Chapter 11 - Truthfulness
Mat 5:33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Mat 5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Bonhoeffer- ' "Let your speech be Yea, yea, and Nay, nay." This is not to say that the disciples are no longer answerable to the omniscient God for every word they utter, it means that every word they utter is spoken in his presence, and not only those words which are accompanied by oath. Hence they are forbidden to swear at all. Since they always speak the whole truth and nothing but the truth, there is no need for an oath, which would only throw doubt on the veracity of all their other statements. That is why the oath is "of the evil one." But a disciple must be a light even in his words.
It is clear that the only reason why Jesus prohibits the swearing of oaths lies in this concern for truthfulness. It also goes without saying that he admits no exceptions, however high the court of law may be.
The commandment of complete truthfulness is really only another name for the totality of discipleship. Only those who follow Jesus and cleave to him are living in complete truthfulness. Such men have nothing to hide from their Lord. Their life is revealed before him, Jesus has recognized them and led them into the way of truth. They cannot hide their sinfulness from Jesus, for they have not revealed themselves to Jesus, but he has revealed himself to them by calling them to follow him. At the moment of their call Jesus showed up their sin and made them aware of it. Complete truthfulness is only possible where sin has been uncovered and forgiven by Jesus. Only those who are in a state of truthfulness through the confession of their sin to Jesus are not ashamed to tell the truth wherever it must be told. The truthfulness which Jesus demands from his followers is the self-abnegation which does not hide sin. Nothing is then hidden, everything is brought forth to the light of day.
In this question of truthfulness, what matters first and last is that a man's whole being should be exposed, his whole evil laid bare in the sight of God. But sinful men do not like this sort of truthfulness, and they resist it with all their might. That is why they persecute it crucify it. It is only because we follow Jesus that we can be genuinely truthful, for then he reveals to us our sin upon the cross. The cross is God's truth about us, and therefore it is the only power which can make us truthful. When we know the cross we are no longer afraid of the truth. We need no more oaths to confirm the truth of our utterances, for we live in the perfect truth of God.
There is no truth towards Jesus without truth towards man. Untruthfulness destroys fellowship, but truth cuts false fellowship to pieces and establishes genuine brotherhood. We cannot follow Christ unless we live in revealed truth before God and man.'
My thoughts--
Psa_145:18 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
Psa 146:5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
Psa 146:6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever
Pro_3:3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart
Pro_12:19 The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
Pro_16:6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
Pro_23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Joh_3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Joh_4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh_16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Joh_17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh_17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
1Co_13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth
Eph_4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
1Jn_3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1Jn_3:19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
3Jn_1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth
*******
Truth.
Until we pay very close attention to the truth, I don't think we realize how much we lie. How easy lying has become and yet every lie is a sin. Christ's cross reveals our sin, it reveals every lie.
We are to LIVE IN TRUTH.
We are to LIVE IN CHRIST.
There is NO GRAY area here, not a single one and yet we love to tell ourselves there is. We make excuses to lie, when there are no excuses for lying. The truth is PAINFUL, often excruciatingly painful.
Lord help us to be truthful in a world of lies.
Only by Your love can this be possible, You who died having lived only in the Truth, You who are TRUTH.
Mat 5:33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Mat 5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Bonhoeffer- ' "Let your speech be Yea, yea, and Nay, nay." This is not to say that the disciples are no longer answerable to the omniscient God for every word they utter, it means that every word they utter is spoken in his presence, and not only those words which are accompanied by oath. Hence they are forbidden to swear at all. Since they always speak the whole truth and nothing but the truth, there is no need for an oath, which would only throw doubt on the veracity of all their other statements. That is why the oath is "of the evil one." But a disciple must be a light even in his words.
It is clear that the only reason why Jesus prohibits the swearing of oaths lies in this concern for truthfulness. It also goes without saying that he admits no exceptions, however high the court of law may be.
The commandment of complete truthfulness is really only another name for the totality of discipleship. Only those who follow Jesus and cleave to him are living in complete truthfulness. Such men have nothing to hide from their Lord. Their life is revealed before him, Jesus has recognized them and led them into the way of truth. They cannot hide their sinfulness from Jesus, for they have not revealed themselves to Jesus, but he has revealed himself to them by calling them to follow him. At the moment of their call Jesus showed up their sin and made them aware of it. Complete truthfulness is only possible where sin has been uncovered and forgiven by Jesus. Only those who are in a state of truthfulness through the confession of their sin to Jesus are not ashamed to tell the truth wherever it must be told. The truthfulness which Jesus demands from his followers is the self-abnegation which does not hide sin. Nothing is then hidden, everything is brought forth to the light of day.
In this question of truthfulness, what matters first and last is that a man's whole being should be exposed, his whole evil laid bare in the sight of God. But sinful men do not like this sort of truthfulness, and they resist it with all their might. That is why they persecute it crucify it. It is only because we follow Jesus that we can be genuinely truthful, for then he reveals to us our sin upon the cross. The cross is God's truth about us, and therefore it is the only power which can make us truthful. When we know the cross we are no longer afraid of the truth. We need no more oaths to confirm the truth of our utterances, for we live in the perfect truth of God.
There is no truth towards Jesus without truth towards man. Untruthfulness destroys fellowship, but truth cuts false fellowship to pieces and establishes genuine brotherhood. We cannot follow Christ unless we live in revealed truth before God and man.'
My thoughts--
Psa_145:18 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
Psa 146:5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
Psa 146:6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever
Pro_3:3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart
Pro_12:19 The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
Pro_16:6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
Pro_23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Joh_3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Joh_4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh_16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Joh_17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh_17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
1Co_13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth
Eph_4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
1Jn_3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1Jn_3:19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
3Jn_1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth
*******
Truth.
Until we pay very close attention to the truth, I don't think we realize how much we lie. How easy lying has become and yet every lie is a sin. Christ's cross reveals our sin, it reveals every lie.
We are to LIVE IN TRUTH.
We are to LIVE IN CHRIST.
There is NO GRAY area here, not a single one and yet we love to tell ourselves there is. We make excuses to lie, when there are no excuses for lying. The truth is PAINFUL, often excruciatingly painful.
Lord help us to be truthful in a world of lies.
Only by Your love can this be possible, You who died having lived only in the Truth, You who are TRUTH.
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