Much of humanity is under “the god of this world” who “hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Jesus expressly said to the unbelieving Jews, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44). Being misguided by Satan, people walk not after the truth of God.
In the Garden of Eden, when the first parents at the behest of Satan rejected the truth of God, sin began. Sin continues to abound whenever people rejected God’s revealed truth in the Bible. Concerning two defiant challengers of God’s servant Moses, Paul said, “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith” (2 Timothy 3:8). In Romans 1, the apostle Paul points out that wherever people “changed the truth of God into a lie” (verse 25), there will be a proliferation of vile sins, such as idolatry and homosexuality.
In our times, many think that there is no such thing as absolute truth, especially about religious truth. Some think about religion as simply a matter of personal preference like food, sport or art. Even among those who call themselves Christians, there exists a cynical aversion to accepting Biblical doctrines and instructions as absolute truths to live by.
But the Bible declares concerning “the church of the living God” that it is “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). The church is responsible to proclaim and preserve the truth, which God has given His people in His Word. The church is expected to hold forth the truth, to immovably, unshakably live, uphold, guard, and proclaim the truth of God’s Word. The people of the church must know they are called not only to believe in God’s perfect, authoritative truth as revealed in the Scriptures, but also to conduct their lives according to God’s truth. Christianity is a life in the truth!
Christians must know the importance of truth in their lives. The truth of God must govern their thinking, speech, conduct and teachings. The integrity of Christian life lies in its conformity to the truth of God’s Word!
The apostle John has written about his special joy concerning those who lived according to the truth. “I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father” (2 John 4). Again, he wrote, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 John 4).
God has given us His perfect truth through the Bible in order that we may not only know it and believe it, but also live by it. In the New Testament, the word “walk” is often used as a metaphor for the manner and activity of one’s life. Hence, the phrase “walking in truth” denotes how a Christian’s life ought to be controlled and guided by the truth.
In fact, John emphatically mentioned that their “walking in truth” was just “as we have received a commandment from the Father” (2 John 4). It is our heavenly Father’s will that we walk in the truth. So, living according to God’s truth is not optional for Christians. God has revealed His truth in the Bible, that we may be freed from ignorance, unbelief and disobedience to His will.
Christians who have received the truth of God in the Bible have a great responsibility to live according to the truth. The more clearly and bountifully He provides us with the truth of His Word, the greater is our responsibility to believe and obey it.
As a faithful minister of God’s Word, John commented, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” The ultimate goal of every true pastor or preacher is to see that his congregation walk in the truth of God. A pastor’s job is not to charm his congregation with an excellent exposition of the Word, but to diligently encourage, guide and help his people to believe, love, and obey the truth. He himself must be an example to the congregation as to how a Christian ought to walk in the truth. While a pastor’s great grief is that his people walk ignorantly or indifferently or rebelliously concerning the truth that God has revealed to them, his greatest joy is that they walk in the truth.
My beloved Gethsemaneans, are you walking in the truth? Are you moving along in life according to the biblical truths, or according to the fleshly and worldly ideas and goals?
Every one of us must be firmly planted on the solid foundation of the truth so that none will be led astray by the temptations of sin, false doctrines, trials or persecutions or any other device that is implemented against us by the enemy.
Let us live the truth! Let our habits and practices be all governed by His truth. Like the “elect lady and her children” who manifested abundant evidence of being consistent followers of Christ and His truth, as commended by the apostle John (cf. 2 John 1), may you also abound with evidence of a life in truth.