Spirit of truth
The Ultimate Victory
By Linda Rex
May 5, 2024, 6th Sunday in Easter—“I wish I had your faith,” a friend said to me. We had been talking about a change God had done in my life. The Lord had given me a totally new perspective about what it meant to follow Christ. And his grace had transformed my life.
The interesting thing about faith is that we cannot drum it up ourselves. We can only receive it as a gift from God. It is the faith of Jesus Christ that we need most, for only Jesus truly knows the trustworthiness, faithfulness, love, and goodness of the Triune God.
This Sunday’s reading in the New Testament, 1 John 5:1–6, speaks of the need to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God who lived in our human flesh, was crucified, and rose again. Bound up in the sacrificial self-offering of Jesus Christ is a profound expression of God’s love. As we believe, we receive this gift of love he offers us. This gift is God’s love poured out in the Spirit of truth. The Spirit bears witness within us to the reality that God has come to dwell in human hearts, through Jesus in the Spirit.
The love of God is poured out within our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). It is Christ in us by the Spirit who is the law of God written on human hearts. It is Jesus’ own face-to-face relationship with his Father in the Spirit that we participate in. It is his triumph over evil, sin, and death that we share in. And we find within his victory our own victory over all that opposes God. This is the beauty of our new life in Christ.
Too often we focus on the dos and don’ts of our life in Christ. We focus on whether or not we (or others) are measuring up to the standards we believe God requires of us. We find ourselves trying to hide our failures to love. We stuff down inside, as best as we can, all those things we are ashamed of and feel guilty about. And they only seem to gain strength and power.
What we miss is the reality that, in Christ, we are who God has declared us to be—his very own beloved children. We cannot alter our inclusion in his life by our behavior or misbehavior. God’s love is unconditional. However, the reality is that our experience of his love is affected by our behavior or misbehavior. And we may need to be reawakened to the reality in which we exist.
When my toddler threw a temper tantrum, it did not change the reality that they were my beloved child. It did not alter my love for them or my desire to be with them and to have them in my life. It did require that I respond to them in the most loving way possible. They needed to know who they were—my beloved child—and that the behavior they were manifesting was out of sync with that reality. The reality was they could not continue their misbehavior and fully enjoy the fellowship of our family.
Every person who has ever lived was created to participate in God’s life and love. God has loved every person since before the foundation of the world. God knew we each tend to turn and go our own way. This has not altered his love for us. Rather, he has worked since before time began to ensure that nothing, not even our own stubborn disobedient wills, would stand in the way of us being able to participate in his life and love. For it is God’s purpose that every person be included in his life and love for all eternity.
We cannot do any of this on our own. Our own efforts as humans have sent us down the road to ruin, back to the nothingness out of which we were created. God is not willing that anyone perish, and so the Son of God came. Born of a woman, he lived a very human life in obedience to his Father, and died a painful, bloody death. And he rose from the grave to carry our human flesh with him into glory. Now we all are able by faith to participate in Jesus’ own life with his Father in the Spirit. Jesus sent the Spirit from the Father to us so he might live his life in and through us. We have been given Christ’s own life of faith, obedience, and right relationship with his Father, by the Spirit.
We stand with open hands and open hearts to receive this gift of God’s love and grace. We are God’s beloved children. He is our very own Father. Jesus, as our brother and friend, includes us in his own fellowship with his Father in the Spirit. And the Spirit says in our hearts, the words of the Father and Jesus, “I am yours, and you are mine.”
If you are struggling to believe, simply ask the Lord Jesus to give you his faith to believe. He will be happy to share everything he has with you, including the faith to believe.
We thank you, heavenly Father, for the gift of your Son and your Spirit. We ask for the grace to believe—free us from our unbelief. Enable us to leave each day, by your Spirit, in the truth of who we are as your beloved children, accepted, forgiven, redeemed, and renewed, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.” 1 John 5:1–6 NASB
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ, the incarnate begotten son of God, loves the Father and esteems the son with equal affection. In this knowing [of mankind’s co-genesis revealed in the Christ-incarnation,] we love the children of God with the same love that we have discovered in God; we treasure the conclusion of his prophetic purpose with affection. For the love of God is realized in the way we evaluate his precepts; if love’s triumph is the conclusion of every prophetic pointer, how can this be interpreted as an unbearable burden? Whatever is born of God is destined to triumph over the world system. Our faith celebrates a victory that is already accomplished! This is the ultimate victory: the certainty that the human Jesus is the divine son of God; (that he is indeed the incarnate Christ—and the central theme of both the Word that was before time was as well as the key to understanding all of Scripture. He is the Savior of the world. …) This is he who was to come; he arrived in the flesh via his mother’s womb—by water and blood—Jesus Christ. And in his ministry as the Christ, he was not only borne witness to by John the Baptist in the prophetic baptism of water, but he went all the way into his baptism of death, in his shed blood, where he died humanity’s death. And it is the Spirit that bears witness according to her own being, which is truth!” 1 John 5:1–6 Mirror Bible
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The Cost of Truth
By Linda Rex
November 21, 2021, Christ the King or Reign of Christ, PROPER 29—I was standing in an aisle of the grocery store last week looking at the wide variety of crackers available for purchase. I was happy to see that there were more wholesome, natural products being offered at a price point similar to the common brand names. Then I looked more closely and realized that the price may have been similar but the amount of the product was significantly reduced in comparison to the others. It was obvious that an effort was being made to get buyers to choose their product, believing they would be buying a better product at a reasonable price, while in reality the buyer was being given much less product at a higher price.
