A Study of "The Truth"

by Garry D. Pifer

It seems that as long as I can remember I have heard the term “THE TRUTH” used within the Radio Church of God/Worldwide Church of God, and the many offshoots.  Notice how it has been used.  From the May 1960 Good News magazine, in Herbert Armstrong’s opening statement in an article entitled “Should We Listen to OTHERS?”, “AFTER you have come to a knowledge of the TRUTH, have repented and been baptized, and by the Holy Spirit been put into the true Church of God...”  Individuals ask one another, “How long have you been in THE TRUTH?” or make the statement that “...when God called me into THE TRUTH.”  One individual, a leader in one of the larger COG groups, a few years ago visited some Sabbath keepers in another country.  He commented on his return that “they understood about 70% of THE TRUTH.”

What do we mean by the term THE TRUTH?  It appears from our usage that we mean a knowledge or understanding of the “basic doctrines,” such as the Sabbath, the Holy Days, clean and unclean meats, etc.  And, it additionally implies that we understand “100% of THE TRUTH”   BUT is an understanding and knowledge of basic doctrines  what is indicated in Scripture when the term is used?  Very definitely the Scriptures refer to truth and also to THE TRUTH.  What does the Bible tell us about truth and THE TRUTH?

The primary Greek word translated “truth” is aletheia, #225 in Strong’s.  It is used approximately 110 times.  Here is how the lexicon defines the word.

A most familiar verse regarding truth is John 17:17.  Let’s begin our study by turning there.  This chapter is Jesus’ prayer to His Father just prior to His being taken by the band of men being led to Him by Judas.  Jesus says to His Father, “Sanctify them (speaking of His disciples) through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

He asks that His disciples be sanctified, set apart, through God the Father’s truth.  He then tells us what the Father’s truth is.  “Thy word is truth.” 

We need to ask, what is “the word” that is the Father’s?   I know we have always taught and thought that the “word of God” is the Bible, the “written word of God.” And, in many places that is the meaning,  BUT, is that what Jesus is saying here?  Is He asking the Father to “sanctify them through the Bible?”  Of great interest is the Greek word translated into the English as “word.”  You have heard it many times.  It is logos.  The Greek word logos is used by John, and only by John, as a title of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  We are familiar with John 1:1-18 where we are told clearly that Jesus Christ “was the Word.” 

I believe that John 17:17 becomes much clearer and can be understood much better if we recognize the fact that Jesus is speaking of Himself in this verse.   “Sanctify them through thy truth: Thy word, the incarnate one who was in the beginning, who was with God, who was God, is truth.”

This understanding is confirmed by Scripture.  Notice another passage from the gospel of John, chapter 14 and verse 6.  Jesus is speaking to Thomas, responding to his question concerning where Jesus was going.  “Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  Jesus clearly states that He is THE TRUTH. 

Let us turn back a few chapters to John 8.  Notice verse 32.  Jesus is speaking to His disciples.  “And ye shall know THE TRUTH, and THE TRUTH shall make you free.”  The word “free” is translated from the Greek eleutheroo, Strong’s #1659.  It is defined in the lexicon as, 1.) To make free 2.) Set at liberty; from the dominion of sin.  Whatever THE TRUTH is it will make one free from the dominion of sin.

We need to ask ourselves the question, does “knowing” the doctrines of the Sabbath, the Holy Days, clean and unclean meats, etc. make us free from the dominion of sin?

NO!  It is NOT just knowing certain “truth” of a doctrine that will make us free.  Let’s continue reading here in John 8.  The Scripture interprets itself.

John 8:33-37   “They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.  And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: [but] the Son abideth ever.  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.”

Verse 36 tells us plainly WHO makes us free, free from the dominion of sin.  And, it isn’t just knowing the “true” doctrines.  IT IS JESUS CHRIST THAT MAKES US FREE.  It was His shed blood that redeemed us from the debt to sin. (Gal. 3:13; 1 Pet. 1:18)  We have been bought with a price.  (1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Cor. 7:23)  We have been freed from bondage to sin.  We now are to be the servant of Jesus Christ, THE TRUTH.

Romans 6:16-23   “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.   I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.   For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.   What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things [is] death.  But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.  For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Galatians 5:1 ¶ Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

It is NOT knowing a certain body of doctrinal beliefs or being “called into the Church” that constitutes being in THE TRUTH.  We’ll look at what the Bible clearly says about being in THE TRUTH a bit later.

As I mentioned earlier, our usage often implies that we have complete, 100% understanding and knowledge of THE TRUTH, meaning the “true doctrines.”  Though we might say we know we don’t have 100% understanding we still have that as an underlying belief.  Again, note the example I mentioned before.  After visiting a Sabbath keeping group in another country a leader in one of the COG groups stated, “they understand about 70% of THE TRUTH.”  And, we ALL knew what he meant.  They, in his estimation, understood 70% of the basic doctrines that we adhere to.  The assumption was made that “WE” had 100%. 

