Grosey's Messages

Ephesians 6:14  Ready For Battle #3   The Belt of Truth

False intelligence.

A Roman soldier had a belt, and all the rest of his armor was somehow hooked to that belt. It was critical to the rest of the equipment. If it was wintertime, soldiers wore a long robe. The first thing a soldier would do to get ready for battle was "gird up his loins." That's a weird expression—most of us don't gird up our loins when we get dressed in the morning. To a soldier, however, girding up was essential. He would lift up that long robe and tuck it into his belt so that he could move freely. On a march, he could have it down to stay warm. If he was off duty, he could unbuckle his belt. But if he was on duty and it was time for battle, an unbuckled belt and a hanging robe would mean one of two things: being punished by his superiors or having a severe disadvantage to his enemy. Either way, the consequences were grave.

So when the battle cry sounded, a soldier would lift his robe and tuck it into his belt, where his sword would hang and his shield would attach. The belt was central, and a lot depended on its being secure.

Our first piece of armor is a direct defense against the enemy's number one tactic. Do you recall from Genesis 3 what his first attack was? Deception. Satan was the crafty serpent, dressing up his lies to make them appealing and then whispering them into Eve's ear. He deceived her by questioning God's goodness, then by questioning the accuracy of the truth of God's command. "You will not die," he said—a blatant lie. Then he quickly followed up his lie with some appealing truth. "If you eat this, it will give you the knowledge of good and evil." He was right. That was accurate. That's what Satan does; he takes truth and twists it, making sin look appealing.

Satan's first attack was deception, and humanity's first response after sin was hiding, denial, and blame-shifting. That hasn't changed much either, has it? When we see the truth about ourselves, it's painful. It takes a lot of courage to face up to reality. It's easier for us to go into denial or to point a finger at someone else. We are very creative blame-shifters. We attribute our sinful reactions to difficult circumstances, a depressed economy, an unfaithful spouse, or anything or anyone other than ourselves.

The remedy is the belt of truth. Whoever or whatever we blame may actually be at fault to some extent in our situation, but until we get honest with God and with each other, we are playing with deception. Kenneth Wuest writes that the belt of truth is evident in the man or woman whose mind "will practice no deceit and no disguises in our intercourse with God."2 We need to own up to our own faults without excuses and without blaming, bring them to God, and confess them honestly before him. That's the only way to stand firm against deception.

The word truth

Zimmermann,A. (2013). Postmodernism and religious vilification laws. The Western Australian Jurist Vol 4. pp.85-114. p.88 "We have moved away from a culture of free expression of contrary opinions to the acceptance of all opinions. As such, it is morally wrong to claim that there might be only one possible truth.8 The new approach changes the meaning of tolerance from an attitude of permitting the articulation of beliefs that we may not necessarily agree with, to asserting that all beliefs and claims are equally valid." "Thus the new meaning of 'tolerance' implies a psychological attitude that conveys not only a sense of identity or empathy, but also the tacit support or consent with almost every existing value and belief." 

Raiter notes that "in today's Western world, film and television are the storytellers, and they define for us good and evil, right and wrong, truth and promise."

Westminster Confession of Faith

1.1. Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men unexcusable;….

1:4. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, depends not upon the testimony of any man, or Church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God,

1:5 . We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it does abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts,

1:6 The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: 

Westminster Confession of Faith "The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself). the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God)., the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts." 

Theologian E.Y.Mullins notes:

"Physical science has tended to narrow the idea of truth to propositions which can be proved in exact mathematical terms. But this narrowing of the conception is due to a confusion of truth itself with a particular form for expressing it. There are many ways of expressing the meaning of reality. The claim to truth cannot be based upon any one way to the exclusion of others. The test of the claim to truth is the test as to the reality with which it deals, at least this is the primary and fundamental test. Spiritual realities will not yield the same formulae for expressing their meaning as those found in the sphere of physics. But they are none the less real and may find interpretation in terms of truth. Again, the appeal of the truths of religion is of the strongest kind. It is an intellectual appeal in the narrower sense of the word. The reason is satisfied because the truths of the Christian religion may be presented in a coherent system which has unity and self-consistency. The moral nature is satisfied because the result is the triumph of the moral nature over sin and self and the world. All the higher personal life is satisfied because in the Christian experience human personality comes to its own. Self-realization, a consciousness of having found the meaning of life and destiny, is bound up in the Christian experience." Mullins, E.Y. (1917). The Christian religion in its doctrinal expression. Philadelphia: Roger Williams Press, V. Theology and Truth. 

E J Carnell (2007) speaks of three sorts of truth; ontological truth; truth as propositional correspondence to reality; and truth as personal rectitude. He also conludes that there are three methods of knowing: knowledge by acquaintance; knowledge by inference; and knowledge by moral self-acceptance.

These forms of knowledge are propositional in the sense that they represent "true truth." Of course, this form of knowledge adheres to a correspondence theory of truth  958Carnell, E.J. (2007). Christian commitment. Wipf & Stock Pub. p.29. 

may align with a coherence theory of truth, where the actual reality of the world may not be accessible, but that a proposition may be regarded as true because it coheres with other truths that correspond to reality.