I am saddened by all the different ways in which truth seems to inevitably depart from our human existence, especially when money or politics are involved. We give ourselves over so easily to the will and purposes of the father of lies rather than taking the difficult stand on what is truthful, authentic, and sincere. So often, we offer up our integrity on the altar of ease, comfort, pleasure, prosperity or popularity. We have made truth out to be something which is adjustable, according to our opinion or preference, rather than rooted in Someone outside ourselves—the One who is the God of truth, who came to us in Jesus—the way, the truth, the life—and who sent us the Spirit of truth to dwell in human hearts.
When Jesus was standing in the presence of Pilate during his last days here on earth, he was interrogated, asked whether or not he was the king of the Jews. Jesus did not lie about who he was, but rather, embraced the cost that went with telling the truth. He was born to be a king, but not the kind of human, political ruler Pilate should be concerned about. Jesus was the ruler of a spiritual kingdom—one which would be grounded in truth, rooted in his own self-offering on behalf of all humanity.
Pilate’s flippant comment at the end of their interview, “What is truth?” is a question that humans have wrestled with over the centuries. When we are not grounded in the One who is truth, we struggle to have a basis on which to establish truth. The loss of truth in our daily lives finds expression in a society and culture in which relativity reigns, where people adjust truth to suit their personal preferences and opinions, and where relationships falter and fall apart due to a lack of trust and authenticity.
There is a reason that truth is so essential. It is central to who we are. If we cannot simply be who we are—be truly sincere, genuine, and real—we find ourselves self-destructing and destroying our lives, our relationships, and the world in which we live. God never meant for us to struggle in this way. We were created to live and walk in truth because he is the God of truth in whose image we are made. We were designed to be people of integrity, honesty, and faithfulness because we are created in the image of the God who is faithful, honest, and reliable.
The necessary ingredient for truth to be central to our existence in relationship with God and others, though, is grace. We cannot have truth just on its own or it will destroy us, since we so often, by our human sinfulness, never seem to choose truth. Or we use truth to harm or destroy others rather than to build them up in love. This is why Jesus brought us both grace and truth. God knew that apart from him offering us forgiveness and mercy, we could never walk in truth—we always seem to wander away from this way of being we were created to live in.
Jesus was telling the truth to Pilate when he said he was born to be a king, and was the king of the Jews. He knew that his kingship was being rejected in that moment by his people, even though he had come to them and was offering them the opportunity to participate in his kingdom right then by faith. Jesus was establishing the divine kingdom of God in his flesh—living our life, dying our death, and he would rise again, bringing all of humanity into a new realm of existence in which they, by faith, could participate in his kingdom by the Spirit. This sacrificial self-offering was necessary for grace to undergird the kingdom of God being established by the One who is the truth of our existence as those made in the image of God.
When we read God’s word, we see how much God hates untruth. He hates it because it dehumanizes us—makes us what we were never meant to be—dishonest, unfaithful, inauthentic, untrustworthy—all ways of being which destroy and tear down society, relationships, and families. Untruth, though often considered an essential business practice, actually destroys people’s trust and ruins the reputation of a business or organization or leader. The power of untruth to destroy is seen all around us every day, but we still seem to choose it as an option when faced with the consequences of telling the truth.
This is because telling the truth, being honest, sincere and authentic, has a cost. This cost resembles what Jesus went through when he told the truth about who he was as the Son of God, the king of the Jews. The cost of telling the truth is a participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you want the benefits of the kingdom of truth, you need to be willing to pay the price of entering into the kingdom—truth-telling involves dying to self, laying down one’s preferences, popularity and all the perks of this life, for the sake of the kingdom of God—for the sake of living and walking in truth.
How easy it is to varnish the truth a little! To slip in a little white lie rather than have that difficult conversation! To polish or add a little glitz rather than to humbly admit what really happened! It takes a great deal of humility, courage, and faith to simply speak the truth in love when we would rather do otherwise.
One of the spiritual disciplines we have studied in our spiritual formation group is truth-telling. In Adele Calhoun’s book “Handbook of Spiritual Disciplines”, she explains that truth-telling is an offering up to God of space in our hearts and lives by telling the truth, in love, in every situation, no matter the cost to ourselves. This can be a very difficult thing for some of us, because we may have lied so often to ourselves and others that we have a hard time discerning what the truth really is. This is why we turn to Jesus, the One who is the truth. We receive from him the Spirit of truth—Christ’s nature of honesty, integrity, and truthfulness. It is by grace that we become truth-tellers.
