Hello everyone,
If I were to ask you, “Why was Jesus born? Why did Jesus come into the world?” how would you answer?
I think many would respond to those questions by saying that Jesus was born and came into the world to save us from death. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that, but it’s an oversimplification and a misleading one. To understand why that is, consider what our Lord himself answered when he was being questioned by the Roman Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate:
“For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” John 18:37 (John 18:37 ESV)
He came to bear witness to the truth. Yehovah God sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that he could bear witness to the truth. What does it mean to “bear witness”? That is a translation of the Greek word martureó which is a legal term as Strong’s Lexicon explains: “The term implies a solemn declaration of truth, often in a legal or formal setting, and is used to affirm the truth of a matter based on personal knowledge or experience.”
Jesus isn’t just some university professor transmitting head knowledge to his students. The truth that Jesus bears witness to is from his personal experience. He comes to impart his personal knowledge about his Father, so that we can know the truth about God, who is the source of all truth. We cannot be saved apart from God who is the Father of Jesus, and we cannot be saved if we don’t accept the truth about God that Jesus came to impart.
The importance of truth is highlighted by how Jesus concludes his statement to Pilate. He says that “everyone who is of the truth listens to me.” What does it mean to be “of the truth”? The New International Version renders it: “Everyone on the side of truth….” The New Living Translation gives: “All who love the truth….” The Berean Standard Bible renders it: “Everyone who belongs to the truth….” So, what do we discern from these various renderings?
We discern that it’s not about having the truth so much as about our attitude toward the truth. Do we side with it? Do we love it? Do we belong to it?
And it follows that if you don’t love, side with, and belong to the truth, you won’t be listening to Jesus’ voice. How can anyone be saved who doesn’t listen to Jesus’ voice?
I said that the fact that Jesus was born and came into the world to save us from death is an oversimplification. The reason is that it allows people to think they can just sit on their hands and be saved.
Some might argue against that by referring to John 12:47 where Jesus says that he came into the world to save it. But let’s not ignore the context.
“As for anyone who hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not receive My words: The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. I have not spoken on My own, but the Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it. And I know that His command leads to eternal life. So I speak exactly what the Father has told Me to say.” (John 12:47-50 BSB)
Did you notice the connection Jesus makes between being saved and hearing and keeping his word? He says that “the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”
Jesus’ word is truth. Those who belong to, side with, and love truth listen to Jesus, and we will be judged in accordance with how we obey or fail to obey that truth. But this isn’t his truth, but the Father’s truth. Jesus came to bear witness to the truth about God that he experienced personally while with God in heaven.
He speaks the truth exactly as the Father instructed him to say. That is why he uses a word martureó which applies when one is bearing witness or giving sworn testimony in court about things one has personally witnessed and experienced.
Remember that our salvation depends on whether or not we obey Jesus’ words, his truth from God. And that is the fact that a lot of Christians do not want to accept. The thinking of so many can be summed up by the response Pontius Pilate gave to Jesus.
“What is truth?” said Pilate. After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again…” (John 18:37, 38a CSB)
Pilate didn’t want an answer for his rhetorical question. He sure didn’t wait for one. He left immediately.
Apparently, Pilate didn’t believe there was such a thing as real truth. Everything was relative to his mind. Sadly, many Christians today feel and act as Pilate did. Even serious Bible students have fallen prey to the idea that all truth is relative. “You have your interpretation, and I have mine, but as long as we love one another, it’s all good.”
Really?! Jesus was born and came into the world to bear witness to relative truth?! It doesn’t matter what we believe as long as we’re nice to each other?!
Where does the Bible tell us that? Jesus told the Samaritan woman that God was looking for people to worship him in spirit and truth. But who decides what is true?
You? Me? Is it all a matter of one’s personal point of view?
Truth, God’s truth, is compared to a foundation stone, like the corner stone of a building that is inscribed. The Apostle Paul puts it this way:
“But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The LORD knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the LORD must turn away from evil.”” (2 Timothy 2:19 NLT)
Why would people not want to have the absolute assurance of God’s truth? If you’re constructing a building based on faith, would you want to build on a weak and shifting foundation? How stupid would that be?
Jesus says that “everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does them will be like a discreet man who built his house on the rock. And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and lashed against that house, but it did not cave in, for it had been founded on the rock. Furthermore, everyone hearing these sayings of mine and not doing them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and struck against that house, and it caved in, and its collapse was great.” (Matthew 7:24-27)
What are the sayings of Jesus that we must listen to and obey to build our faith on a solid foundation, in short, to be saved?
Did Jesus teach a Trinity? Did he teach a Twinity, that he would become God upon his resurrection? Did he teach that he had never existed before being born a human?
Does it really matter that we all believe different things? Can’t we all be saved as long as we’re nice to one another?
