“A Truth” vs “The Truth”

One of the gravest of errors in the church today is the lack of understanding between “a truth” and “the truth”. It must be understood that it’s only “the truth” that sets free. A partial truth or truth taken out of context will not set free but will only engender “religion” and “religion’ engenders bondage. In fact, it’s just plain dangerous. Let’s take a close look at this matter so that we may learn to rightly divide the word of truth.

One necessary understanding is that Christ is “the truth”. That means that, when “the truth” makes you free, then it is Christ (the anointed living word of God) who sets you free. That also means that we can have a standard as to whether or not we are walking in truth or not. If we are “free” then we are abiding in the light of the truth of God’s word. If we are bound by our flesh, bound by sickness and disease, bound by depression and darkness, bound by poverty, or bound by any other lack of peace, we are not “free”. That’s because the “Prince of Peace” (i.e. the anointed living Word of Peace”, Christ) isn’t involved. By definition we are not walking in the fullness of “the truth” (which is also “the light”). Doesn’t that make sense? Doesn’t the Bible say that the Kingdom of God is not in meat or drink but in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:7)? Isn’t that our inheritance in Christ? If we don’t have righteousness, peace, or joy in the Holy Ghost are we not in bondage? If the Bible says that the Kingdom of God in not in word but in power (1 Corinthians 4:20) and that the Kingdom of God is within us (Luke 17L21); if have no power, are we not in bondage?

Let’s see how to be free by first finding the definition of “a truth”. It is this: Any particular and unqualified scripture reference in the Bible. In other words, if we take a verse from the Bible we can say, “This is what the Bible says” and are absolutely correct in that assertion. However, without any other qualification, that reference is subject to our personal beliefs and interpretation because it does not take into account the rest of the word of God.

“The truth”, on the other hand, is this: any particular scripture reference that has all other scripture taken into account through revelation by the Spirit of God (i.e. it is the revealed word of God). In other words, “the truth” takes into account all of the word all of the time so that there is no conflict in scripture because the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth) has revealed the bottom line meaning of the scripture. This is important because we have “teachers” who justify conflicts in their doctrines by saying such things as: “We don’t know why there appears to be conflicts in scripture concerning our doctrines. We just know that there are no conflicts in the Bible. So, our doctrines are correct and perhaps the Lord will someday give us understanding later why it appears that we are wrong” (this explanation is posted on a particular mainstream denomination’s website). This is foolishness and is merely a reason to continue in the comfort of “religion”.

Here is an example of how “a truth” can propagate error. The Bible says this:

Ø “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).
We find that almost all “preachers” use this reference to justify the body of Christ under the bondage of the graceless, strength-less, and faithless “Ten Commandments”. They point to it and say something along the lines of: “This is what the Bible says! I believe what the Bible says and only what the Bible says! If you don’t believe this, you’re a liar” (interestingly, the same “preachers” will also say agree that all scripture needs to be taken in context and that the Bible must interpret itself. Though that also is an accurate statement, they will do neither). The Bible does, indeed, say this. So we can say that this is “a truth”. But we must take the entirety of the word into account. The entirety of the New Testament actually teaches that we are not under the “Ten Commandments” so we must, at the very least, be suspect here. In fact, Paul the Apostle spent much of his time trying to teach people to get out from under the “Ten Commandment” and the rest of his time was spent trying to keep them from going back under them (seen in the entire books of Romans and Galatians. The writer of the book of Hebrews did the same). Let’s see how glaring this error is and how easy it is to arrive at “the truth”.

To maintain context we merely need to read the next sentence. 1 John 2:5 says this:

Ø “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him”.

We now have a context. If we look at what the Bible actually says we can rightly divide the word. For one thing, it is written:

Ø “And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4)

For another, God is the King and every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the King is a “commandment” (and not just “ten commandments”). We see, then, that obeying all of God’s word is obeying all of His commandments (i.e. living by every word that proceeds from His mouth is keeping His commandments). Does the Bible confirm this? Yes, in fact, it does:

Ø “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22)

We must be “doers of the word” and not hearers only. We must obey all of the word (i.e. all of the truth) all of the time.

Another confirmation is that you can only serve one master. The Bible says this:

Ø “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13)

In other words, we can serve the “Schoolmaster” (the Law – Galatians 3:24-25) or we can serve “the Master” but we cannot serve both. We can also say it this way: you can be “under” the Law or “under” Christ but you cannot be under both. Paul the Apostle said it this way:

Ø “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4)

That clarifies the matter rather well.

