Truth and Righteousness

John 8 Select Verses

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Contained within these verses quoted here is the message of the gospel of Christ, of our salvation from sin. It is the same message taught by Jesus at other times and that was taught by the NT apostles of Christ Jesus. 

When Jesus claimed that he was the light of the world, he was claiming to be God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – which will continue to become evident the more we read of his conversations with the Jews of his time. He was claiming, too, to be truth, righteousness, and the ONLY way to God (John 14:6) and to salvation from sin and to eternal life with God, and the giver of human life as well as spiritual life in Christ.

So when he said, “whoever follows me,” he was also saying, “whoever follows God.” And to follow God/Christ Jesus is first of all to deny self, die with him to sin (not just once but daily) and to walk in obedience to him and to his commandments (New Covenant). It is to follow him in whatever ways he leads us which must be consistent with the Scriptures and not against the Scriptures. For God is not going to lead us to do something that is anti-God.

And what is the result of following (obeying) our Lord? We will not walk (in conduct, in practice) in darkness (sin, wickedness, evil, rebellion). For we will have the light of life dwelling within us in the person of the Holy Spirit guiding and directing us in the ways of God, speaking to our spirits, and letting us know the ways in which our Lord would have us to go, as his followers (disciples). And he will empower us to do what is right.

Now Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to put our sins to death with him so that we will die with him to sin and now live to him and to his righteousness in walks of surrender to our Lord in obedience to his commands and in holy living. And he is the ONLY way to relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ (in word and/or in deed) is not born of God. He does not know God.

To know God we must be in intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, God the Son. And that involves self-denial, dying to sin daily, and walking in obedience to his commands, in practice. For that is what it means to abide in the Word (Jesus is The Word). For abide means to “comply with, obey, follow, stick to, act in accordance with, consent to, uphold, continue with and remain in (stay with). We must obey our Lord as a matter of lifestyle.

Then we are his true followers, his disciples. And to believe in Jesus is to be his follower (disciple). You can’t just make an intellectual or emotional profession of faith in him and then go on living just like you did before. For everyone who practices (habitually and deliberately) sin is a slave to sin and has not been set free by the blood of Christ shed on that cross. And when Jesus sets us free, we have thus died with him to sin, and we are now empowered of God to live godly and holy lives in obedience to our Lord.

So lip service alone does not get it done. You can claim that God the Father is your Father all you want, and even that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, but if by your actions you deny him, because you have chosen the path of sin and not the way of righteousness, then you don’t really know God or his Son Jesus Christ. And your father is the devil because your flesh is truly your god and it is what you truly worship and not God/Jesus Christ.

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

In Truth 

An Original Work / January 10, 2012

Fellowshipping with my Lord, Savior, King.

He is Lord of all; Lord of ev’rything.

He is with me through ev’ry hour of day,

List’ning to me speak, as I humbly pray.

He cares for my needs, 

and He intercedes for me,

‘cause He loves me in ev’ry way.

Obey His commands, and do all He says.

Sitting at His feet, daily in His word,

Let His word speak to me in ev’ry way,

Giving comfort and healing through each day.

Oh, how Jesus loves,

And He cares for you,

Which is why He died for our sins, in truth.

Love our Lord God, Savior, and King of kings.

Worship Him in truth, for He reigns supreme.

He created us with a plan in mind

For us to be His servants, and Him mind.

Follow Him in truth;

Go where’er He leads.

Share His love with others, and their needs meet.

Others: their needs meet. 

https://vimeo.com/125738283