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 would call Himself the truth. That will be the focus of this entry. The truth. If Jesus is the truth and we do not know the truth, then we do not know Him. To know Him is to know the truth about His cross. To know His cross is to know the righteousness of God. Paul would call the Jews ignorant for not knowing this righteousness in Romans 10.
Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
To be ignorant is to lack knowledge. They did not know the truth about the righteousness of God. They did not know the truth. They did not know Christ. They may have known of God but they did not know God.
How can we know God? We will not know God through untruth. We cannot know God through ignorance. God is a God of truth. He is the truth. Paul gave strong warnings about false teachings in Galatians.
Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
There can be a gospel preached that seems to be a gospel but in fact is no gospel at all. It can be a gospel where man tells man how to make himself right with God. It is a gospel that man has made to establish his own righteousness. Why is truth important to those who are of God? Look at this series of verses.
Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
James 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
2 Timothy 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
What do all of these verses have in common. They mention a truth. This truth is the faith, the word of truth, the word of God. There is a truth. This truth tells us as Paul has laid out in Romans that God in the body and soul of His Son propitiated wrath and earned righteousness. That righteousness was imputed to the accounts of those from the beginning chosen to salvation. When was that righteousness imputed? Just as sin was imputed at the disobedience of the first Adam, righteousness was imputed at the obedience of the last Adam. When Christ ascended on high, He sat down. There was no more obedience to be performed. His righteousness was imputed prior to His ascension. It was imputed when He proclaimed His obedience was complete. It was imputed when He cried it is finished. But why is truth important to us today? 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 tells us just that. Sanctification and belief of the truth occur hand in hand. We are called by His gospel. If we do not hear this gospel, we will not obtain the glory of Jesus. Ephesians 1:13 tells us that the gospel must be heard in order to be believed so that we could be sealed by the Holy Spirit. James 1:18 says He begat us with the word of truth. Begat is a word that means to generate or to transform. 1 Peter tells us that we were born again by the word of God. 2 Timothy 2:25 tells us that repentance is acknowledging the truth and letting go of what we once thought of God. What can you take away from these verses? There can be no salvation without the belief of the truth, 2 Thessalonians 2:13. There can be no sealing by the Holy Spirit without the word of truth, Ephesians 1:13. There can be no transformation without the word of truth, James 1:18. You cannot be born again without the word of God, 1 Peter 1:23. There can be no repentance without the acknowledging of the truth, 2 Timothy 2:25.
Why truth? It is easy to see why truth is important. In its most basic idea, if you do not know truth then you do not know Christ. Worshiping Christ in ignorance is not worshipping Christ at all.
John 2:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
We must worship in truth. The gospel, the truth of the salvation completed in Christ, must be preached. To mix the truth of Christ with the conditions man has devised is to pervert the gospel as Paul says in Galatians 1:7. It is to mix grace and works and is no gospel at all. For that very reason this book was written. It is to share the truth of the justification by the imputation of the righteousness of God earned by God the Son and revealed to us by God the Spirit. Where is the rest in, as churches say, trying to save sinners? I tell you that it has already been done. All that will be saved were saved by the cross of Jesus Christ. We do not come along to finish His work. How do we know this? We know this because He has said It is finished!