Another example of not understanding “a truth” from “the truth” is that of Psalm 119:105:

Ø “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path”.

Almost everyone believes this passage and believes that it is for them. There is even a song that declares this “gospel truth”. But when we actually stop to think and not just take it for granted (just because almost all others use it as “the truth”), we find that this reference can, in no way, be attributed to the Christian believer. Let’s see why.

For one thing, when do you need a “lamp” (we could even modernize it and say “flashlight”)? When you are walking in darkness, isn’t that correct? Now let’s ask this question: “If we are believers who are supposed to be walking in the light as He is in the light, just why, then, are we walking in darkness and needing lamp/flashlight?” Part of the point is that you can walk in darkness or you can walk in the light but you can’t do both at the same time. You either need a lamp or not.

Let’s also see what darkness the Bible is talking about here. We know that “God is light and in Him is no darkness” (1 John 1:5). What happens when something comes between a light source and the viewer? A shadow is created. What came between God (light) and the viewer (man)? “Death” came between God and man and created the valley of the shadow of death. Man was walking in darkness. He was no longer walking in the light with God after the fall. However, God, in His infinite mercy and love for His creation, made a way to get His light to His man. That way was with His word. The Bible says this:

Ø The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple” (Psalm 119:130).

It also says this:

Ø “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life” (Proverbs 6:23)

God gave man his word; His commandments by which he could conduct his life in the darkness.

However, we must now understand that we are not under the Law and Commandments. The word of the Lord (and all of its commandments) is written in our hearts and minds. This is what the Bible says:

Ø “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people” (Hebrews 8:10)

What that means is that we now have the word/light of God in us. We are the “light of the world” because the word is abiding in us. We are no longer in darkness of any kind. Let’s see more of what the Bible says:

Ø “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13)

Ø “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief” (1 Thessalonians 5:4)

Ø “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5)

Ø “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth” (1 John 1:16).

Can you see that we are not of the darkness and that we don’t walk in darkness but in the light? We don’t need a “flashlight” or “lamp” if we’re already walking in the light. Can you also see how easy it is to just take a scripture as “the truth” just because others do and because it sounds right? Therefore, the word of God is not a “lamp unto my feet and a light unto my pathway”. We are, instead, the light of the world as the children of light.

In a third example we find a commonly used scripture in Galatians. It says this:

Ø “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:19-24)

This scripture is typically accepted as Christians bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit. However, as easy as it is to simply accept the traditional interpretation, all of the word of God must be considered at all of the time to be able to be free. Let’s examine this matter closely. The thinking is that the Holy Spirit causes you to bear fruit. Therefore, He does it for you. In other words, there’s nothing you can do to be a better Christian. Just let God do it all because He is in you. Though famous teachers espouse this as “gospel”, this thinking and doctrine is patently extra-Biblical (not taking into account all of the Bible all of the time..

When we examine scripture we find that trees are only personified and never deified. It is man who is the fruit-bearing tree or branch. It says this:

Ø “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit” (John 15:2)

Ø “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. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:5-6)

Ø “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Psalms 1:1-3)

Ø “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing” (Psalms 92:12-14)

Ø “Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it” (Ezekiel 17:22-24)

Ø “And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, [and] reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon” (Judges 9:7-15)

Ø “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth” (Revelation 11:3-4)

Even Christ (who was both God and man) was considered a branch:

Ø “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the branch” (Zechariah 3:8)

Now we see that, in Galatians 5:19-24, the “fruit of the spirit” is the “fruit of the (human) spirit”. Now we have proper context and scriptural integrity is maintained. That also means that man bears fruit with the help of the Holy Spirit who has been “called alongside to help” us (i.e. as the “Paraclete”). He is not going to do it apart from our “abiding in Christ” or apart from our faith and action as “doers of the word of God” (and not hearers only). This is also consistent with scripture.

The other side of the point is that at no time is the Holy Spirit referred to or alluded to as a “tree”. We see that the Holy Spirit is allegorized as fire, a rushing mighty wind, and rain or water and nothing else:

Ø “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:2-4)

Ø “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth” (Hosea 6:3)

Ø “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38)

We must at all times maintain scriptural integrity if we are to have any hope of being free. Doctrine must always give way to the truth of God’s word.
These are examples of how to rightly divide the word of truth. There are many more. Can you see how easy it is to maintain context by simply reading all of the word? Can you see how easy it is to not maintain context by not reading all of the word?