Brethren, how arrogant can we get?  But, can we be blamed?  For years we were told and told again that “WE” are the ONLY TRUE CHURCH OF GOD.  We were told that God, after 1900 years had “restored” the basic TRUTHS to His Church through His end time Apostle.  We were repeatedly told that we were the “best era” of God’s Church.  I submit that our attitudes, if not our very statements, could better be described by Christ’s words to the Church of the Laodiceans, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:” Haven’t we said that very thing?  Especially if we paraphrase it slightly.  “Because you say, I am spiritually rich, and increased with the knowledge of THE TRUTH, and don’t need anything, I’m okay!”  But, Christ’s response so aptly applies to us.  We don’t recognize the fact that we are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked SPIRITUALLY!

Maybe you never noticed, but Paul had to deal with the same basic attitude among the Jewish people.  They didn’t express it as we have.  They didn’t say they had THE TRUTH, they said they had THE LAW.  Let’s notice this over in the book of Romans, chapter 2 and verse 17.  “Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God.”  Paul could easily address us by some very simple word substitution.  “Behold, you are called a Spiritual Jew, and rest in THE TRUTH, and make your boast of God.”   In general we have held ourselves up and put others down. We state that they don’t know THE TRUTH , meaning that they don’t keep the seventh day Sabbath and the Holy Days.  In our own eyes we have perceived ourselves to be better than others.  We have labeled others as “Christians, so called,” and have stated they worship false gods and another Jesus, just because they don’t “go to church on the correct day.”

And, all of this because we haven’t even understood what THE TRUTH is.  I’m not saying that many of our basic beliefs and doctrines aren’t true.  I’m not saying that we shouldn’t keep the Sabbath.  But, as we will see a little later from Scripture, knowing and keeping these basic doctrines IS NOT what constitutes being in THE TRUTH.

John 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

We know that on the day of Pentecost following Christ’s ascension to heaven the Holy Spirit was poured out on those assembled.  It is this Holy Spirit that Jesus speaks of here in John 16, referred to as the Spirit of truth.  He says that it is this Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, which will guide us into all truth.

There is a lot in this verse that we need to understand.  It DOESN’T say that when we receive the Holy Spirit following baptism we now have THE TRUTH.  It DOESN’T say that we are possessors of ALL truth.  Jesus Christ says the Spirit will “guide” us into all truth.  What does that mean?  What does “guide” mean?  Doesn’t God and Christ reveal the basic doctrines, commonly defined as THE TRUTH, to us, we are then baptized and have hands laid on us for receiving the Holy Spirit, and we are now in THE TRUTH?

Let’s understand.  The Greek word translated “guide” in this verse is hodegeo, number 3594 in Strong’s.  It is derived from number 3595, hodegos.  The lexicon defines it his way.  1.)  to be a guide, lead on one’s way, to guide    2.)  to be a guide or a teacher    2a.)  to give guidance to.  I believe there is great significance to the use of this particular word in this passage of Scripture.  There are many other Greek words that mean to “lead” or guide.  The primary one, used over 70 times in the New Testament, is ago, Strong’s #71.  But, hodegeo and hodegos are used in regard to guiding and leading the blind.  Both words are used in Matthew 15:14.  “Let them alone: they be blind leaders (3595, hodegos) of the blind.  And if the blind lead (3594, hodegeo) the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”

How does this apply in regard to the Holy Spirit “guiding” us into all truth?  Scripture is plain in it’s revelation that the world as a whole has been blinded spiritually.  We have all quoted Paul’s statement in 2 Corinthians 4:4 regarding Satan, the god of this world, having blinded the minds of people.  In chapter three of this same book Paul speaks of the minds of Israel being blinded, that there was a vail upon their hearts.  It does show that the vail has been taken away in Christ.  He has now sent the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, to guide us, as a guide of the blind. 

Sadly, we have not recognized our own blindness.  We see ourselves as having THE TRUTH.  We are “rich and increased with goods” and don’t see our spiritual condition.  As we saw earlier the Jews had the same basic condition.

