tonight, I
am going to present that Truth to you, not as any man, or commentary, or
denomination that I am aware of has ever presented it.
Before
you write me off as a madman, hear what I have to say. And then, if you
still think that what I say are the rantings of a lunatic, or is without
Scriptural merit or support, then by all means tell me and everyone
else you know. But hear me out first. Thank You.
The whole
notion of there being variant understandings of what God means or
requires in His Word is not new. Even as Jesus walked the earth, there
were divisions among the Jews as to how to best understand and/or
worship God. There was the familiar divisions of the Pharisees and the
Sadducees mentioned in the pages of the New Testament.
Then there was the Jewish Sect of the Essenes. From the website http://www.centuryone.com,
we get the following information about them: “The Dead Sea Scrolls were
most likely written by the Essenes during the period from about 200
B.C. to 68 C.E./A.D. The Essenes are mentioned by Josephus and in a few
other sources, but not in the New testament. The Essenes were a strict
Torah observant, Messianic, apocalyptic, baptist, wilderness, new
covenant Jewish sect. They were led by a priest they called the "Teacher
of Righteousness," who was opposed and possibly killed by the
establishment priesthood in Jerusalem.”
Then there were the Zealots. According to http://www.answers.com,
“The Zealots were the Jewish revolutionaries of Jesus day, now they
would be considered urban guerilla fighters, paramilitary religious
fanatics and fierce nationalists... engaging in sporadic guerrilla
warfare... in the Galilean Hills.” One of Jesus' disciples was a former
member of this group. He is referred to in the Gospels when naming the
disciples in Luke 6:15: “... Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes.” From http://www.truthbook.com
we read of him, “Simon Zelotes, the eleventh apostle, was chosen by
Simon Peter. He was an able man of good ancestry and lived with his
family at Capernaum, He was twenty-eight years old when he became
attached to the apostles. He was a fiery agitator and was also a man
who spoke much without thinking. He had been a merchant in Capernaum
before he turned his entire attention to the patriotic organization of
the Zealots.”
And, last but not least there were the Samarians or Samaritans. According to http://wiki.answers.com,
they “were residents of Samaria and may have been descended partly from
the remnant Israelites allowed by the Assyrians to remain in Samaria
and partly from the various peoples who were brought in to replace the
Israelites taken into exile. They became implacable enemies of the Jews
since the Jews overran Samaria during the second century BCE. Samaritans
had become monotheistic, worshipping one God but with many differences
compared to the religion of their southern Jewish neighbours.”
After
the Resurrection on the Day of Pentecost when the Church was born, how
long did it takes before there were divisions and preferences among the
members of the Christian Church? I don't know how many months or years
it took for these divisions to arise. But we know that it happened
within the lifetimes of the New Testament Apostles and writers.
Sectarian fine-tunings of interpretations of Scripture and preferences
of one teacher over another were addressed in various epistles. Paul
addressed this situation in his Epistle to the Corinthians. Notice,
beginning in 1 Corinthians 1:10:
“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among
you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in
the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my
brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are
contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am
of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ
divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of
Paul?”
Let me repeat and answer Paul's question: Is Christ
divided? No. Yet there were and continue to be divisions. And what did
Jesus say of such division? He said in Matthew 12:25:
“...Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and
every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:” Is the
Church ever referred to as a “house” that this Scripture may be applied
to it? We read Peter's words in 1 Peter 2:5:
“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.” Notice also what we read in Hebrews 3:5-6:
“And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a
testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a
son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the
confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.”
So, then, the Church is a House. And Jesus said that a “house divided against itself shall not stand:”
And
now we have hundreds of denominations, making thousands of variant
claims, all assuring us that they are based on the authority of the
inspired Word of God. Can we possibly hope to know the Truth under these
circumstances? We can...
In the Church at Rome, there were
springing up, the kinds of divisions and preferences we see all around
us, today. And Paul addresses this problem, with an inspired, inspiring
and a definitive response. Let me recap for you what was happening: Some
members of the Church at Rome were eating meat sacrificed to idols,
which other members considered to be sin. There were also divisions and
separations regarding which day or days were “better” on which to
worship God. In the 14th Chapter of the Book of Romans, Paul dives head
first into both debates, and, unlike some of the sectarian choosing of
sides that we so often see today, which only reinforces and solidifies
the division, he made the following judgment. Let's start in verse 1 of
Romans 14: I am going to read from the English Standard Version for
clarity's sake: “As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but
not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything,
while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats
despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass
judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to
pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master
that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to
make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while
another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in
his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the
Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks
to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and
gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us
dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we
die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the
Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be
Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on
your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all
stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, 'As I live,
says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall
confess to God.' So then each of us will give an account of himself to
God. Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but
rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a
brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is
unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.
