Thy Word is Truth

Shiran: The media feeds us a lot of hogwash when it comes to things like beauty and style, and occasionally even when it comes to the news, which is supposed to be the most honest of TV and radio programs. Nobody likes to be lied to, but somehow, the world seems eager to buy many of the lies paraded in its face. What gives?

Zack: I used to be like that too Shiran! I loved to hear only that which was pleasing to my ears. Even after I got to know Christ personally in December 2003, I still only loved to hear that portion of His Word which wasn’t so critical of my life as a lukewarm Christian then. That was until I was about three months into my salvation with the Lord Jesus Christ. I came across that portion of scripture that said about evil folk who in the last days shall collect to themselves instructors who only shall say to them (preach if you like) only the things that their ears itch to hear. Ergo, Shiran, I quite catch your drift there.

Shiran: This might seem random but I love my belts. Lately, I have realized that their value is far more than just fashion-oriented. Losing a lot of weight in the past few months has made them more than just a fancy piece of clothing, I now need them to hold my jeans up! I find myself constantly having to run around over wires and around buildings in my day-to-day activities. Jeans are the proper dress code for most of my days. Sagging pants would be an inconvenience, at the very least, and at worst they could trip me.

Zack, are you wondering where I’m going with this? I’m thinking about Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 6:14(a) – Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.

Zack: I love the Old English word, ‘girdle’; in part because it reminds me of folk in the Bible days (as I like to call the times that were in the days from Noah to when Jesus lived on the earth) as they would dress with mostly colourful sashes that ran down diagonally over their torso area upon their tunics and then girt their loins about securing the cloth over their bodies. The combination of all of that finally culminating in that word; GIRDLE. Please go on Shiran…

Shiran: I believe a few definitions are in order.

Loins: A part of the body between the hips and lower ribs, regarded as the seat of physical strength and generative power. (Dictionary.com)

Girt: the past tense (and past participle, I believe) of “gird”, which means “to encircle or bind with a belt or band,” and “to surround; enclose; hem in.” (Dictionary.com)

Roman soldiers, before whom the Apostle Paul came many a time, wore girdles to get garments out of the way of their legs, for swift and easy motion, which is particularly valuable during a war.

Paul must have understood this when he wrote the exhortation above. If we belt, or gird, ourselves with truth, then it makes our work easier for the kingdom of God.

Zack: True Shiran. And we mustn’t forget the correlation I guess with what you shared on the jeans above…the belt or girdle also ensures our clothes don’ fall off! I’m thinking that even in a war, if a soldier’s pants fell, his primary responsibility at the time would be to pick them up first before he struck the next blow to the enemy. A liability in war that would get him hurt if not killed as his eyes would for a moment there be focused off of the enemy!

Shiran: That said, we must answer the most important question, Zack. What exactly is this truth that we are ranting about? I was going to go on and try your method, and try and define it by looking at what it is not, but I realized just as I began that it can be summarized in one Name.

Zack: The name of Jesus???

Shiran: Before He was crucified, Jesus prayed for His disciples - that includes you and me (John ch.17)! Did you know that? I found that out just a few years ago and I was so excited that He took the time out to intercede for us even before He was on the cross. When any other human being would have been thinking about the ordeal they were about to face, He was thinking about us. Isn’t that just beautifully typical of our loving Saviour? Among my favourite lines in the prayer, and the one that comes most easily to mind, is,

Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth. (John 17:17)

So, the Word of God is truth.

Zack: True Shiran. And have you seen the Biblical definition of what (who) this truth in the Psalms? Psalms 57: 3 He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. God shall send forth his mercy and truth. I believe it is from the snares of the evil one, even the Satan that the Psalmist is talking about here.

It gets better, Ephesians 6:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. That word again Shiran, truth…

Shiran: Yup! Jesus said, Thy Word is truth. But, John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Which clarifies Christ’s words in John 14:6: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

Zack: I just was gonna say that as well.

Shiran: So Jesus Christ is the Truth. The Bible is the truth. I believe, Zack, that when we realize that the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, speaks about Jesus Christ and His love from beginning to end, then we understand how He is the Word.

Zack: Isn’t it amazing, Shiran, the Grand design that God had and still has for His people. When you look at all of this and wonder how it could be there, sitting in both the old and new testaments alike? Truly, the Truth is the Word and that Word is the Christ.

Shiran: Now that that’s clear, I think we should go ahead and try to talk about what the truth is NOT.

