The Truth

Ephesians 4:21 “if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus”

We speak a lot about “truth” in Christianity and the emphasis is a lot towards the truth. But, almost all of us are in perfect ignorance on what truth all these great verses refer to. This meditation would focus on this particular truth.

This verse clearly tells us that the owner or provider of this truth is Jesus Christ himself. It did not start from Paul or any other person. The whole bible is based on this truth only. Reading verses 17 to 24, we would find that the ignorance is the culprit that has led many towards sin and darkness. The truth brings forth a new person. This revelation of truth should be the actual reason for salvation, baptism, new birth and every other event we come through as our initial commitment towards God.

A straight direction for us to move in this understanding is John 14:6 where Jesus says that “I am the way, the truth and the life”. This means that Jesus Himself is the truth. We can also say that every other God, doctrine or even people are just fakes and Jesus himself is the truth. But, we cannot conclude our search here. Of course, it is Jesus and we should end our search, but we need the revelation on how Jesus is the truth so that we would be transformed.

The context of this verse is when Jesus has just finished the last supper, Peter is informed about his upcoming denial (13:38), Jesus immediately comforts Peter and others. This comfort in Verse 14:2, is given as an answer for our weakness and not for the absence of Jesus Christ. This is the nature of Jesus, a person who completely thinks about his children even just before He was crucified.

His promise there was that Jesus would go and prepare a place for us. This preparation does not explain that Jesus would go and build a home. This preparation points to the cross where Jesus had made us righteous. Jesus said that He will come back and take Peter and others first towards Jesus Himself i.e., righteousness and then to glory (verse 3: where I am). We know that Peter became a new person away from sin. We can also read the mention of “receive to myself”. This place is exactly where Jesus is. We are called to share His glory. The Greek term says “will lay hold closely” which is an even more magnificent display of His love and our destiny.

Now, Jesus says that I am the way when Thomas asks Jesus about the way to this destiny. But, Jesus could have stopped with the word “way”, but he went on saying that I am the truth and life. Life is again a very relevant word here as life here means actual living with Him. Jesus says that our destiny is Jesus Himself. The way and the destination is Jesus himself. Here, Jesus had the necessity to include the word “Truth” because, everything else is a lie.

Let us note that there are plenty of mansions in Heaven. But still Jesus goes there to prepare a special place. The other places are not lies, but unattainable. Jesus does not take us to heaven to leave us there all alone, but He takes us there and we would stay close to Him. We would rightfully live in His place where there would be no questioning.

This is the truth Jesus mentions here. There is no other way to glory than through Jesus. We are inheriting heaven just because we would cling on to Jesus. Heaven is a very high and inaccessible place and because of our sins, we have come very much far which cannot be attained unless we go there through Jesus Christ. Let us note that Jesus starts this explanation in John 14:1 with a request to believe Him and not lose hope.

We can see the same emphasis in John 8:32. “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free”. And our understanding of truth follows in verse 36: “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” Verse 24 says that “If you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins”.

Jesus says this to the Jews who had just started believing in Jesus. The previous verse wants us to abide in His words to become His disciples and then we will know the truth. Knowing the truth here is a promise and not a commandment. The commandment is to abide in His word. 

But, since these men persisted saying that “we are not slaves”, Jesus says to them that (v 43, 44) they cannot hear Him as they belong to the devil who keeps them in lies. This is the only weapon the devil has. The truth is that Jesus can and only Jesus can deliver us. There is no other truth. Our choice of who we listen to is the person who owns us. The reason for our slavery, addiction and guilt is that we choose lies and not to believe that Jesus can save us.

We can also see an example where Satan driving people away from learning the truth in John 18:37, 38. Jesus clearly started explaining Pilate about the truth. But, interrupting Jesus, Pilate asks “what is truth” and even before waiting for an answer, he turns away. This is how Satan removes our concentration to make us ignorant of the truth.

In John 17:17-19, when Jesus was praying, he prayed “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” This verse is again said about Jesus’ disciples and at the same time as earlier.  Jesus is praying that God, these men are revealed with the truth now and have come to you. Please purify them through the covenant that I would make tomorrow (day of crucifixion). I am your word and have given your word. This word cannot fail. And in verse 19, Jesus explains that His baptism was not to bring him close to God, but for our sakes. In other terms, we can see that Jesus carrying our sins and cleansing Himself so that all our sins are washed away.

Also, the word “sanctify” also points to separation from sin. This is the same thing we read in Ephesians 4:22 onwards. Let is remove all impurity and put on righteousness and holiness.

In 1 Timothy 3:15, Paul writes to Timothy that the Church is the pillar and support for the truth. This truth should be upheld by the Church. All of us together should give the highest importance to this truth that we have learnt.

Divine Calling

Ephesians 4:1: “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.”

The word “calling” is prevalent throughout the New Testament and not only Paul uses this phrase, Jude (Jude 1:1), Peter (1 Peter 5:10) and John (Rev 17:14) use the term “calling” which means that this word was uttered a lot in the apostolic period.

