Fully Trusting “The Truth”

David W Palmer

(John 14:6 NKJV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Following Jesus’s earlier statement, “Where I go you know, and the way you know,” his apprentice, Thomas, asked him a question:

(John 14:5 NKJV) Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”

In answering this question, Jesus said, “I am the way.” As we saw yesterday, if we stay close to him in a worshipful, surrendered relationship; and if we keep our eyes fixed on him, following him very closely, we will arrive at his destination. In other words, following Jesus devotedly will lead you to God’s presence eternally. This—along with the truth that Jesus died and rose to open a “new and living way” for us to approach Father—is a simple but clear understanding of Jesus as “the way” (See also: Heb. 10:19–22).

However, in his answer to Thomas, Jesus added some more profound truths; he also said that he is “the truth” and “the life.” Let’s investigate this further.

At Jesus’s trial, Pontius Pilate voiced the age-old rhetorical question:

(John 18:38 NKJV) Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” …

Our Lord didn’t answer the question at that time, but later he said while praying to his Father:

(John 17:17 NKJV) “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

What God says is true; he cannot deceive:

(Numbers 23:19 NKJV) “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

(1 John 1:5 NKJV) This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

Because God watches over his word to perform it—he creates or does what he says; and because he has “no darkness” in him, whatever words he articulates create reality. He cannot lie by saying something that is not true, because even if he tried to, it would immediately become true—by being created or done. In other words, if he randomly declared from the image inside him, “The grass is blue and the sky is green,” their color would instantly change to line up with what he said.

God cannot lie, and his word is truth. When we put this together with how the Holy Spirit introduced Jesus at the beginning of John’s gospel, we have an interesting observation:

(John 1:1, 14 NKJV) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... {14} And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Jesus is the Word of God—the Word made flesh, God’s Living Word. No wonder Jesus could say, “I am … the truth.” He is truly the living word of God, and thus he is the truth.

Every time we think about this, we need also to include the fact that God is love, and that he always speaks in love (1 John 4:8). This is why, through Paul, the Holy Spirit also said:

(Ephesians 4:15 NKJV) But, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ.

God’s word is only “truth”—in other words it only represents Jesus—when it is spoken in love. What’s more, for us to truly speak God’s word in love means that we must speak it in the Holy Spirit—as motivated, led, and prompted by his love, compassion, wisdom, and timing.

God is love. His word is only “the truth” when spoken in love. Sadly, his written word can also be taken and read intellectually, analyzed factually, grammatically, rhetorically, and historically, etc. And then it can be applied without life and love:

(2 Corinthians 3:6 NKJV) who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Today, I encourage you to see that putting your faith in God’s living word is putting your faith in Jesus. Believe in him and what he says. Trust his promises, knowing the he cannot lie; “Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Num. 23:19 NKJV).

(2 Peter 1:4 NLT) “And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”

Jesus is not only the way, but he is also “the truth.” Jesus is completely trustworthy; he has no deception in him at all. You are completely safe trusting him and his word. He will never deceive, trick, or lie to you. What he says is absolutely rock solid truth spoken in the purest love. It is truth so absolutely foundational that you can safely build your life and eternal destiny on it:

(Matthew 7:24–27 APE) “Everyone therefore who hears these my words, and does them, will be likened to the wise man who built his house on solid rock. {25} And the rain descended and the floods came and the wind blew, and they rushed against the house and it did not fall, for its foundation was laid on solid rock. {26} And everyone who hears these my words, but does not practice them, will be likened to the foolish man who built his house on sand. {27} And the rain descended and the floods came, and the wind blew, and they rushed against that house, and it fell, and its fall was great.”

In the upper room, during the Passover meal, Jesus was bringing his apprentice leaders into his circle of trust; they were becoming friends (See: John 15:15). Deep and lasting friendship is based on implicit trust. This is why the veracity of God’s word is such an important foundation for our mutual friendship; to stay in unhindered fellowship with Jesus, we need to put our complete faith in the words of our friend. It also explains why we need to be honest, transparent, truthful, and trustworthy in what we say to him—no deception, no denial, and no failure to fulfill our promises to him.

Today, I also encourage you to overflow his truth with others, but only to speak it in love like he does.

Remember: God will make good, do, bring to pass, provide, and/or create what he has said he will. He doesn’t lie; he watches over his word—but only his word—to perform it. You can stand safely and securely on God’s word, and trust whatever he has said to you, today! It’s an unbreakable, eternal covenant:

(Hebrews 6:17–18 NLT) God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. {18} So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.