There is a Personal nature to truth

The term "truth" had currency in Greek philosophy, Roman thought, and the Hebrew Bible including its many uses in the Old Testament Greek Septuagint (lxx).  In Greek philosophy, one of the senses of 'alethia' involved an accurate perspective on reality.  Romans similarly spoke of veritas as a factual representation of events. In the Hebrew Scriptures, "truth" ('emeth,' 'emunah') primarily conveyed the notion of God's faithfulness.964 This faithfulness had been revealed throughout the history of Israel and, according to John, found supreme expression in the life, ministry, and substitutionary death of Jesus (John 1:14; 14:6).  In John's Gospel, where the importance of "truth" is underscored by 48 instances of the aleth-word group in comparison with a combined total of 10 in the Synoptics, the notion of 'truth' is inextricably related to God, and to Jesus' relationship with God, and the possibility of personal and individual relationship  with God.  Hence the concept of 'truth' and knowledge conveyed more than propositionally true statements, there is also a relational aspect that spoke of faithfulness and rectitude to the nature of God himself. Keener, John 1.418, notes that ninety percent of the instances of aletheia in the lxx translate the Hebrew ªemeth and concludes that " 'truth' often includes the sense of 'covenant faithfulness' in the Fourth Gospel." 

There is a subjectivity about truth. Truth demands our whole commitment.

1 True-hearted, whole-hearted, faithful and loyal,

King of our lives, by Thy grace we will be;

Under the standard exalted and royal,

Strong in Thy strength we will battle for Thee.

Refrain:

Peal out the watchword! silence it never!

Song of our spirits, rejoicing and free;

Peal out the watchword! loyal forever,

King of our lives, by Thy grace we will be.

2 True-hearted, whole-hearted, fullest allegiance

Yielding henceforth to our glorious King;

Valiant endeavor and loving obedience,

Freely and joyously now would we bring. (Refrain)

3 True-hearted, whole-hearted, Saviour all-glorious!

Take Thy great power and reign there alone,

Over our wills and affections victorious,

Freely surrendered and wholly Thine own. (Refrain)

           Jesus certainly applied himself to learning  the scriptures and pursued the Word of God.

(1) Jesus KNEW  the Bible.

When Satan attacked him, Jesus had the scriptures committed to memory so he could immediately give a counter attack with his spiritual sword the Word of God...Jesus answered Satan and said "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Mt.4:4)  Deuteronomy 8:3

Jesus had the Word of God hidden in his heart.  It dominated his mind. He was so familiar with the Word that when Satan tempted him he didn't even have to hesitate, think, or evaluate.  He instantly discerned what Satan was up to (the scriptures give you great discernment) and he instantly knew how to respond.  IT was the Word in his heart and mind that gave him victory in temptation.

(2)Jesus BELIEVED the Bible was God's word.

Jesus believed in the divine inspiration of scripture.

Jesus believed that "Every word .....proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Mt.4:4)

Jesus affirmed the Bible is God's word when he called it such in Mark 7:13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."

(3) Jesus believed the Bible was INERRANT.

This means that Jesus believed the Bible was absolutely true without any mixture of error.

In John 17:17 Jesus prayed to the Heavenly Father and said, "...Your word is truth."  Not just that "your word contains the truth."  But that you  word IS  the truth!!"

(4) Jesus believed the Bible was INFALLIBLE.

He believed that the scripture will never fail.  That every promise will be fulfilled.  It is reliable and eternal. Jesus believed every promise is reliable and every prophecy will come to pass.

Matt 5:17-18 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. (NIV)

(5) Jesus believed  the Bible is the HIGHEST AUTHORITY.

By saying "It is written..." Jesus was appealing to scripture as the ultimate authority.

The scripture is the final word on everything

(6) Jesus believed the Bible was HISTORICALLY ACCURATE.

Do you know Jesus believed in the Genesis account of creation.... Read Matthew 19:4 where He quotes from Genesis and declares that God's original marriage plan of one man with one woman for a life time was still in affect.  Did you know Jesus believed in the Genesis account of a global flood in Noah's day. .. Read it in Matthew 24:37-39.  In fact Jesus compared the period of Noah's day to the period when He will return to earth again.

Did you know Jesus believed in the Bible's account of Jonah being swallowed by a great fish. ....Read it in Matthew 12:38-40.  He compared that historical event to his own resurrection from the dead.

Oh yes Christ definitely believed in the historical accuracy of the Bible.

It is for this reason that you cannot possibly claim Christ to be Lord and at the same time doubt the or question the historical veracity and accuracy of the Bible......You see either ...

The Bible is absolutely accurate and completely true and Jesus confirmed it to be or

The Bible contains myths and mistakes and Jesus did not know it (thus He could not be divine) or

The Bible contains myths and mistakes and Jesus did know it but did not tell us and was dishonest.

(7) Jesus believed the Bible was INVINCIBLE.

Jesus believed the Word of God was an invincible spiritual weapon.

When Jesus said "IT is written..." He knew Satan could not overpower that.

The  Word of God is like an atom bomb against Satan's puny arsenal.Tthe Word of God is essential to your spiritual well being.  (Ferguson)