Let’s think about that for a moment. Jesus came to bear witness to the truth. The term he used means that he was giving sworn testimony to the things he saw, heard, and experienced—the things he saw his Father doing, the things he heard his Father saying, and the things he experienced at the side of his Father. If he didn’t pre-exist in heaven, then it would appear that his testimony is no better than that of any other 30-year-old man.
But if he did pre-exist as part of a Trinity or a Twinity, in other words, if Jesus is God, then why does he always point to God and not himself? He only tells us what he saw God do, and heard God say. If Jesus is God, then it would appear that our Lord suffers from some kind of identity crisis?
Why is it that people try so hard to blur the truth? I mean, the truth is clearly stated and what is more, it makes so much more sense than what is taught in the Christian religions of today. Given the importance of building on a firm foundation of truth, why do so many think that no one can truly know what the truth is? Like Pilate’s rhetorical question—“What is Truth?”—they live by the creed that there is no absolute truth; that it doesn’t really matter what we believe as long as we’re all loving to one another.
Are they really guided by love, or is that just a cover for what really motivates them: Fear of man? As a disciple of Jesus, there are many fears that we have to face down:
Jesus tells us that “if you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27, 28 NLT)
Being a disciple of Christ means taking a stand for truth. But if everything is open to interpretation then, truth can be bent to fit the needs of the moment, can’t it? Does that sound like what Jesus preached and died for?
Jesus isn’t asking us to risk our family relationships and endure persecution, even death, based on a personal interpretation of Scripture! Would you sacrifice everything, even your life, based on an opinion?
And further, is God Almighty such a terrible communicator that he can’t tell his children the truth in such a way as they can understand it clearly and unequivocally? Not at all! In fact, God is the consummate communicator, because he can hide truth in plain sight. In simple language, he can reveal truth to his children and yet hide it from the children of the devil. Jesus praised his Father for this:
“At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.” (Luke 10:21 NLT)
But living God’s truth comes at a cost. You see, if I accept what established religions believe, then I don’t have to worry about being persecuted. If Abel had offered God the same kind of sacrifice that Cain had, God would not have blessed him, but he also would not have been murdered by his older brother.
Granted, there are some things which are matters of conscience. For instance, can I celebrate a birthday? The Bible doesn’t really say one way or the other. It leaves it up to your conscience.
“…do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.” (Colossians 2:16 NIV)
If you follow your conscience with regard to such things, then you’re good with God. But not everything is a matter of conscience. If that were the case, if our personal interpretation were all that was required, then why did Jesus say that his Father is looking for those who would worship in spirt and in truth…IN TRUTH! (John 4:24) And why would Jesus tell his disciples this:
‘I still have so many things to tell you... But you won’t be able to handle them all right now. However, when that one (the Spirit of Truth) arrives, it’ll lead you to all truth… And it won’t be speaking for itself; it’ll tell you what it hears and then it’ll announce the things that will be coming. ‘That one will also glorify me, because it’ll receive things from me and then announce them to you. For everything that the Father has is now mine, and that’s why I say that it’ll receive things from me and then announce them to you!” (John 16:12-15 2001 Translation)
Either the Spirit is doing a very bad job of guiding Jesus’ disciples to “all the truth” or the Spirit is just not operating in everyone who claims to follow Jesus, despite what they think.
I admit that no one has all the truth. We are learning truth every day. But not having all the truth doesn’t mean we don’t have any truth. I’m talking about truths worth dying for.
In addition, it is not the truth we have that’s important. It’s our love for truth. If we love truth, we’ll abandon what we think is truth as soon as we realize we are wrong. We won’t let our ego get in the way of our salvation. Many of us have done just that. We thought for years that we had the truth, so much so that we referred to our religion as “the Truth.” Yes, I thought for decades that I was “in the truth,” but when I found out it was a lie, I left. Why? Because I love truth and hate the lie.
When I realized that I didn’t have it, I prayed for it, sought it, and found it. I believed the truth expressed in this verse: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7 NIV)
And now each day I try to grow in it, because it is the love of truth that matters.
Notice that those whom God destroys perish “because they did not accept the love of the truth in order that they might be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:10)
Those promoting the idea that we all have our own Biblical viewpoints, and that what really matters is that we love one another, just don’t understand the love of God. Love is hard. Love is demanding. It requires us to put up with a lot of hardship and slander.
The writer of Hebrews told us to look to Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who in view of the joy lying before Him endured the cross, having despised its shame, and sat down at right hand of the throne of God. For consider fully the One having endured such great hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you shall not grow weary, fainting in your souls.” (Hebrews 12:2, 3 BLB)
If you truly love your brothers and sisters, then you’ll speak truth to them and correct them when they go wrong, and if they hate you for it and slander you for it, as our former associates in the Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses have done, you just put up with it. Because love demands that you do what you can to save others, even if they don’t appreciate your efforts and vilify you for making them see a truth they can’t accept.
That is what Jesus did, and if we are to follow him and imitate his love, it is what we must do also.
Thank you for listening and for supporting our work.