TRUTH MAKES YOU FREE
1- Truth is a person.
John 14:6 NKJV
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 1:17 NKJV
“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
POINTS TO DISCUSS:
Many speak about knowing truth, but truth is not a concept or idea, truth is a person. Jesus! Without Jesus we are blinded to truth. Like the old hymn says: “…I was blind but now I see…” when we Know Jesus, we Know truth.
Let’s read I Timothy 2:1-7 and pay special attention to the underlined italic words.
I Timothy 2:1-7“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying— a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” Here we see that it’s God’s will for us to come to truth, which means, to come to Jesus. He paid the price for us to come to the truth.
God’s will is for us to come to salvation by coming to the person of Jesus, He is the truth. There’s not other truth or way to the Father. This salvation is free because Christ paid the price. Give your life to Jesus today and follow Him always.
2- Arm yourself with the truth.
We have been studying that we are part of the army of God, we have an armour and weapons given by the Lord to engage in battle against the devil, we are not given an armour so we can look nice, but to actively fight the good fight of faith. Last week we learned about the helmet of salvation, today we will learn about being girded with truth as Ephesians 6:14a tells us.
Ephesians 6:14a
“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth…”
Read the following Scriptures:
2 Timothy 2:1-4 NLT
“Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.”
Psalms 91:4 NKJV
“He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.”
Proverbs 3:3-7
“Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favour and high esteem in the sight of God and man.”
POINTS TO DISCUSS:
The truth keeps the armour held together.
We can use the analogy of weight lifter athletes, they all wear strong belts that will help them keep the posture to lift up weights that an average person cannot do. In fact, it’s impossible for a normal person to lift up the kind of weights these body builders do. God’s truth has the same effect on our lives. In Christ we can do things that are impossible for man because we are securely wrapped in God’s truth.
Jesus is the Truth and Jesus is the Word. Stay in the truth, stay in the Word. Study the Bible, meditate on it day and night.
3- Truth makes you free
John 8:32
NKJV
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
AMP
“And you will know the truth [regarding salvation], and the truth will set you free [from the penalty of sin].”
TPT
“For if you embrace the truth, it will release more freedom into your lives.”
POINTS TO DISCUSS:
There is freedom in the truth. You can be living in bondage to fear, rejection, anxiety, sins, etc not knowing that Christ set you already free. Your difficulty, circumstances or sin can seem impossible to break, like a big block of ice. But that big block of ice can be poked and the ice can crack and break. You make think your problem is so big that the solution has to be something big and perhaps unattainable, but a simple Word from God, a simple promise you take hold of, you can receive the breakthrough. Simple faith in the truth of God will set you free.
The verse says, when we “know the truth,” it’s not just head knowledge, it’s not our own wisdom but a revelation of the Holy Spirit into our spirits (heart). It may seem simple, but it has power to make you free.
Let’s see how the Christians in Thessalonia received the truth of God,
I Thessalonians 2:13 NKJV
“For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” The truth works in us when we believe it. The Thessalonians believed it even though it was preached by mere men.
4- Love truth
II Thessalonians 2:9-17 NKJV
“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.”
POINTS TO DISCUSS:
Jesus will give you what you want. If you truly love the truth of God, He’ll give you the truth. The reason God will give a strong delusion to people is because they do not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. God is not the bad one here, but the people who choose unrighteousness. Don’t focus on the negative but in what says next that, “God from the beginning chose us for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called us by his gospel,” this is something to rejoice about!
Titus 1:1-3 NLT says, “This letter is from Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives. This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began. And now at just the right time he has revealed this message, which we announce to everyone. It is by the command of God our Saviour that I have been entrusted with this work for him.”
God calls everyone to come to the truth but only chooses those who really want the truth. Who are not satisfied with alternatives or half truths but the real truth.
5- We have the Spirit of truth.
John 14:17-18 NKJV
“the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
John 4:24 NKJV
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
POINTS TO DISCUSS:
The Holy is the one who reveals the truth to those who are hungry for it. He opens up the Scriptures to us.
Don’t be afraid of going wrong, but instead trust the Lord, He has given you the Holy Spirit and He dwells in us. He will guide us and teach us the truth.
if you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you can receive Him today.
Karina Maile