Sermon Details

What does it mean to put on the Belt of Truth?

It is common today to hear people treat the truth as if it was relative – “Your truth is your truth, and my truth is my truth.” But when Jesus stood before Pilate, he summed up his purpose for coming into the world this way: “For this  reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to    testify to the truth” (John 18:37). Obviously, “truth” is important to Jesus!

Jesus went on to say, “Everyone who is on the side of truth listens to my voice.” In other words, it is possible to stand for the truth or to stand against it. But Pilate responded to Jesus by asking, “What is truth?”

Fact is, in the Bible the idea of truth goes far beyond something being factual. Certainly it is true that 2+2=4. Jesus was speaking on a much deeper level, however, when he said that the Father seeks people who will worship him in “spirit and in truth,” (John 4:23) or when he says that “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). In fact, in both of these passages he is speaking about truth not as a fact, but as a person. What Jesus implies about himself throughout John’s gospel he finally says openly in John 14:6 – “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” So for Jesus’ followers, the important question is not, “Is this or that fact true?” Instead, we ask, Does this match up with Jesus? Is this “of the truth”?

This is why it is so important for us to know Jesus, to spend time with him, to dig into his Word. As we come to know him, we come to know the answer to Pilate’s question. “What is truth?” He’s standing there, Pilate – right there in front of you!

Pastor Jeff Krogstad

Use these exercises to help you put on the belt of truth. In the next two weeks, consider each of the following  Bible passages and the questions that follow:

John 8:31-36

What might it mean for the truth to set you free?

Jesus says both that the truth will set us free and that he (the Son) sets us free. What does it mean to remain in Jesus’ word?

Colossians 1:3-8

Paul calls the gospel – the basic message of good news about Jesus – “the word of the truth” (v. 5). Can you sum up in a couple sentences what this gospel message is?

What does it look like for this “word of truth” to  “bear fruit and grow” (v. 6)?

In verse 6 Paul uses the word “truth” a second time, saying the Colossians had understood “the grace of God in truth.” How does the word “grace” help us  understand the good news of Jesus?

John 16:12-15

What does Jesus call the Holy Spirit (v. 13)?  Why?

Jesus understood that his followers couldn’t absorb everything they needed to know – it would take time.  What did Jesus say the Holy Spirit would do?

1 Corinthians 2:10-16

What contrast does Paul point out between the “natural” and the “spiritual” person?

The Spirit reveals spiritual truth to us (v. 13).  If Jesus is the truth, does that mean that the Spirit gives us more & deeper understanding of Jesus?  What does it mean to have “the mind of Christ” (v. 16)?

Ephesians 4:11-16

These verses say that the task of church leaders is to equip the saints for the work of ministry (v. 12).   How does Paul go on to describe Christian maturity?

What does it mean to speak the truth in love (v. 15)?

Ephesians 4:17-24

Paul contrasts “ignorance” of those who don’t understand the truth as it is in Jesus (v. 21).  How does Paul describe those who are “alienated from the life of God” (v. 18)?

What clues can you find in this passage to help you understand what “true righteousness and holiness”  (v.24) look like?