Why truth matters for now and eternity

Jude 3 "Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints."

As solid as the case is for the Bible's argument for the exclusivity of salvation, we still have the issue of 51% of people in American churches denying such a reality.  Why?  I submit that the issue revolves around the denial of truth itself. 

How Western culture has changed its view of truth in the past 200 years 
Pilate asked Jesus in John 18:38 "what is truth?"  Many observers have termed our culture to be a "post-modern" culture.  Post-modernism implies the passing of a period of time called "modernism".  Modernism or "modernity" was a movement beginning over 200 years ago that asserted the ability of human beings to individually arrive at discovery of "objective, universal truth".  Positively Modernity still clung to the idea of "objective truth" outside of the observer, however in doing so, the movement replaced Biblical revelation and enthorned human reason as the chief way of knowing such truth. 

Post-modernism suggests that such a quest is futile, and prefers to say that there is no "universal truth", but rather "truths" that are held by separate communities or groups of people.  As a philosophical response to the "individualism" of modernism, post-modernism not only throws out the "baby" of certainty in knowing ultimate truth, but also the "bathwater" of ultimate truth itself. 





People who deny ultimate truth are still making a statement about ultimate truth!
In one respect the value of post-modernism lies in the fact that truth statements do not arise out of a vacuum or out of a "neutral" vantage point.  Yet to say that truth is nothing more than "truths" or "what is true for you is not true for me" is itself futile, since that statement itself concerns a univeral view of truth! Post-modernism is fraught with the absurdity of denying such a thing as universal truth by asserting that universally, truths are only true in given communities of people! 

Truth is the foundation of morality, ethics, faith
If we deny truth, the basis for all moral action is uprooted.  Author Tim Keller in His Book "The Reason for God" points out that people who deny objective, moral values will at the same time get angry over injustice.  If "injustice" is deemed by all to be wrong, then there has to be a universal sense of justice.  The Bible itself affirms this system of morality and ethics as being the Law of God written in the human conscience. (Romans 2:15) 

Without universal standards of right and wrong, the possibility of Christian faith itself would be eliminated.  In order for the Gospel to be effective, the Law of God has to be involved in showing the sinner there fallen sinful condition.  The Holy Spirit uses the Law of God written in the Bible and on the conscience to bear witness to man that he falls short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:10-23)  The Gospel demands that all men repent, and come to a knowledge of the truth. (2 Peter 3:9) 

Truth is both universal and exclusive
Unless we assert the universality and exclusive nature of truth, the biblical teaching on God being a One-way God will never be embraced.  The Holy Spirit brings home to the heart, and the mind, compelling demonstration that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life.  Could it be that what is missing in our American pulpits is a lack of conviction on the truth of the Gospel, as well as the need for truth in the gospel?  Frankly, the Biblical portrayal of the Gospel itself to be the only saving message that is The Truth, since it speaks about The One who is the Truth - Jesus Christ. 

The One way God in the New Testament

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

We saw yesterday that the God of scripture is a very exclusive God.  By the revelation of the tabernacle system and priesthood in the Old Testament, He was was showing salvation to be exclusive and one way.  Today we will be exploring the New Testament to determine how clear the Bible is on the truth of there being only One way to God.

The Gospels are very exclusive in their view of salvation
The Gospel of John quoted above gives us the clearest statement in the Bible regarding the unique way of salvation - Jesus Christ.  In John 14:6, Jesus reveals Himself to be "The Truth".  We had yesterday stated a three-fold argument to explain why it is God is Exclusive in how He deals with salvation:
1. Truth by its nature is exclusive
2. God by nature is Truth
3. Thus it stands that God would be an exclusive God

With Jesus Christ stating Himself to be "The Way, the Truth, The Life", He is further reinforcing the fact that God's One prescribed way in the Old Testament pointed to Himself - the Person who is the One way.  In the New Testament we can state our little three-fold statement in this fashion:
1. Truth by its nature is exclusive.  As we already saw, God Himself is an exclusive God.
2. Jesus is the Truth personified
3. Thus Jesus is the exclusive way

The Book of Acts declares Jesus Christ to be the only way to God
Acts 4:12 plainly states - “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” How much clearer can the Bible be that salvation is not to be found outside of Jesus Christ, the only way to God.

The New Testament Letters (Epistles) declare Christ to be the only way to God
1 John 5:20 asserts - "And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life."  Here again we find reference to Jesus Christ being "The Truth".  As this title suggests, Jesus Christ is indeed the only way to God.  Furthermore, this verse is a declaration of Christ's deity, the logic is unmistakable:
1. The God of scripture is the source of salvation.
2. Jesus Christ is termed here the source of Eternal Life
3. Thus Jesus Christ is God

The Bible is very clear in its message and wording that God is One God.  He has revealed salvation through one book - the Bible.  God exists as the Father, who sent the Son, who is revealed by the Holy Spirit to be the Way.  No doubt about it, Jesus Christ is the Only Way to God, since in sharing the same nature with God the Father, He is the One Way God. 