For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer
walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ
died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For
the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves
Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue
what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Do not, for the sake of
food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is
wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.”
Paul
makes a judgment in the next verse, that we rarely see today in regard
to variant interpretations as to what God commands or accepts as
worship: He says in Verse 21: “ It is good not to eat meat or drink wine
or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.”
We all
have our individual leanings, understanding and preferences established
by our own separate denominations, cultures, families, societies and
even in our own private and individual worship of God. And Paul next
addresses what we each do: In Verse 22, he makes a startling
proclamation. A proclamation that flies in the face of those who would
carve in stone an exclusive and specific list of approved do's and
don'ts regarding the worship of God. He concludes the matter with the
words: “The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God.”
Wow
– keep your faith between yourself and God. What is he saying? Don't
try to impose your conscience on your brother or sister, to worship God
in a manner that satisfies you, but may violate their conscience. You
have done them no good. The end of Romans 14 reads as follows: “Blessed
is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he
approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the
eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is
sin."
Matthew Henry has this to say on this Chapter:
“Differences of opinion prevailed even among the immediate followers of
Christ and their disciples. Nor did St. Paul attempt to end them.
Compelled assent to any doctrine, or conformity to outward observances
without being convinced, would be hypocritical and of no avail. Attempts
for producing absolute oneness of mind among Christians would be
useless. Let not Christian fellowship be disturbed with strifes of
words. It will be good for us to ask ourselves, when tempted to disdain
and blame our brethren; Has not God owned them? and if he has, dare I
disown them? Let not the Christian who uses his liberty, despise his
weak brother as ignorant and superstitious. Let not the scrupulous
believer find fault with his brother, for God accepted him, without
regarding the distinctions of meats. We usurp the place of God, when we
take upon us thus to judge the thoughts and intentions of others, which
are out of our view. The case as to the observance of days was much the
same. Those who knew that all these things were done away by Christ's
coming, took no notice of the festivals of the Jews. But it is not
enough that our consciences consent to what we do; it is necessary that
it be certified from the word of God. Take heed of acting against a
doubting conscience. We are all apt to make our own views the standard
of truth, to deem things certain which to others appear doubtful. Thus
Christians often despise or condemn each other, about doubtful matters
of no moment. A thankful regard to God, the Author and Giver of all our
mercies, sanctifies and sweetens them.”
Am I saying there is nothing that we should bring to the attention of a fellow believer? No... We read in Galatians 6:1:
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual,
restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest
thou also be tempted.” There are Biblical and Christian absolutes. A
man or woman who professes to be a Christian, is commanded to not commit
fornication or adultery or lust after anyone in their hearts, we are
commanded to not seek revenge against real or imagined wrongs, we are
commanded to not steal or defraud anyone, we are commanded to not kill
or hate a brother without a cause, we are commanded to not withhold
forgiveness, we are commanded to love our enemies and to do good to
those who despitefully use and persecute us, we are commanded to turn
the other cheek if the face of opposition, we are commanded love God
with all our heart and mind and soul and might, and to love our neighbor
as ourselves, we are commanded to not profane the Name of God, and we
are commanded to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every
creature. This is not a complete or comprehensive list, but I know of no
denominations that vary on the understanding or agreement with these
commands. But we live according to these commands not to obtain
Salvation or Grace, but in but in response to, in recognition of, and
out of respect for the love and mercy and forgiveness that God has
poured out on us. And the commands and practices that we are to observe
and live, that are endorsed by Scripture, lead us into a life that bears
fruit which glorifies God. They guide us into a moral life. They are
not the ritualistic inconsequential points that congregations divide
over. These controversies are the breeding ground for discord and
sectarianism ignoring the principle that God accepts variations in
worship, when the worshiper does so according to what their conscience
allows them to do.
At the same time, new groups rise up all the
time with a "new and improved" worship system. Am I saying that every
Church or Fellowship or Congregation is accepted by God, or is
automatically part of the Body of Christ because they have His Name in
their title, or claim to follow Him? No... there are
false prophets, false apostles and wolves in sheep's clothing that we
have to be wary of. But we identify them by becoming familiar enough
with the Word of God, as I urged in Part One of Prove All Things, that
their tactics, claims, heresy and doubletalk is immediately evident.