Zack: Before you go on there Shiran, I’d guess if we could apply the law of opposites here then what the Truth is not would be that which the Word is not and inevitably what (who) the Christ is not. If you asked me even before I’d known Christ this question (and) with the knowledge above, I’d reassuringly say… it was Satan. And isn’t it interesting how later we learn (from the Word) that he is in effect the father of lies!

Shiran: The opposite of the truth is a lie.

King Solomon spoke about seven things that the LORD hates.

These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto Him. A proud look, a lying tongue… (Prov 6:16-17).

This shows us, Zack, that our tongues are weapons that should be used to speak forth truth. Remember when we talked about faith? It must be exercised by our tongues, Jesus told us to say to the mountain, Be thou removed. In so doing, He demonstrated that God, who made us in His image, put immense power in our tongues – power that can be used for good, if the tongue is bridled by Him, but for great evil if it is carelessly let loose. A lying tongue is an abomination to the LORD.

Zack: So true Shiran! Where the light is, there’s absence of darkness. It’s so clear how this is an abomination to the LORD

Shiran: Every time I see something branded an abomination, I sort of do a subconscious double-take; it seems to me that the word is heavy with meaning and refers to something that disciples of Christ, children of the Most High God, should never come close to.

Zack: Speaking of, how did such an abomination come into the world?

Shiran: How did such an abomination come into the world? Well… just as Christ is truth, the devil is a liar and has absolutely no truth in him. He will, therefore, try to instill his personality over the children of God and try to sway us to live and believe his lies. Look at what Jesus said to the Jews:

… the devil… was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. (John 8:44)

Zack: ‘abode not in truth’ and ‘when he lies, he speaketh of his own…for he is a liar and the father of it’. Quite an avid description there!

Shiran: He is the father of all lies, from what seems simple, “No, Mummy, I was not licking sugar,” to the more outrageous “I did not have sexual relations with that woman,” to the very abominable “there is no God and we have monkeys for ancestors.”

Zack: Hmmm…. lol. ‘to the more outrageous’. But on a more sombre note, I get the picture here Shiran. A lie, however big or small is basically the same thing… a LIE! And that doesn’t augur well with the LORD.

Shiran: I love that God instilled wisdom in Paul, and inspired him to write such powerful verses. When we let go of the truth, our belt, we begin to trip all over ourselves. Someone once said that liars must have good memories. when you start to tell lies, you have to remember to keep up, and that can be a hectic effort! Indeed you begin to trip over your armour and are inconvenienced in the war, until you go back to that place where you confess and ask God to cleanse you. Even then, you still need to gird your loins with truth.

Zack: Please go on… ditto there on the getting inconvenienced Shiran.

Shiran: If the loins run from the lower ribs to the hip, then that means they include the reproductive organs, which must be guarded. The way I look at this, then, is if we do not gird our loins, we will be unable to bring forth fruit as we are supposed to. How interesting it is that the words of Jesus in John 15:5 immediately come to mind!

I am the Vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.

Zack: He that abideth in the Truth put in another way! You know Shiran, this reminds me of those age-old English expressions, 'a chip off the old bloke', 'the apple not falling far from the tree'. And even the more... this is the Great Father talking! I'm blessed!!

Shiran: Zack, that blesses me too! Christ, the Truth, is the Vine – we are the branches, and only in Him can we bring forth fruit!

The punishment for all who follow after a lifestyle of lies is severe. After this life, we will all appear before God in the Day of Judgment. Those who have accepted Christ will be welcomed into heaven, to receive their crowns and partake of everlasting life. However, those who love to lie, and those who believe the lies of the devil, will not enter through the gates into the city:

Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. (Revelation 22:15)

I think it’s fair to say that due to our sinful nature, everyone has lied. Peter lied when he denied Christ, yet he went on to become a great apostle. It is in refusing to repent that I believe we err the most. When people are hardened in their ways, then hope continually becomes futile for them.

I believe if we ask God to put sin far from us, and to make us hate to displease Him, He will. If we abide in truth, we will be able to war with confidence and soar like eagles.

Zack: A great truth there Shiran, like Cece Winans says in her song, ‘a saint is just a sinner who fell down but rose again’, I believe we all still have a chance to redeem our sinful selves. And like you say again, then shall we be able to war with confidence and soar like eagles. Don’t you just love the way God’s Word puts it in Isaiah, those who wait upon the Lord shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, walk and not faint. But then there is that warning which we all must heed, Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins...

And finally Shiran, Let’s hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) - Hebrews 10:23