The One Way God of the Old Testament

Exodus 23:31-32 “I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. 32“You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.

Recent statistics on American churches beliefs about there only being one way to God
The Pew Forum, a research group that conducts surveys on topics related to Christianity, polled 35,000 Americans, many of which were considered "Evangelical".  An evangelical is someone who holds to "The Evangel" (The Gospel) and believes that the event of Christ's death, burial and resurrection becomes an experience in a person's life by grace through faith alone.  When asked whether Jesus was the only way to God, only 49% of those claiming to be Bible-believing Christians believed that to be the case. 

God is exclusively God 
When you survey the scriptures, you discover that the Bible is very clear on the subject of salvation's exclusivity.  As can be seen in the above verse, the Old Testament has God being very exclusive: He and He alone is the only God.  The Jewish people were repeatedly told not to regard the religions around them, since those religions did not advocate real gods - but rather non-existent ones.   God is not merely the greatest among all other gods, He Alone is the One true God, there is not other Savior. (Isaiah 43:10-11)

God is exclusive about salvation
As you read on into Exodus 24-40, The Lord reveals to Moses (the human author of Exodus) the details of the worship and sacrificial system of Israel called the Tabernacle.  Each ritual and piece of that worship center emphasized this point: salvation is only in the God of revealed scripture.  When you approached the Tabernacle, there was only one way of entry.  You could only be made right with the Lord by one method - the shedding of blood of an innocent sacrifice.  There was only one way you could relate to this God - the Priesthood of which He had prescribed.  The three-fold accomplishment of salvation: reconciliation, cleansing and restoration, was in the Old Testament accomplished by One way revealed by God. 

God is exclusive about the book He used to reveal the exclusive salvation
As you can see, the idea of there only being one way with God did not just begin in the New Testament.  We have seen the Old Testament's insistence on there being One God.  Second, that this One God revealed one system through which He prescribed the way of salvation.  In keeping with His method, God also spoke words to one group in the Old Testament - the Prophets, who wrote a series of books in the Old Testament era that were known by the Jews as the Law, the Prophets and the writings.  These books were individually identified immediately after their composition as God's word.  As a collection, the books that our now our current 39 books were a well established "canon" or standard by the days of the return from Exile under Ezra the scribe in 530 b.c.  The Jews for centuries prior recognized the books that were "God's word" versus other writings that either were not His word or were pagan rituals to be rejected. 

God is an exclusive God because He by nature is true
The scriptures are emphatic on God being by nature the True and living God.  He governs His world by justice and righteousness, which are attributes issuing forth from His nature as the True God. (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 89:14).  Therefore we can conclude today's blog with this thought as to why the God of scripture in the Old Testament is The One way God:
1. Truth by its nature is exclusive.  It standardizes what is real and right from what is imaginary and wrong.

2. God is by nature Truth.

3. Therefore God must be and can only be Exclusive.  This explains why He is exclusive in where He speaks (The Bible) and the Way of salvation.

The Sovereign God of Prophetic History

Daniel 8:1 In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king a vision appeared to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me previously.

God is detailed when it comes to prophecy and history
Daniel was a Jewish prophet who wrote and lived in Babylonia (modern day Iraq) during the days of Israel's exile in that land.  In the eighth chapter of his book, God the Holy Spirit predicted through Daniel the sequence of events that would occur between the period of the Old and New Testament.  When Daniel mentions "the third year of Belshazzar", he is writing that for a reason.  Belshazzar was the King in Babylonian, where Daniel and the people of God were exiled.  In the third year of Belshazzar's reign, another event was taking place 200 miles to the North of Babylonia at the capital of the Persian empire that centered around the person of a man by the name of Cyrus.

Daniel 8:2 tells us that Daniel was taking by vision to that capital: "looked in the vision, and while I was looking I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I looked in the vision and I myself was beside the Ulai Canal." Cyrus the Persian was first predicted by name some 150 years before Daniel's writing in Isaiah 44:28-45:7.  Before the Persians even rose to power, the Holy Spirit was predicting through Isaiah that God was going to raise up a "shepherd", a "chosen one" named Cyrus, to deliver God's people from the clutches of what would be Babylon.  To not only predict the rise of an empire, but to actually name the leader of that empire truly a mark of God's attention to detail. 

