The ‘Dark’ Lover

John 18:37 – Jesus said to Pilate, “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

John 18:38 – Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?”

Could Pilate understand truth?

Jesus had stated earlier in His ministry, “Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” (John 7:17)

Two questions for consideration:
~ Can we know truth (apart from error) today? If so,
~ Can we agree on what constitutes truth?

If ANYONE could have made it clear, would it not have been Jesus? In his teaching, could any human have been more convincing?

Now, consider, in regard to Jesus and His teaching:

DID THE LORD CONVINCE/CONVERT EVERYONE HE TAUGHT???

Of course not…but was it because Jesus was a poor teacher? Was the fault in His ability? Again, would you agree with me that it wasn’t because of the inability of Jesus to make truth clear.

To what then do we attribute the failure of people to understand/accept His teachings? His statement in John 7:17 has the answer….re-read it………

Notice also a related statement from the apostle Paul in regard to the need to have a love for truth in order prevent being deceived by false doctrine (2 Thessalonians 2:10).

Again, the Lord explained early in His ministry why some have no love for truth:
“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” – John 3:19-21

How can you recognize truth? It will expose any sin in your life and call upon you to cease from it ASAP (i.e. repent);

If you don’t want your sin exposed……you will reject the message (and the messenger) in like manner as people did of Jesus.

People were divided over Jesus, as to whether or not He was the Christ… why? Because of His teachings! Those who wanted to be accepted, would repent and live differently; those who hated that their sin was “brought to light”, attacked Him and His teachings. Ultimately, He was put to death for condemning the sins that people committed.

To His apostles, Jesus described the characteristic of TRUTH: “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause’.” – John 15:22-25.

If any preaching does not define and, condemn sin, based upon what Jesus and His apostles taught, and call upon every sinner to cease from that life, and “obey the form of doctrine” as preached by Jesus and His apostles, he is not preaching TRUTH, but TICKLING YOUR EARS, FOR HIS OWN GAIN! (Romans 6:17-18; 2 Timothy 4:2-4; Jude 1:16).

If you have a love for truth, you will appreciate the preacher who tells you the truth, for you stand to inherit eternal life if you will accept/obey that message. If you don’t, you will accuse him of preaching “how he understands” the Bible, reserving for yourself another “understanding” to excuse yourself from obedience to that “form of doctrine”.

Are you “on the side of the truth”? Do you listen to Jesus? Is truth absolute? Is it based upon the teachings of the Lord and His apostles? Can it be known? Can you and I agree on it?

6/30/2020

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