Conclusion

We must exercise all diligence to examine everything we think we know about Christianity. Much of it is “a truth” and is not at all “the truth” that sets free. We know this because we see few if any “free” Christians. This is more than remarkable seeing that we serve a God whose thoughts are only good towards us and not evil (Jeremiah 29:11). We know that He loved us so much that He gave us His only begotten son (John 3:16). We know that we have access to the entirety of the Kingdom of God as joint heirs in Christ (Romans 8:17). If that were not enough, we are also the seed of Abraham in Christ to whom all the promises of God were given in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:20 and Galatians 3:16). All of our needs are met according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). We have all authority through the name of Jesus (to whom all authority as King both in heaven and earth was given –Matthew 28:18). We have power to tread on serpents and scorpions (Luke 10:19). We even have a provision for healing in the new covenant in Christ (Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24). Above even that, there have been given gifts of healing (as the Spirit wills) to those who are “Spirit filled” (empowered by the Holy Spirit – 1 Corinthians 12:1-11) so that we may have a healthy body of Christ (don’t we want our own children to be healthy and are we not the “sons of God”?).

We should even (fearlessly) ask this question: is there some (scripturally-supported) reason why Christians should be defeated, in darkness, sick and ailing, powerless, needy, and in bondage all of the time? Would any “natural” king make his children suffer in such a manner? Not to any rational mind.

Yet, it is exactly that bondage that is being taught as “the gospel” and as “the truth”. In fact, they (denominational “teachers/preachers”) teach such things that can only be labeled as “child abuse” by God and things for which they would have anyone else arrested.

One such example is the horrendous doctrine that they call “severe mercy”. This is where they deceive people into believing that God “loves us so much” that He will allow our wife to die at an early age and leave us with young children to raise. It teaches that God allows our children to die and our home to burn or allows you to be maimed in a car accident to “show you His love and mercy”. It is little wonder that the “world” wants nothing to do with such insanity and thinks that Christians are a bunch of loonies and are “nut jobs” and “whack jobs”.

None of this is necessary and is one hundred percent preventable. All that is required is to actually study the Bible and read what is exactly on the pages (without denominational influence). The next thing that is required is to actually believe what the Bible says. Too often we “see what we believe” and not “believe what we see”. This is being said because there are regular occurrences where a “preacher” (particularly on radio ministries) will, in certain places, force a metaphorical interpretation rather than allow a literal one so that the Bible will fit his doctrine (certainly there are metaphors in the Bible. However, one must rightly divide the word of truth to know when to accept it as metaphorical or literal).

Great diligence must be used to avoid this religious trap of ignorance (errant doctrine is a default ignorance). It isn’t necessary. “The truth” is not hidden. In fact, when we simply look in the Bible, we see that the only requirement for coming into the knowledge of “the truth” is to seek the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). Part of that “seeking” is this:

Ø “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

A quick note here is that, if you can “rightly divide” the word of truth, then you can “un-rightly divide” it. Virtually all of this error can be accounted for in that they actually do not study the Bible; they study their doctrines. They propagate them and not “the truth”. They take for granted that their doctrine is the correct one rather than to actually study the word (thinking that the founder(s) of the denomination already had the “revelation” of the word. In light of the vast number of denominations and doctrines, this is nothing less than presumption and foolishness.

We see this foolishness in the fact that there are more than one thousand separate “Christian” denominations and doctrines. This fragmentation is not to be found in scripture and is not “the truth”. Yet, such “preachers” steadfastly hold to their (separate) doctrines rather than seek reconciliation to the truth of Gods word. The Bible says this:

Ø “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10)

and

Ø “Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:13}

Again, God has not hidden His truth. It is free for the taking. But, the revelation of the word must be sought after and the seed of the word of God must be kept clear of “weeds” and “thorns” so that it may bring forth an abundant crop (Mark 4). God (as a Father) has obligated Himself to feed the bread of life to any hungry person if they will but ask, seek, and knock. He has made all provision for all things for all times in Christ (i.e. He has made all grace to abound unto us) that we should lack nothing and that we should abound unto every good work. He has given us the Spirit of Truth to reveal His word that we should no longer be in the bondage of ignorance.

Let us no longer cling to the doctrines of men and demons. Rather, let us seek the Kingdom of God and the truth of God’s word. Let us thoroughly examine (not necessarily discard) all that we have been taught to see if it will bear scriptural scrutiny. Let us get wisdom and with all our getting get understanding so that we may be the peace-filled fruitful trees of the Lord’s planting and blessed in the earth for the glory of our Father.