God is Divinely in control of prophecy and history
The contents of Daniel 8:1-5 were written days or months before Cyrus the Persian conquered his own grandfather to take over the Persian Empire.  We have records of antiquity written outside the Bible that confirm the details of fulfilled prophecy.  When Cyrus was born, his grandfather, Astyages the Mede, had a dream that Cyrus would conquer him in his lifetime.  He attempted to send a hit on Cyrus by one of his army officers.  Instead, the officer took the young boy Cyrus to be raised by Shepherds.  That little boy grew up and became King of Persia.  He then in 550 b.c would journey to the North and conquer his grandfather, thus becoming the King of both the Medes and Persians. 

What would had happened if Cyrus' grandfather would had been successful in killing Cyrus?  Prophecy would had been left unfulfilled, undermining God's Sovereignty. Yet when one reads historical records like Josephus' Antiquities, we discover that Cyrus was indeed preserved.  As God revealed in the scriptures, Cyrus did not know Him.  Yet God chose to raise up this pagan King to carry out His desires. 

God Determines the flow and course of prophecy and History
As you read down through Daniel prophecy in Daniel 8:3-5, a vision is recorded of a Ram conquering territory in a "Westward, Northward and Southward direction".  That Ram of course was to be Cyrus the Persian, who would also control the Median empire.  History tells us that the Persian part of the empire was stronger than the Median part, thus the reason for the horns of the Ram being of different lengths.

We also know from reading the history of the rise of Medo-Persian Empire that Cyrus first conquered intrests to the North before moving to the South to secure the breadth of His empire.  Daniel takes the reader some 200 years into the future from where he was writing.  Again we see evidence of God even controling the directions of the where empires were going to spread and where certain peoples would live. 

Applying God's Soveriegnty to your own life
As we close out this blog, we aim to see how all of this big picture detail corresponds to your life.  If God is Detailed, Divinely in control and Determines the course of all things in general, will He not do the same thing in your life?  Romans 8:28 reminds us: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

The Benefits of the indwelling Holy Spirit

Romans 8:9 "However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him."

God's desire to be in the midst of His people
God the Father dwelt above and among the people
The Triune God's intention from all eternity was to have a people in and through which He could display His glory and love.  In the Old Testament, God revealed the mobile worship center of Israel to Moses that is referred to as "The Tabernacle".  Inside that mobile "tent-like" structure, God the Father dwelt in the "holy of holies" amidst the camp of Israel as they journeyed through the desert.  Thus God was "God above the people" dwelling among them.

God the Son came to dwell with the people
When you come to the New Testament, you discover that God the Father sent His Son, with whom He has shared a common Divine Life from all eternity, to "tabernacle Himself" among people in a body of human flesh.  John 1:14 states - "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." That underlined word for "dwelt" in John 1:14 is a word that could be translated "tabernacled".  Thus in imitation of God the Father, God the Son came to tabernacle Himself among the people not in a building, but rather in a human body.

God the Holy Spirit was sent to be God in His people
When Jesus Christ raised from the dead, He ascended into Heaven in a glorified human body.  As He had promised His disciples in John 14 and 16, The Father would send the Holy Spirit in His name.  The Holy Spirit has with the Father and Son shared the Common Divine Life from all eternity.  When the Holy Spirit came, He came to be God in the midst of every person who would believe on Jesus Christ by grace through faith.  Ephesians 2:20-21 describes this truth - "in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."

The Benefits of the indwelling Holy Spirit
As one jurneys down from Romans 8:6-17, we discover why the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit is so vital to the Christian individual and to the church corporately.  When you see the benefits of the Spirit's indwelling, you will understand how precious it is for the Christian to have the very life of God Himself living on the inside:
1. Power to live for God  8:6-8

2. Personal experience of Jesus Christ 8:9-10

3. Points to the blessed hope of Christ's return 8:11

4. Provision for victory 8:12-13

5. Personal leading by God Himself 8:14

6. Personal Assurance of salvation through fellowship with God 8:15-17     

The Christian's thought-life

Romans 8:5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

What do you think about your thought-life?
As the Christian begins to be led by the Holy Spirit, the thought-life becomes a defining area for evaluating whether you and I are led by self interests or the Spirit's leading.  The key question to ask when evaluating your thought-life is: am I governing my thought-life, or is it governing me? 

The soul, the spirit and their relationship to the mind
In Romans 8 we see a contrast between what is called "the flesh" and "The Spirit".  The "Spirit" is the person of the Holy Spirit operating inside of my human spirit (or what is sometimes called the heart).  The "flesh" has to do with the remnants of sin operating in my soul which is composed of my mind, emotions and will. 

As a person you have three parts: body, soul and spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12)  The mind is the "thinker" of your human soul.  Your human spirit is the part of you clothed by the soul that becomes the dwelling place of God's Holy Spirit at salvation. (John 14:23; 1 Corinthians 6:17) The mind is that part of your soul that interracts with the Holy Spirit in your human spirit.  For example 1 Corinthians 14:15 states:  "What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also."  Therefore in the Christian, the Holy Spirit in your human spirit should be able to communicate to your mind as you regularly devote yourself to daily study and thought over scripture. 

