Set Apart by the Truth

“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (Jn 17:17).

If you have embraced the gospel message of Jesus Christ, then here are some things that you believe to be true.  You believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  You believe that Jesus came to the earth as God in the flesh.  You believe that Jesus died on a cross as a substitute for us, paying the penalty for our sin through His death.  You believe that Jesus was buried and rose again completing the sacrifice on our behalf.  You believe that your sins are forgiven.

You don’t believe these things in some philosophical way that only applies to you like it is your own “truth”.  These are not just ideas that are “true” for you and your circle of friends.  No, you and I believe that the paragraph above are actual facts.  We believe they are true in the truest sense.  We believe they are true for all people, in all places.

Christianity makes a bold claim that its tenets of faith are true.  Not useful, not appealing, not positive thinking, not a coping mechanism, not just attractive thought, not unique to our own minds.

And the person of Christianity, Jesus Christ, has proclaimed Himself to be “the truth”.  Jesus is truth personified.  “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me’ ” (Jn 14:6).  And from earlier in John’s gospel, “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14).  Jesus was filled to overflowing with grace and truth.

We needed grace.  We were lost without any hope of saving ourselves.  We were slaves to sin, unable to earn our way back to God.  Christ purchased our freedom as a pure gift; a pure gift of His grace.  He gave us a new and abundant and eternal life with nothing required from us in return.  By grace, you have been rescued (Eph 2:8).

We also needed truth.  For our Christian faith to produce the promised life it must be true.  For Christ’s death to have the result of new life for us, it has to have happened.  It can’t just be in our imagination.  Christ died or He did not.  If He did not, then we are foolish to follow.  But we believe it did happen.  We believe all that Jesus said and did is true.  Our faith is based on truth, not fantasy.  “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (II Pet 1:16).

We are sanctified by God’s truth.  We are set apart in God’s truth.  We are standing on a firm foundation of God’s truth.  Be confident.  Your faith is in the true God and His true Son, Jesus Christ.  And no one can take that away.