Being a channel of Truth, Holiness (Final part)

 Truth and Holiness

WE are called to be channels of Truth and Holiness. But maybe someone may want to be a Pontius Pilate and ask what truth is? Both Truth and Holiness spell God. This means that Truth is God and Holiness is God. What we are called to do is to be the means by which people will see God who is Truth and God who is Holy. As said previously, to be a channel is to be a go between, a publiciser, a com­municator of the truth and holiness revealed by God.

So, what is truth?

Here is a simple definition drawn from what the Bible teaches: Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory, and being of God. Even more the point: Truth is the self-expression of God. That is the biblical meaning of truth. Because the definition of truth flows from God, truth is theological.

Truth is also ontological – which is a fancy way of saying it is the way things really are. Reality is what it is because God declared it so and made it so. Therefore, God is the author, source, determiner, governor, arbiter, ultimate standard, and final judge of all truth.

The Old Testament refers to the Almighty as the “God of Truth” – Deut. 32:4; Psalm 31:5; Isaiah 65:16. When Jesus said of Himself, “I am… the truth” – John 14:6, He was thereby making a profound claim about His own deity. He was also making it clear that all truth must ultimately be defined in terms of God and His eternal glory. After all Jesus is “the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person.” – Heb. 1:3. He is truth incarnate – the perfect expression of God and therefore the absolute embodiment of all that is true.

In Deut. 4:5-9, God tells Moses to emphasise His commandments as truth His people are to live by and I love what is said in verses 6 – 8, es­pecially in the New Living Translation which reads “Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us when­ever we call on him? And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?” – (NIV)

In those same verses, the gen­eration in Moses’ time were to be channels of God’s truth to their children, grandchildren and naturally to all generations – meaning that the truths of God should be intergener­ational. It should not change be­cause of the change of generation or culture or habits. Today, the truth that God is –

• He exists, has revealed Himself to us through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ:
• That He hates sin and therefore has made provision to destroy sin in us;
• That He is still and always will be ruler of His creation;
• That He has shown us what is good for us to do as stated in Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

We are to communicate these truths and be a means by which peo­ple will come to that same knowl­edge by placing their faith in Christ Jesus as Saviour and Lord. Truth is God and God is Truth.

Holiness

What does the bible say about holi­ness? What does it mean to be holy?

In 1 Peter 1:3-16, Peter writes to believers, “Therefore, prepare you minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in igno­rance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” Peter is quoting from Leviti­cus 11:44 and Leviticus 19:2.

First, let us look at God’s holiness. What does it mean that God is holy? Passages like 1 Sam. 2:2 and Isaiah 6:3 are just two of many examples of passages about God’s holiness. Another way is to say that holiness is absolute perfection. God is unlike any other, and His holiness is the es­sence of that “otherness.” His very being is completely absent of even a trace of sin – James 1:13; Heb. 6:18. He is high above any other, and no one can compare to Him – Psalm 40:5. God’s holiness pervades His entire being and shapes all His attributes. His love is a holy love, His mercy is holy mercy, and even His anger and wrath are holy anger and holy wrath. These concepts are difficult for humans to grasp, just as God is difficult for us to understand in His entirety.

By Rev. Dr Joyce Aryee, the author