Two sources for the thought-life - the self or the Spirit
In Romans 8 we discover two sources for the thought-life - self or the Spirit.  The self is that principle that is at work in my soul that opposes the Holy Spirit at work in my human spirit.  "Self" inclines towards the left-over sin remnants in my soul.  Romans 8 calls the combined activity of the soul following the self as being "in the flesh".  The other resource is of course the Holy Spirit working in my human spirit. 

When I follow the leading of self in the intrest of the "flesh", I am being "selfish" or "fleshly.  Romans 8:5 describes taking what I conclude in my mind to be the greatest good as determining how I will act.  If I conclude it is more advantageous for me to follow the flesh (i.e set my mind on the flesh), that will characterize my life.  However if I conclude that the Spirit and the things of God are of greater benefit, then my life will be characterized with an abundance of "life and peace". (Romans 8:6)

The key to governing your thought-life - setting your mind
To "set my mind" in these verses refers to an intentional decision of the mind.  Everyday I must  choose whether I am going to take the scriptures into my mind or heed the voices and opinions of people (and my own feelings) more than the scriptures.  The Holy Spirit in my human spirit never contradicts the scripture.  If I am regularly giving myself to Bible reading or taking in scripture, I will have a mindset ready to hear God.  1 Corinthians 2:12-13 most effectively communicates this truth - "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words."

Just as I can set my T.V. to certain channels, choosing what I will watch or let into my home, I likewise can do that with my thought-life.  God's Word function's like a T.V remote.  It helps me to discern which thoughts floating through my mind are "fleshly" versus which thoughts are "spiritual".  Know this - through Jesus Christ and the Spirit's work through the scriptures, you can govern your thought-life. 

Meet the Holy Spirit

Romans 8:2 "because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."

The Holy Spirit is The Applier of salvation
Romans 1-3 details how sinners have offended God their creator who desires to reach out to them in forgiveness to reveal Himself as God the Father. As God the Father aims to draw sinners to Himself whom He has loved, it is by His grace through faith that they believe upon God the Son whom He sent.  Thus the Father is the author of salvation.

From Romans 4-7 the argument of Romans centers mostly upon the accomplishment of God the Son in purchasing and providing salvation.  Thus God the Son is the Accomplisher of Salvation.  When one enters Romans 8, the Father's plan of salvation and the Son's accomplishment are to be applied to believer's by God the Holy Spirit.  Romans 8:2 reveals to the reader this "Spirit of Life" as the Applier of salvation. 

God the Holy Spirit's Life Giving Ministry
An ancient Christian writer said this of the Holy Spirit, that he knows about God because of Christ and knows of Christ because of the scriptures and knows the Christ of scripture by the Holy Spirit. Were it not for the Holy Spirit, the "Spirit of Life", the Christian life would not be a reality. 

1. The Holy Spirit's ministry in salvation
The Holy Spirit is the "Life giver" of the Trinity.  It is from Him that all physical life on earth derives the breath of life. (Psalm 104)  Moreso it is from the Holy Spirit that the life of faith is granted, convicting sinners and drawing them to be raised from the deadness of sins to a living willingness to choose Christ. (John 1:12-13; 16:8-12; Ephesians 2:1-6; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23)  This miracle of salvation is called "regeneration" or "the new birth". 

2. The Holy Spirit's ministry following salvation, that is sanctification
As the "Lord and Giver of Life", the Holy Spirit also applies benefits of salvation following the commitment of faith.  He continues to indwell the believer, providing internal guidance and power to live for God. (Romans 8:4)  Quite literally the Spirit of God is "God in us", enabling the Christian to experience Christ's ministry as "God with us" as He aims to reveal God the Father as "God above us".  This is the One God of the Bible relating to Christians from the Father, by the Son through the Life Giving Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 2:18)

3. The Holy Spirit makes the event of salvation into a living experience
The Holy Spirit not only gives power to live by, but Romans 8:5 speaks of "the things of the Spirit".  Those "things" are found in the book of which He is the chief Author - The Bible.  From Romans 8:6 onward the Holy Spirit communicates through Paul what those things are: power to live for God, ability to love the brethren, power for prayer and power to endure to the end. 

4. The Holy Spirit is Personally God in us and to us
We must remember that the Holy Spirit is not an "it" but a "He".  Romans 8:16 states that "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God".  Thus The Spirit is a "He".  We also understand that the Spirit is God, since He shares in the same undivided life as the Father and the Son.  Only the Holy Spirit could know and communicate God's mind to the Christian. (Romans 8:27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11)  Therefore let's be thankful that God the Holy Spirit makes Himself available at salvation, for it is through Him, the Giver of Life, that I can know God the Son and live for God the Father. (Ephesians 2:18)