God does not call people for specific tasks anywhere in the new covenant.  Many pastors and other evangelists use the word “calling” for God’s call to ministry. Eph 4:11 says that God himself gives grace to people so that they would become Apostles, Pastors etc. And this is according to the measure of Christ’s gift to us. It is God who either establishes or decides and makes his people to be such ministers. But, the calling of God is towards one hope (Ep 4:4) and is for everybody. Paul explains this clearly that there is only one body, Spirit, Lord, faith, baptism and one God. There are no different calling to individuals.

Interestingly, we can see the emphasis of the Trinity in these verses (4,5,6) too. One body which is the Church and the Church is being led by the Holy Spirit, Christ our Lord who establishes our faith and baptize, that is cleanses us and God, the Father. Again God is above all (God the father), through all (Christ with us) and in all (Holy Spirit).

In this verse (Eph 4:1), Paul is asking us to walk in a manner which is worthy of our calling. This walking is not towards our calling, but worthy to the calling. In a similar statement, Paul (in 2 Thessalonians 1:11) mentions that he prays regularly for the Church in Thessalonica that everybody there would be counted worthy of the calling. These verses hint that the calling is very divine and even a church which is mature enough (2 Thes 1:3) may not be worthier for the divine calling. The divine calling is the ultimate goal and our eyes should always be focused on this calling.

2 Thes 2:14 says that this goal is the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible wants us to always remember that this goal is a very valuable prize we could ever attain. But, we are called towards this marvelous light. The importance of this prize is that we are called towards this goal and it is completely our responsibility to gain/attain this goal. Salvation is a free gift whereas glory is not.

We read this clearly in the parable of the wedding in Mathew 22:1-14. Jesus uses the same phrase here. “Many were called, but few were chosen.” We see the king regretting his previous invitation to the first chosen people in verse 8 that they were not worthy. We lose our worth by taking light of God’s invitation. God sees our worthiness to His call only in terms of honoring and understanding the seriousness of His directions. This task requires plenty of humility. It requires a lot of these characteristics:  (Ep 4:2,3) “all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Again, the glory of Jesus Christ is very different from the glory the earth defines. Glory in this earth is leadership, richness or fame. But, Jesus chose our salvation (John 17) to be His glory. Let us not seek heaven as we would rule there, but let us seek heaven for its Holiness, purity and perfection.

Now, based on the word, “many were called, but few were chosen” if we read Romans 8:30, we can read that as a list of stages. First God foresees, among them He predestines, among then He calls and among them He justifies and among them He glorifies. In this series, we see justification after calling. This means that we are called towards glory and then for glory, we are saved. These verses (v29) also say that our destination is to conform to the image of Jesus and this is the glory we receive. Glory is perfection in Holiness. 1 Tim 6:12 says that we are called to eternal life. This glory is eternal and the world’s fame is temporary.

Romans 8:28 says that all things work together for good to those who are called. This means everything in the world, including the stock market, budgets, governments, entertainment industry and even the evil world operates for the good of those who are called. These things, some edify us and some persecute us. But the purpose of these operations is to build a kingdom for God so that there are enough people who become Christ-like. This means that persecution, rejection and humiliation is good for us. Let us believe in the importance God gives us, who are called. To build a small group of chosen people, there are 7 billion people and billions of other living creatures in the world.

2 Peter 1:3, Jesus has called us with his own Glory and Excellence. And through this knowledge of Jesus, we receive everything that leads us towards life and godliness. We need to really know who Jesus is. The bible says that the truth will set us free. A clear knowledge of Jesus and God is mandatory in this pursuit towards glory. Unless we look towards seeing and understanding Jesus, but just participate as in rituals, there is no way we can gain the destiny. In 2 Peter 1:10, Paul wants us to be certain about this calling. If we are not sure about the divine calling, let us try harder to understand this clearly. This understanding and practice will keep us from stumbling. We read the same thing in Hebrews 3:1.

These people are referred as sanctified by God and safely kept by Jesus Christ in Jude 1:1. It is God who has made us holy and not one person on earth has the authority to judge us. Jesus himself keeps us safely with Him. Even if the world rejects us, let us remember that we are safe in Jesus’ hands and God has accepted us. In romans 8:30, we read the word justified, which also means clarified. Nobody can blame us for our previous life as everything is crystal clear now.

Phil 3:12-14 Let us press on towards the destiny forgetting our past. Jesus has given us a purpose and he holds us for that. We need to pursue that. Whatever may come and go, let us continue to press on towards this holy calling. The purpose was given to us by Christ Himself and he has first held us. We are called, selected and separated for a divine purpose. Let us keep ourselves worthier and continue our walk in this world. Paul calls this destiny a prize which means that we may have to toil till the end or final stage and after the end, we would receive the reward which is glory with Jesus Christ.

Christian Walking

Ephesians 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.

Walking is an important metaphor used by God and many authors in the Bible. Walking essentially is moving about or going through various phases of life. In the bible, we read about walking in darkness or valley of shadow of death etc.

