John 8:32 - "If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples. And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free."
SOME HAVE THOUGHT BEING NICE WAS OF THE SAME ESSENCE AS KNOWING THE TRUTH. IT IS NOT. WE CAN THANK OUR PARENTS THAT WE ARE NICE BUT, IF WE WOULD KNOW THE TRUTH, WE MUST SEEK GOD AND BE WILLING TO OBEY HIM.
ESTABLISHING THE REALITY OF GOD'S KINGDOM
The weapon God has given us to combat the lies of the enemy is the Word of God, which the Scriptures refer to as the "sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17). Jesus said His words "are spirit and are life" (John 6:63), which is to say that the substance or meaning in Christ's words represents an actual reality: the living Spirit of the Kingdom of God.
The ancient Greeks, in whose language the New Testament was written, had no word for "reality." To them "truth" and "reality" were the same essence. If we seek to experience the true work of the Holy Spirit, we should understand that the Spirit has been sent to establish the reality of God's Kingdom in the lives of Jesus' followers. Thus, as we become one with the Spirit of Truth, and as we fully embrace the Word of Truth, we are brought into the reality of God Himself!
This point is essential: in our war over who controls man's world, the singular weapon God has given the Church is His Spirit-empowered Word. The living Word of the Spirit is the truth.
SOME HAVE THOUGHT BEING NICE WAS OF THE SAME ESSENCE AS KNOWING THE TRUTH. IT IS NOT. WE CAN THANK OUR PARENTS THAT WE ARE NICE BUT, IF WE WOULD KNOW THE TRUTH, WE MUST SEEK GOD AND BE WILLING TO OBEY HIM.
ESTABLISHING THE REALITY OF GOD'S KINGDOM
The weapon God has given us to combat the lies of the enemy is the Word of God, which the Scriptures refer to as the "sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17). Jesus said His words "are spirit and are life" (John 6:63), which is to say that the substance or meaning in Christ's words represents an actual reality: the living Spirit of the Kingdom of God.
The ancient Greeks, in whose language the New Testament was written, had no word for "reality." To them "truth" and "reality" were the same essence. If we seek to experience the true work of the Holy Spirit, we should understand that the Spirit has been sent to establish the reality of God's Kingdom in the lives of Jesus' followers. Thus, as we become one with the Spirit of Truth, and as we fully embrace the Word of Truth, we are brought into the reality of God Himself!
This point is essential: in our war over who controls man's world, the singular weapon God has given the Church is His Spirit-empowered Word. The living Word of the Spirit is the truth.