We can begin the process of truth-telling by humbly coming to Christ the King and telling him the truth. We do not need to fear telling Jesus the truth because he already knows it—he simply wants us to admit it, and to receive his grace for having been less than truthful. We can ask God for the grace to tell the truth in every situation, receiving from him the Spirit of truth we need so that we can be Christlike people who live and walk in truth. What will it cost you to tell the truth today? Receive from Jesus his own self-offering of truth so that you can pay the cost of being a truth-teller in his kingdom.
Dear Father of truth, forgive us for our dishonesty and untruthfulness, for all the ways we embellish or alter the truth. Thank you for the grace you offer us in Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life. Grant us, by your Spirit of truth, the grace to be truth-tellers, now and forever, in your heavenly kingdom, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
“Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, ‘Are You the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?’ Pilate answered, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.’ Therefore Pilate said to Him, ‘So You are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’” John 18:33–37 NASB
When Truth of Being Hurts
By Linda Rex
In this discussion about truth and the truth of our being, it occurs to me that just having truth or being people who value truth is insufficient. God, who is truth, has sent the Spirit of truth through Jesus who is “the way, the truth, and the life” to us to dwell in human hearts. So we have the Spirit of truth available to us at all times.
But the reality is that even though we have the truth at our disposal, we also need a huge helping of God’s grace to go with it. Truth without grace and love is dangerous and destructive. Being truly open about one’s self or being authentic about who we are can bring about deeply painful and horrific consequences when it is told to the wrong person, and/or at the wrong time, and/or in the wrong way. Anyone who has been the victim of malicious gossip or Internet bullying is well aware of this fact.
Living out the truth of our being does not automatically ensure that the people in our lives are going to accept or embrace this reality when it appears. Jesus lived authentically his whole life and look how he ended up!
Sincerity, integrity, authenticity were a part of his nature, but the people around him often did not appreciate this, especially when it exposed their own hypocrisy, insincerity and deceitfulness, and their own prejudices. In fact, whenever we find Jesus pointing out the truth of who he was and the truth that the listeners were not living in agreement with their truth of being as God’s children, we also see them plotting his death and destruction. In these situations we see the huge contrast between, as Paul puts it, the expression of fleshly wisdom and the administration of the grace of God through holiness and godly sincerity.
Fleshly wisdom in this area is the natural human response of self-preservation and self-protection through image-management, manipulation of others, pretense and hypocrisy. Soon we become like the white-washed tombs which Jesus talked about—they look great on the outside, but on the inside is only death and dead men’s bones. We may think we’re fooling everyone else, but we’re really only fooling ourselves.
Because all the pretense, image-management and spinning of the truth in the world cannot remove the reality that we are completely and thoroughly known and loved by a God who knows us down to the very depths of our soul. The Spirit of truth doesn’t just dwell in heaven, but in human hearts—and he knows the truth of who we really are. In fact, the Spirit of truth is the very Breath of God who breathes life into our human bodies so we live and breathe every moment of every day.
The reality is, if he decided to do so, the Holy Spirit could just stop breathing life into you or me and we would simply die. When Peter pointed out the truth to Ananias and Sapphira they both had conspired to lie to the Spirit of truth, they died on the spot—their breath left them. They had been trying to be something they were not by impressing the early church with how generous and good they were when in reality they were hedging their bets because they didn’t truly trust God to care for them and provide for them if they donated all they had to help others.
I don’t know about you, but I know that I have on occasion been equally guilty of image-management and being generous under false pretenses. It has only been due to the love and grace of God that I am still breathing and doing ministry today. I’m reminded by all this to treat the Spirit of truth with a great deal of respect—honoring him by being sincere and truthful—but I am also reminded that in the end, it’s all of grace.
So in receiving God’s grace to be sincere, authentic and a person of integrity, I also receive the grace to love and forgive others who are insincere, inauthentic and lacking in integrity. In receiving God’s love in the midst of my mess, which is who I really am, I am able to offer to others the freedom to be the beautiful mess they truly are.
God is always at work to bring the truth to light, because it is in his nature of truth. He is the Spirit of truth, and Jesus is the truth of our being. God will not stop working to bring us all to the place where we are people of integrity, honesty and authenticity, because he is conforming each one of us to the image of Christ, who is truth. This is why we put our faith in Jesus Christ, in the Truth, and not in ourselves or in any one or anything else. May God complete his work in each of us to bring us into all truth, and may he grant us the grace to love and forgive others as well.
Thank you, God, that you are our God of truth, our Spirit of truth, our Messiah who is the way the truth and the life. Thank you that you are gracious and loving at the core of your Being, for we are fully dependent upon your grace and love. Thank you, Spirit of truth, that you overlook our shortcomings, for without you we would not live and breathe. Finish, Lord, all your work of transformation so that we may reflect you as you really are, in truth. In your name, Father, Son and Spirit, we pray. Amen.
“For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.” 2 Cor. 1:12
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