Seeing the Truth through the Cross

Three more important concepts to understand when searching for the truth about God and His Word is to bring it “through the cross”, see it “in the light of the revelation of Jesus Christ” and to include the Lord in our search. To see something “through the cross” is to recognise that some things are changed because of the cross. For example, before Jesus went to the cross and “became sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21) we stood before God with our own righteousness and we fell short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). After the cross our faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross enables us to stand before the Father with “the righteousness of God…” himself. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Seeing the Truth in Jesus

To see the truth through the revelation of Jesus Christ is to recognise that the character and ways of God are best seen in the life and through the words of Jesus. In Hebrews1:1-3 we read how God in these days speaks through Jesus in a way that is far clearer than how He spoke through the prophets of old. Jesus is always going to be the best picture of what God is like! John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.) full of grace and truth.”

Seeing the Truth with Jesus

In my search for truth I have found that it is really helpful to be “in a conversation with God” while studying in the Scripture. The actual inclusion of Him with comments like “What are you saying here Lord? I don’t get it. Any help would be appreciated…” I find to be especially helpful. Another helpful hint is to change your Bible commentary or Study Bible or translation.

Different backgrounds, temperaments and personalities can cause us to have different attitudes to studying the Bible and searching for further revelation. Some may exalt intellectual knowledge too highly but some demean it and then risk floundering in ignorance. Dangerous ignorance isn’t not knowing something; but thinking you know something that actually isn’t true. These are the doctrine police who go about trying to convince people about their fallible opinion. Peter admitted he didn’t understand all of what Paul said and warned about people who twisted these and other scriptures.

2 Peter 3:16 “As also in all his (Paul’s) epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.”

We can have a conversation with nearly anyone if we don’t feel compelled to prove we are right and they are wrong. It has been said that “Spiritual maturity is moving from confident arrogance to thoughtful uncertainty”. Sometimes it is our responsibility to reveal what we believe to be truth, but when we do, to do so with confidence and with humility rather than with dogmatic arrogance. Let the Holy Spirit convict and reveal the truth. He is an expert at that!

The Challenge We Face

I believe in today’s secular-humanistic world there is a tremendous challenge to the body of Christ to hold fast to the Word of God and to present its truths with clarity, confidence, humility and understanding. We need to be clear about the major purpose of the Bible and the major truths the Bible teaches. Confidence comes from personal study and reflection rather than solely from the study of others. Humility comes from realizing that although we may know the TRUTH (Jesus) we are still learners who always need the Holy Spirit to reveal any
truth. Understanding comes from listening to what the Lord is saying, listening to what others have found and being willing to seek help from others when we don’t have the answers.

In these days we need men and women who firstly, know the TRUTH (Jesus) and walk with Him; secondly, they seek sincerely and honestly for the truth that is revealed in God’s Word; and thirdly, are able and willing to share the truth they have discovered confidently, humbly and lovingly with others.