Departing, however, from heretical leadership is a very different
situation than when one Congregation becomes two, based on worship
preferences. As I have shown you, Paul did not endorse or take sides
where worship preferences were concerned.
As Paul did, Jesus also refused to take sides also when He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well. She wanted to know which mountain was the more "acceptable" place from which to worship God. We read in John 4:20
"Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem
is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor
yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father... But the hour cometh, and now
is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." Did you
get that? "True worshipers" do not stress over or succumb to the "this
way / that way / this place / that place" boxes into which some try to
place and limit God. No... Jesus said that "... they that worship him
must worship him in spirit and in truth," which can take place anywhere
and everywhere.
Jesus had something to say about another
problem: the adding of rituals to Christian living and worship in order
to be accepted. Notice Mark 7:6
:Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This
people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold
the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other
such like things ye do..." Stressing out over and dividing over such
trivial yokes of bondage does not honor or bring glory to God. They have
no place in the life of a New Covenant Christian. Jesus said that "...
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." Yokes
are neither!
I told you
in the introduction, that, in spite of all of our differences and
squabbles and opposing claims and divisions, that we can know the Truth,
and that I was going to present it to you.
Jesus made several statements about the Truth. In just one Verse alone, He said in John 8:32: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Keep
that in mind as we review His first public sermon, spoken in the
Synagogue in Nazareth. Jesus read from a scroll that prophesied of His
Ministry: We read in Luke 4:18:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach
the acceptable year of the Lord.”
I would like to focus on four
of the things He said His Ministry would accomplish: preaching the
Gospel to the poor, healing the brokenhearted, preaching deliverance to
the captives and setting at liberty them that are bruised. Now let's go
back and review what He said about the Truth: “the Truth shall make you
free...” Is that not deliverance to a captive? Is that not liberty to
the bruised?
But what have we been delivered to, and set at liberty to do?
Paul also addressed the same issue with meat sacrificed to idols in Corinth: We read in 1 Corinthians 8:9:
“But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a
stumblingblock to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast
knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of
him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered
to idols;
And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish,
for whom Christ died? But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound
their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make
my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest
I make my brother to offend.”
Here, more than keeping your faith
to yourself, Paul is saying that the imposition of your preference or
comfort level of worship on your brother “wounds their weak conscience,
and sins against Christ.”
This is something that needs to be seriously considered before we act along these lines.
Paul also speaks of the liberty Christ provided us, in the Book of Galatians. We read in Galatians 5:1:
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us
free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” What bondage
were they free from, and what yoke was entangling the Galatians? Church
members were being told by Jewish envoys from Jerusalem, that they had
to keep Old Covenant laws and perform certain specific tasks in order
to be saved: namely, circumcision, and observing particular days and
seasons. He wrote them about this Galatians 5:12:
“I would they were even cut off which trouble you. For, brethren, ye
have been called unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to
the flesh, but by love serve one another.”
There it is again:
Liberty. The Freedom from salvation check-lists that Christ had made
possible. Freedom from the added requirements that they were being told
they had to follow. But there were and are are no added requirements
that the Apostles or the Bible endorses, and no obligatory ritualistic
Old Covenant laws they had to obey.
Paul continues, “... For all
the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed
that ye be not consumed one of another.”
The preferences,
doctrinal revisions and salvation checklists that have divided us all
into so many denominations has resulted in the very biting and devouring
that Paul warned us about. And how are believers consumed? By those
religious groups that claim an exclusive relationship with God. They
believe and teach that God only approves of their understanding of His Word, and accepts worship only as they offer it. Everyone else is damned. Period.
Let's get back to my claim that we can know the Truth.
After telling His hearers that the Truth would make them free, four verses later, Jesus then added in
John 8:36: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
And He said in John 6:37:
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do
mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the
Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I
should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And
this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the
Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise
him up at the last day.”
So Jesus said that if we see the Son,
and believe on Him we would have everlasting life. On the Day of
Pentecost, after the Resurrection, the Church was born. Peter delivered
his first sermon. We read, beginning in Acts 2:36:
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath
made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now
when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto
Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we
do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
Did you notice what was not
included in Peter's response? The list. You know, the salvation
checklist of all the specific denominational attributes that distinguish
and separate them, the privileged practices and exclusive commands that
have been added down through the centuries, and which has divided and
subdivided and sub-subdivided us into hundreds of denominations?
