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Deutsche Version | Wiki Start | Theme Collection ix

God of Truth ...

Wednesday, Feb 20, 2019. The God of the Old and New Testament is the God of Truth. He calls himself by that title in the book of Isaiah (Chapter 65). And truth is a core topic in many parts of both the Old and the New Testament.

We will have a special service next Sunday, where the topic “truth in times of fake news” has been chosen. As preparation, I have been browsing for bible passages about truth recently. I can say that I am truly moved by the role which truth plays in the relationship between God and mankind. It is very important - up to the point that we are called to live in spirit and truth! Nothing less.

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Truth in Jesus …

Let us look into two verses chosen from a large collection about truth. First, in proverbs we are called to buy truth, to not sell it. The image is very strong:

Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. (Proverbs 23, 23)

and in the New Testament Jesus himself talks about the truth:

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.” (from John 8)

The truth will have a very liberating effect on people. It will set you free. The truth … what is it Jesus talks about. He already gives the answer: it is the truth which we enter by following his word. Abide in my word, that means something like to follow, to stay in it and close to it, to live in it.

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Truth and Spirit …

Usually we have a quite limited idea of truth. Clearly, truth is, first of all, when a statement is correct. You can give incorrect statements and you can lie. Now, of course when we talk about statements, we also talk about language. And language always uses words and terms which are not 100% sharp. Words always have a cloud of meaning - and any statement is a reduction, by the very way language works.

Jesus puts the word truth into a very personal framework. “I am the truth”, one of the core words we find in the gospel of John. Here, he refers to the truth of our life, to what makes us human, to what goals and desires and needs we have and how we should deal with all these.

Jesus tells us that the truth of life can only be found by a relationship to the creator and eternal Lord. It cannot be found elsewhere, just since he is the backbone of life, the beginning and the end. There is only one God, and he is father and son and holy spirit. (Roland Potthast) ... further texts