Turn again to Romans 2.  We read verse 17, but notice now verse 19.  Paul makes a very powerful statement.  He says that they, the Jews, “art confident that thou thyself are a guide (3595, hodegos) of the blind, a light of them which art in darkness.”  They perceived themselves as the ones to lead and guide the spiritually blind.  Jesus addressed the same thing in Matthew 23.  He gave a very strong and scathing indictment to the Pharisees and the Scribes.  They were the leadership, the “ministry” if you will.  They were in the position to lead, to guide.  But, notice what He told them.  After calling them “hypocrites” He calls them “blind guides” (verses 16 and 24), and tells them they are “fools and blind” (verses 17 and 19).  Christ clearly shows that they were “guides.”  He doesn’t dispute that.  But, He also makes it plain that they in their own vanity and perception that they had THE LAW, or as we might say, THE TRUTH, they themselves were blind.  And, as we quoted earlier, Christ makes the point that when the guide of the blind is also blind “both shall fall into the ditch” (Matt. 15:14).

But, let’s get back to John 16:13.  We are told that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, will guide us into all truth.  Who did we find is THE TRUTH?  Jesus Christ!  So, the Spirit of Jesus Christ has now come and is to “guide” us as one guides the blind, into all truth.  How does one guide a blind person?  Generally you either take them by the arm or you have them take your arm.  And, by gently nudging them, speaking to them, you take them to wherever they are going and direct them around the obstacles.  We often speak of “our walk with Christ.”  This is the “walk” we must have.  If we were to “guide” a blind person to “all stores” in the mall how would we do that?  One store after another.  When Christ “guides” us into “all truth” how does He do that?   One “truth” or bit of understanding after another.

Let’s use an analogy.  Jesus Christ, the Spirit of Truth, leads us as a blind individual into all the stores of truth in the “Truth Mall.”  He perhaps has led us into the “Sabbath Store” and the “Holy Day Store.”  We have bought from those stores the amount of truth we have of those doctrines.  I would suggest there is much more in those stores to yet obtain.  But, I’d like to pose a question.  What about others that Jesus is guiding that came into the “Truth Mall” through another entrance?  Perhaps they were guided to the “Mercy Store” or the “Visit the Fatherless and Widows Store.”  Maybe they bought of the “Feed the Hungry and Clothe the Naked Store.”  In many cases we haven’t even gotten to that end of the Mall yet.  And, perhaps they haven’t yet been led to the end of the Mall with the  “Sabbath Store” and “Holy Day Store” and haven’t yet been given the chance to understand and buy from those stores.  Are they any less in THE TRUTH?  Are they any less a Christian and a believer?

Jesus is guiding us on a journey into “all truth.”  And, each person’s journey is different and unique to them.  How are we to judge where another is on his or her journey with Christ leading?  We are in no position to know who He is guiding or where they are.  It is not our place to decide if others are in THE TRUTH or are Christians.

This is easier to understand and grasp when we understand that being in THE TRUTH isn’t about a body of beliefs or basic fundamental doctrines.  Just because we understand doctrine about the Sabbath, the Holy Days, etc. DOES NOT, according to Scripture, indicate that we are in THE TRUTH.  Let us see what it is that identifies us as being in THE TRUTH.

1 John 3:14 ¶ We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not [his] brother abideth in death. 

1 John 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 

1 John 3:16  Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren. 

1 John 3:17  But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels [of compassion] from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 

1 John 3:18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

Verse 19 New American Standard   “We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our hearts before Him.”

Verse 19 Amplified Bible   “By this we shall come to know (perceive, recognize, and understand ) that we are of the Truth, and can reassure (quiet, conciliate, and pacify) our hearts in His presence.”

This is the same thing Christ told us that would identify His disciples.  We know we are in THE TRUTH, IN JESUS CHRIST, if we have love one for another.

2 John 1:1 ¶ The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; (in Jesus Christ) and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;(Jesus Christ) 

2 John 1:2  For the truth's (Jesus’) sake, which dwelleth in us,(through the Holy Spirit) and shall be with us for ever. 

2 John 1:3  Grace be with you, mercy, [and] peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 

2 John 1:4  I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth,(walking with Jesus Christ, the Spirit of Truth guiding us)  as we have received a commandment from the Father. 

2 John 1:5 ¶ And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.

2 John 1:6  And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

3 John 1:2  Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 

3 John 1:3 ¶ For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth(Jesus Christ) that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.(the Spirit of Truth guiding) 

3 John 1:4  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.(walk with Jesus Christ, the Spirit of Truth guiding)

Are you in THE TRUTH?  Am I in THE TRUTH?   If we each individually have a personal relationship and walk with Jesus Christ, who is THE TRUTH;  if He dwells within us and is guiding us, and if we have love for the brethren, THEN  the Scriptures tell us we are in THE TRUTH.  We will be demonstrating and exemplifying LOVE, because God and Jesus are LOVE.  We will be being led  and guided into truth, true knowledge and understanding of THE WORD of God, the living AND written WORD.  We will be striving to obey THE TRUTH, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. (1 John 3:22)