Our
members: worship on this day, no on that day, do dance, don't dance, do
drink wine, don't drink wine, do wear makeup, don't wear makeup, speak
in tongues, don't speak in tongues, do take medicine, don't take
medicine, believe in soul sleep, don't believe in soul sleep, do wash
feet, don't wash feet... the list goes on and on.
But Peter has
no knowledge of it, and he does not mention one portion of it that his
hearers had to also perform in order to be saved...
Well, maybe
it was just too early in Church history, and the list wasn't developed
yet. So, let's fast forward twenty years and see how Paul answered
essentially that same question. Let me set the scene: Paul and Silas
were in prison, and, after an earthquake, their jailor approached them
and asked them about salvation. We read in Acts 16:29:
“Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and
fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs,
what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
Twenty years
after Peter's sermon, Paul and Silas were still not aware of any list of
added requirements that the jailer had to perform in order to be saved,
any more than Peter did to those who asked him about being saved.
Was
this how Paul always preached? Notice his words to the Church at
Corinth reminding them of what he preached to them in regard to their
Salvation. 1 Corinthians 2:2, Paul wrote, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”
No Salvation checklist? No.
No dubious and inconsequential preferences? No.
No exclusive, divisive and contradictory requirements? No.
Rather,
he said, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus
Christ, and him crucified” in perfect and complete harmony with Jesus'
statement: “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one
which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life:
and I will raise him up at the last day.”
But now we have to sort
through all the added requirements to perform, hurdles to clear, and
hoops to jump through that go way beyond the simple declarations that
Jesus and Peter and Paul made to their hearers. With all of the
disagreement and discord that surrounds us regarding the Truth, can we
know the Truth? Is it possible to know the way to Salvation, and how to
receive the Gift of Eternal Life? I tell you that absolutely can know
We can know the Way to Salvation, the Truth about acceptable worship,
and how we can live forever.
And I offer it to you in a single amazing Verse.
We read in John 14:6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Jesus
is all that all of these incompatible denominations have in common.
And, in the final analysis, Jesus is all they have ever needed to look
to in order to obtain the very forgiveness, Grace, path to the Father
and Eternal Life that they so feverishly try to obtain through all of
their added requirements, supplemental commands, exclusive
understandings, spiritual hoops and, in a word, works. But we are not
saved by works... we are saved by Grace, which is free!
Romans 11:6:
“And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no
more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise
work is no more work.”
Grace, forgiveness and Eternal Life are
free Gifts made available by the Father through His Son. Again, in Jesus
own words, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one
which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life:
and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40.)
Can
we know the Way to the Father? Yes, because the Way is not any specific
denominational path, or series of spiritual hurdles to be cleared. The
Way is a Person, and His Name is Jesus.
Can we know the Truth?
Yes, because the Truth is not a list of doctrines or beliefs or commands
or creeds... The Truth is a Person, and His Name is Jesus.
And,
the Life is not something we attain by performing anyone's set of
requirements. The Life is a Person, and His Name is Jesus.
In
this one Verse, He makes a claim about Himself, that no other sane and
honest human being could ever hope to make of himself. Jesus said, “ I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.”
We can know the Truth that Leads to Salvation because we can know Jesus.
He told us He came to set at liberty the captives (Luke 4:18).
He told us “the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).
Then He said “I am the Truth” (John 14:6).
Conclusion: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” ( John 8:36).
We are free because we can know the Truth in the Person of Jesus.
We
all believe that God sent His Son to this earth to die on a cross for
us. We do not need to fabricate checkpoints, and checklists and hurdles
and hoops in order to earn or prove our Salvation, and we should not use
them in order to identify, separate, judge and reject fellow believers
and fellow servants.
The disciples came to Jesus one day and said in Mark 9:38:
“... Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he
followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But
Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle
in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not
against us is on our part.”
Do we know and embrace and obey that Truth, today?
Is Christ divided?
Is the Truth divided?
In closing, allow me to quote the Apostle Peter, in a wider excerpt of a verse I already quoted.
From 1 Peter 2:1-5:
“Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and
envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere
milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
If so be ye have tasted
that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone,
disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as
lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to
offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
Where is the Lamb? Jesus is the Lamb.
What is truth? Jesus is the Truth, and the Way and the Life.
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