20. The Word of God Pt1The Word of Truth

The Word of God: Is the Truth

1Pe 1:22-2:3 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,  (23)  having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,  (24)  because "ALL FLESH IS AS GRASS, AND ALL THE GLORY OF MAN AS THE FLOWER OF THE GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND ITS FLOWER FALLS AWAY,  (25)  BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,  (2)  as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,  (3)  if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Introduction: The last time we were in 1 Peter we looked at v22. We saw there were two primary points. 1) The inward reality and 2) the outward action. The inward reality was the unhypocritical love of the brethren. To be a hypocrite means to pretend to be what he is not. So we see the kind of love displayed before they were in Christ was selfish, self-centered and self-serving.

The reason we are able to love the brethren unhypocritically is because we have been purified by obedience to the truth through the Spirit. But then, the command is given to love another fervently. It is the same kind of love that God loves us with. It is not based upon any benefit derived from loving the object. It is not based upon the value of the object to be love. God’s love for His people is in spite of who we are and what we have to over because there is nothing in us natively that would cause Him to love us. Simply put God loves us because He chooses to and He has sealed that love to us by means of a covenant. He did this, not because there was any threat of His changing His mind concerning us, but so that His people might be all the more assured of His faithfulness He sealed it in a promise.

Heb 6:17-18  Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath,  (18)  that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

What are the two immutable things? 1) His oath 2) It is impossible for God to lie.

This love that God has freely bestowed upon us we freely bestow on our brothers and sisters in Christ. A fervent, earnest love. It is a love that is based in commitment and covenant. It is a love that is shown actively rather than passively. Little children, let us not love in word or with tongue but in deed and truth.

Again points from the last time we were in 1 Peter was 1) the inward reality 2) the outward action. I want you to notice something. The inward reality and the command of outward action is sandwiched between two statements of salvation: We have been purified by our obedience to the truth through the Spirit and having been born again…through the Word of God. And the two statements of salvation both include references to the Scripture. But before we get to much further, let’s review briefly.

In this chapter we have seen the rich doctrine of salvation that includes God’s election/predestination, the sanctifying work of the Spirit and the redemptive/ransoming sacrifice of Christ. It is God who has caused us to be born again. It is God who has brought us into His household through adoption. It is the Holy Spirit Who has applied God’s election and Christ’s redemption to the people of God. If God is the one who caused us to be born and again and sanctifies us to obedience through the Holy Spirit and redeems us and cleanses us in the blood of Christ Jesus, why does it say that we are born again through the incorruptible, living and abiding Word of God?

It is because God is pleased to use means in our salvation. It is the message of the Truth, God uses, as it is declared, to move men and women to repentance and faith. Rom 1:16-17  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  (17)  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

This is not the first time the Word of God is alluded to. 1Pe 1:10-12  Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,  (11)  searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.  (12)  To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.

In the midst of chapter 1 we see the Triune God accomplishing His work in decreeing, accomplishing, and applying His redemptive plan. We see the focus on the Spirit in not only the application of the redemptive work but also in the revelation and proclamation of the gospel in history! Here we see the primacy of the Scripture and it is here at the end of chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter 2 that Peter directs those Christians in the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia and Asia Minor. Peter, in directing us to the Word of God, describes it in five ways which will be our points in this section.

The Word of God is: 1) the Truth 2) Incorruptible 3) lives forever 4) abides forever 5) the good news, the gospel 6) the means of growth. For the sake of our outline there will be four points.

I. The Word of God is The Truth

II. The Word of God is Incorruptible

1. It lives forever.

2. It abides forever.

III. The Word of God is the Gospel/Good News (The means and the message)

IV. The Word of God is the means of Growth

As we look at this passage there are some general observations to be made. The first, and I am repeating myself, is that an unhypocritical love of the brethren and earnestly loving one another from the heart stems from the fact that we are new creatures. We have been purified and born again. Second, Peter makes a contrast between the corruptible and incorruptible. This is the third time Peter uses the word incorruptible. There is our incorruptible inheritance v4, our incorruptible redemption v18,19, and now we are born again by incorruptible seed v23. Peter re-enforces the incorruptible nature of the Word of God with a quote from the prophet Isaiah in verses 24,25. Again using contrasts to highlight the blessings of our salvation, even though we may be going through times of suffering and persecution. It reminds of what Paul said in Rom 8:18  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. This world is passing away as well as these bodies, but whether we have a long or short while upon the earth we have the blessed assurance of our incorruptible inheritance, salvation, and Word of God. This brings us to our first point.

I. The Word of God is the Truth v.22

The book of John records Jesus before Pilate in John 18:37,38  Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" Pilate asked the question of Jesus, ‘What is truth? This was a cynical question from a Roman governor whose view of truth was whatever Caesar said it was. This is the same question our world today asks, and they come up with wildly varying answers. But the most prevailing answer is that it is subjective, it is preference and opinion. We see it worked out every day. ‘My truth’, ‘your truth’ and when a whole society operates under that definition you get opinion and commentary instead of news. There is no standard to which all other aspects of life are measured. The end of all arguments is ‘that is my truth’. There is no longer any basis for discussion and debate to come true and right conclusion.

I like John MacArthur’s definition of truth. From his article ‘What is Truth’ he writes, “ Here's a simple definition drawn from what the Bible teaches: Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory, and being of God. Even more to the point: Truth is the self-expression of God. That is the biblical meaning of truth. Because the definition of truth flows from God, truth is theological.

Truth is also ontological — which is a fancy way of saying it is the way things really are. Reality is what it is because God declared it so and made it so. Therefore God is the author, source, determiner, governor, arbiter, ultimate standard, and final judge of all truth.”

This is as clear and concise a definition as can be found. When we say God is love, God is just, or any of the other attributes that are attributed to Him; these are not words we make up and define then apply them to God. Rather all the words we use find there fullest measure and expression in Him. Because He is love He defines it. Because God is truth, He defines the fullest, perfect expression of truth. The OT echoes this.

Deu 32:4  He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.

Psa 31:5  Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

This is no better illustration of God being the fullest expression of truth than in Jesus. Joh 1:1-4  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  (2)  He was in the beginning with God.  (3)  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  (4)  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Joh 1:14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Joh 14:6  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. – Jesus does not say He knows the truth, but says He is the truth.

The truth in the word of God is the same truth in the Son of God. The Scriptures are not only called the word of God but also the word of Christ. Col 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

To summarize then, then Word of God is the truth because truth itself is defined in the very character and nature of the Lord in that way it is theological. The truth also defines our reality. Why? Because God declared and made it so. Num 23:19  "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Application: Since the word of God is the truth. Since it is the expression of God Himself and it is reality how then should we approach the Truth of God’s word? Do we interpret the Bible through the lens of our human experience? Do we force unbiblical interpretations of Scripture based upon our preconceived opinions and bias’s? Or do we view everything through the lens of Scripture? We should do the latter. In order for us to view the world through the lens of Scripture we must be those who have more than just a casual acquaintance with it. I had a conversation with an unbeliever who gave me his opinion on how he thought God did things. At that point I asked him if he ever read the Bible to know and his answer was that he had not. The very Word of God that speaks of God is rejected for the opinion of man.

And you may say to yourself, ’Sometimes I read it and don’t understand it’. Do not fret, you know the Author and He desire nothing more than for you to know His Word and to know Him. You may not understand right away but in time He will reveal it. Jer 33:3  'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'