Moving from the little book of 3 John (in the previous couple of articles) to the slightly longer letter of 1 John in the Bible, we read about a process called “anointing” You might already know this, but “anointing” was done in ancient time when – for instance – a king was selected for the nation of Israel. While that was generally done with oil by a prophet, the recipients of 1 John were anointed by “the Holy One”.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
1 John 2:20-21 NIV
While you and I (and those to whom John was writing here in the first century) probably aren’t destined to become kings or queens of Israel, we have been selected for a purpose. We have a role to fulfill in God’s plan. And, through the Holy Spirit, those who have accepted God’s offer of following Jesus have access to insight that those without that gift don’t necessarily receive until they make that choice for themselves.
In 3 John (portions of which were studied in the past couple of articles), truth was mentioned multiple times. For instance, John’s friend Gaius was faithful to the truth and walked in the truth. And, through his support, Gaius was working together with other Christians for the truth. So, as Pontius Pilate asked (see John 18:38), let’s ask ourselves, “What is truth?”
For one thing, we know of truth in the general sense as being what is true (i.e., correct, accurate, valid). We might call this “logical”, “rational”, or “human-knowable” truth. (This happens to be inconsistent with the idea – sometimes thrown out offhand – that you and I could somehow have different “truths”. I understand this latter idea of “personal truth” to relate more to individual experiences, opinions, and beliefs, which – frankly – are not the same thing as truth, even if the same word happens to be used for both concepts.)
More specifically, Jesus said that He was “the way and the truth and the life” (see John 14:6). Ultimate truth – which is consistent with “logical truth”, but is even wider ranging as it includes even realities that are known to God but are beyond human knowledge – brings us to another thing about the truth, which is that it is exclusive. We sometimes learn more true things than we knew before, and we might discover that something that we thought to be true wasn’t truth. However, anything that contradicts or changes the truth is not truth.
Now, many people tell things that aren’t true (regrettably). However, I think that it’s important to understand that there are different reasons why they do so.
- Sometimes, falsehoods are told out of ignorance, when the person who is not telling the truth doesn’t realize it, having believed something that isn’t true.
- Other times, falsehoods are told intentionally, when a person is lying on purpose.
- And, there may be times when someone has lied – to themselves and to others – so many times that they no longer remember that what they are saying isn’t the truth.
For those who have found and accepted Jesus as their source of truth, though, and especially those who have spent enough time with Him to appreciate the importance of Him as the ultimate truth, anything that deviates from the truth is to be avoided. Even those who haven’t yet discovered a new and better life in Jesus Christ tend to know – from experience – how lies lead to hurt, harm, and destruction. In the end, only the truth can set us free (see John 8:31-47).
As a result, let us allow the truth of Jesus to remain in us. This means that we need to know the truth: knowing the word of God in the Bible, knowing the example and teaching of Jesus, and knowing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
We must also understand where lies exist around us. Any worldview, philosophy, or teaching that doesn’t recognize Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, isn’t truth. We must be careful to avoid letting “nice-sounding” ideas into our minds and hearts when they are lies from the devil. As past articles discussed from the Bible book of Galatians, we must not accept “Jesus plus something” or “anything minus Jesus” as truth. That doesn’t mean we can’t continue to leverage more truth from God to fill gaps or to address misunderstandings in our understanding of God’s truth. That is, we can always be learning, but the truth is always aligned with Jesus Christ.
May it be said of us that we do know the truth in Jesus Christ, actively seeking Him and being empowered by the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for February 23, 2025
References:
- 1717 Bible Studies, 1, 2, and 3 John, © 2025 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – 1, 2 & 3 John, by Morris M. Womack. © 1998 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 