Full of Truth
SWR Week 4: TRUTH | Is it possible to offer truth in love in today's society? Are we living in an anti-truth culture? What would Jesus have to say about that?
There is much to say about the concept of truth, and I felt the weight of writing on this word this week, even though I’m the one who chose it. It often feels like there is much resistance to truth, or maybe more so the belief is emphasized that there is no objective truth.
But who is Jesus if not full of grace AND full of truth? What is the gospel if not the good truth offered to us through the life, sacrifice, and resurrection of our Savior?
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 (NIV)
What good is grace if it doesn’t illuminate the pathway to the truth that sets you free?
The Word:
Truth | alētheia | Strong’s G225
This word is used 110 times in the KJV New Testament and is derived from another version of the word, G227 which means true.1
What is true in any matter under any consideration
unconcealed, open, known
purity from error (when spoken of the gospel)2
conduct conformed to truth such as integrity, virtue
a life conformed to the precepts of the gospel3
In reference to John 1:14, this word, alētheia declares the divine truth, the existence of and the will of the one True God. It is in direct opposition to the worship of false idols.
John talks about truth quite a bit in his gospel. It is curious how truth seems somewhat synonymous with the concept of light that John emphasizes in his account of Jesus.
And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed.
But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God.
John 3:19-21 NASB
John seems to be making some defining statements about truth and light being the opposite of evil here. The opposite of darkness/evil is not just light, but practicing the truth. Similar to the concept of belief, truth is an action-packed word.
In verse 21, John declares that in order to live in the light, you must “practice the truth”. The original words here could also be translated as “the one who does truth.” Looking back at our earlier definitions, this references “conduct conformed to truth such as integrity, virtue” and even more specifically, “a life conformed to the precepts of the Gospel.”
So, what is truth? That’s a loaded question, but the way John is using it in his gospel is to refer to the reality of who Jesus was and is—that He is God and God is the light that shines in the darkness, the very path laid out for us that guides us away from evil and into peace.
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
John 4:24 NASB
Jesus is full of grace and truth. There is no gospel without both. Is it possible nowadays to even embody both or will others even receive both? Of course we all want grace, but truth?
If you notice a resistance to truth, try to have grace in understanding. Truth often hurts and human nature defends against pain as much as it possibly can, but the kind of truth that Jesus Christ came to offer the world is full of grace. The kind of truth Jesus offers is meant to heal, not hurt—to restore, not destroy.
We are called to worship God in spirit and truth, and the Spirit of God is full of grace, so we ought to be.
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31-32 NASB
It’s helpful to understand what truth is, but we should consider why it matters and what we do about it in response.
Jesus told his disciples directly that if they “continue in [His] Word” they will know the truth, and it will set them free. Relationship (truly My disciples) and freedom are God’s intentions for revealing the truth through the life of Jesus and His purpose is to offer us a way to freedom and closeness with Him.
The original word for “continue” is often translated as abide or dwell. We’ll discuss the concept of “abide” in the coming weeks, but to understand it here in reference to truth, it typically means to hold onto, remain, stay, not to depart.
For further discussion on the matter of how to walk in truth and grace, tune into this week’s podcast episode for a little more in-depth commentary.
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g227/kjv/tr/0-1/
This concept can also be referred to as inerrancy—this is a helpful article if you’re new to that term, but basically the doctrine is that the Bible is true in every way and without error. (Though, that’s a simplified version of the doctrine, so I recommend further research if you’re interested, concerned, or curious.)
All definitions are derived from a combination of Hebrew Greek Keyword Study Bible, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, and Blue Letter Bible.