Are you “of the truth?” How do you know? Can you even know? Many people believe in the doctrine “once saved, always saved,” and, of course, that is true because the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus died for the sins of all. Just read Romans 5 if you doubt this. Five is the number of grace and Paul makes it clear five times there that all men are saved by Jesus’ death and resurrection. I will try to write about the salvation of all mankind in the near future, but for now, if you do not understand or doubt this essential doctrine, please read the book The Restitution of All Things by Andrew Jukes.
Today the question is, how can one become and know he is “of the truth?” John holds the key:
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. [6] If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. [8] If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [10] If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1 John 1:5-10 (ESV)
I have noticed a strange thing in my later years. Christians who are connected to the Harlot Babylon, the church made by men’s hands which buys and sells religion, do not repent of their sins. For some strange reason they seem to think that they do not sin, or if they do actually recognize a sin from time to time, they believe that the forgiveness of Jesus preempts their need to repent. As the wise man said, such thinking is baloney!
John says that anyone who walks in darkness, yet says he fellowships with Jesus (that is, he says he is a Christian, a Methodist, an Episcopal, a Baptist, a Catholic, a charismatic, etc.) lies and does not practice the truth. Again, anyone who claims to believe in Jesus and yet walks in darkness lies and does not practice the truth.
What does it mean to walk in darkness? It is the opposite of walking the the light. Isaiah best defines it, I think:
Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20 (ESV)
To walk in darkness is to walk in evil ways instead of good ways. It is to partake of evil instead of good. It is to call evil good and good evil. Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Immerse yourself, wash yourself, in God’s Word. Remember, “all of God’s words added together reveal God’s truth” (Ps. 119:160).
So, learn God’s truth, which is God’s light. When you do not walk in that truth and light, you walk in darkness. John and Paul teach us that no one can walk perfectly in God’s light unless they do one thing. They must practice righteousness by repenting of their failures to walk in that light, that is, they must repent of their sins. In this way they remain in the light. I could learn and know all of the Bible and yet still not practice righteousness. Do not simply read the Bible each day, or all of it each year, but do what it says. You do what it says by actually doing it and, when you fail to do it, by repenting of your failure. If the Word of God does not affect your life, for example, if you still even partake of “course jesting” (you know, if you watch and laugh at late-night talk shows, today’s sit-coms, movies, or tell off-color jokes yourself), then you are walking in darkness and do not practice the truth. Then you are not “of the truth.”
The truth dwells within each person who practices righteousness. 2 John. This one, and only this one at present, is the son of God who is “of the truth.” All the rest are sons of the devil. I ask again, are you of the truth?