In Deuteronomy 5:32,33 we read the state of Jews who were scared in listening to God and so, wanted Moses to do the mediation. Then God says that “Thou shall walk in all the ways God directs you”. This is the important instruction to them so that they would fear God and obey Him. The OT is a complete path God has defined for them to walk on. The condition is that they should not turn left or right and the reward is that they could live in the Promised Land for a long time.

Similarly, if we have to live in heaven for ever, then we have to walk again the in the ways that God wants us to live. However, it is not the OT now, but the ways the Holy Spirit guides us through.

Another stage is in Zechariah 3:7, if we walk in God’s ways, we do not just go to heaven, we get to govern as rulers.

Interestingly analyzing the word “walk” in the bible, we can see three types of walking.

1. Walking with God.

This is the very common phrase we see. Enoch, Noah walked with God (Genesis 5:22, Genesis 6:9).  There is an important thing we should see in Enoch’s life. It is documented that everybody else “lived” for so many years, Enoch “walked with God” instead.  Instead of living his personal life of pursuit of money or property he chose to walk with God.

One thing everybody usually think of giving up when serving God is family. But, it is clearly written that Enoch had sons and daughters and they grew up well while Enoch was walking with God throughout his life. So, walking with God does not mean an exclusive spiritual experience, but a lifestyle that has God’s involvement in all aspects.

As per Amos 3:3, two men walk together only when their destiny is the same. They have an agreement on where they are going and which way they take in their pursuit. Here, it is God with whom we are agreeing. God has already defined His way in the Bible. Walking with God is complete agreement with God and this is not just obedience we give Him. It is that we agree with God that His ways are right and perfect. We happily obey to His commandments when we walk with Him.

Another aspect of walking with God is that it is not only our desires are being shared with God, but also, we look for God’s desires and try to serve them outside our life. This should be an important characteristic of ministers. When walking closer with God, we should listen to His personal instructions to us and see wherever we can serve Him so that His name is glorified in this earth.

In Genesis 6:9, reading about Noah, it is documented that Noah was righteous and blameless in his time so that He could walk with God. This is a marvelous reward we receive when we stand apart in this world from its unrighteous ways. We may have everybody’s enmity and disgust. But the one who walks with us is the Almighty and He gives this reward only to a very few in each time.

2. Walking before God.

                Genesis 17:1, God instructions Abram after his 24 year long wait for the heir that “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless”. We can see similar sayings by Isaac (24:40) and Jacob (48:15).

                This is an idea God gives to Abram so that he could be blameless. “Walk before me”. This walk is very personal with God and receives instant instructions for each step. This is just like children are being monitored by their dads. We all have this wonderful opportunity of walking before God as He live inside us in the form of Holy Spirit. God also says that “I am God Almighty.” In earlier chapters of the book of Genesis, God wants Abraham to just go out of him home to become a new great nation. In chapter 15 God calls Himself that He is Abraham’s shield and his reward and so, he need not worry about anything. This was about the promise God will give Abraham after 25 years. For this promise to work, it is important that Abraham lives his life in front of God and God in turn mightily would help Abraham to be blameless. What a promise. Isaac and Jacob uses this term “God before whom I walked” for important tasks.

3. Following God.

                Similarly, Caleb is given a certificate that he followed God fully. (Numbers 14:24, Deut 1:36 and Joshua 14:8 and many other verses.) These are certain certificates God loves to give his own children. Caleb, from a whole generation of people who obeyed God, he followed God’s ways fully. There was no deviation whatsoever.

                Interestingly, in the gospels, whoever Jesus wanted to become disciples were called by this term only. “Follow me”. This instruction is specific and makes us realize that we were all wandering without a shepherd or a leader. Jesus’s primary instruction throughout His ministry was “follow me”. (Mathew 4:18-20). This following requires us to leave our priorities or anything that holds us back. This stage is slightly heavier in the NT. In the OT, God’s purpose was that we should fill the earth with His children and so, follow me was to follow Him with all his family and property. But in the NT, it is required (Luke 18:22, 23) that we leave them behind and follow Jesus. This is because of the sensitivity and importance of the calling.

                In Luke 9:59-60, we see Jesus calling everybody else to be dead men and that we have a very high calling and understanding that makes us alive than everybody else in the world. This calling makes us forsake our responsibilities too and pursue Him.

In John 12:26 Jesus says that we should follow Him wherever He is in order to server Him. This verse straightly points at persecution or following Jesus to the cross. Jesus wanted everybody to part take in His suffering as much as losing life itself.

This explains the method of Christian walking we read in Ephesians 4:1,2. A walk with lowliness, gentleness and all other characteristics that point towards self-denial and keep up the unity or fellowship. This kind of walking is blameless, always thinking about the master and walking before Him will result in the manner of walk we are called towards. This is the same thing Jesus says to Thomas in John 14:6, where Thomas was clueless on how to follow Jesus.  Here, the method is to consume Jesus, be filled with Jesus, long for Jesus and accept Jesus completely so that Jesus becomes our way.