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The Truth of Salvation in the Armor of God
Jesus, 'Yshua' is the TRUTH
When Jesus stood before Pilate, Pilate asked Jesus,"What is
Truth?" The answer was standing right in front of him, but he could not see it,
like so many people who have eyes that work,but cannot see the 'Truth'. Jesus
said that he was the "Way, the Truth and the Life", and each word in that name
of our Lord and Savior speaks to who he is, and what he expects we will come to
understand. For a God who IS the TRUTH, we must understand that the TRUTH is
very important, not only the Truth of Salvation and our Messiah, but truth in
ALL THINGS as well. Let us consider a little about the TRUTH.
Telling the Truth
We first begin to understand about the truth by
something we are taught from the time we speak: "Tell the Truth". We are not
supposed to lie, indeed not even unbelievers are supposed to lie, it is a
principle so important to the world, that even very 'bad' people know the
difference between the truth and a lie. Further, a lie can be very dangerous for
both the truth and a lie have one thing in common: THEY GROW!
There are many aspects of the Truth, that keep us in the 'Whole Armor of
God'. When we tell the truth, even if it hurts us or embarrasses us for a little
while, it almost never hurts as much as when we lie, and have to cover up that
lie over and over again. If we belong to the LORD, we do not feel very good at
all when we lie. A lie is like a disease that eats up our conscience, and keeps
us from feeling at peace. Over a long time, lying can even cause you to get
sick, for it takes a lot of fear and 'nervousness' or 'anxiety' which doctors
know can lead to some very painful physical illnesses. The real reason though
that day to day truth is important, is that when we walk in the TRUTH, we have
peace and we are 'abiding in the vine' or walking closely with Jesus. A lie is
like a dark shadow that makes it hard to see our Messiah or his Word. A lie
makes us want to hide from the LORD. Do you remember the bible story of Cain and
Abel? Cain killed his brother Abel, and when God met with Cain He asked him
where his brother was. Cain did not tell the truth to God right away, he tried
to hide what he had done. He answered without respect for God, asking Him "am I
my brother's keeper?". Cain knew the truth, but lied even to God, and that lie
and killing his brother ruined most of Cain's life.
God and the Truth
Even more than merely telling the truth, as part of
the armor of God, we are called to KNOW THE TRUTH. In the book of Psalms, David
calls God's Word, the 'Word of Truth'. When I first started to read the Bible
before I was a believer, I thought the way most people do who do not know or
care about God. I thought the Bible was only a book written by men, and that
they made it up. I did what I wanted and believed what ever sounded good, and
never knew the LORD hardly at all. One day, though, I started to read the Bible,
in the book of Proverbs. I thought, 'maybe there is a little wisdom in this
book, just because so many people have believed in it for so many years. The
book of Proverbs showed me some things about the way people behave, and good and
bad ways to think and act. In fact, it was so interesting and wise that I
decided to read more of the Bible later. When I read it again, I remember
reading about Jesus asking Peter what Peter thought was TRUE about Jesus. Jesus
asked Peter:
Mar 8:29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And
Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.....and
Mat 16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
Mat 16:16 And
Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona:
for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee, but my Father which is in
heaven. br>Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this
rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Now there was the greatest truth I had ever read. After reading all of the
other 'truths' in the Bible, I was finding out that it was indeed a 'Word of
Truth'. Now I read that Jesus , the Truth, stood before Peter and asked him if
he believed the truth, and Jesus wanted to hear the truth from him. Peter
without pausing says "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.' Peter
confessing that truth led to the greatest blessing God has ever given, for the
TRUTH about Jesus led Peter into Jesus' house forever,with eternal life, and
Peter never forgot that TRUTH for the rest of his life. Like the other apostles
and disciples, Peter gave his life for that truth, because next to the TRUTH of
Jesus, everything else looked like a lie.
Neither Peter nor the other disciples such as John, Matthew, Mark and the
others ever lied again, nor looked to any other lesser truth or way of the
world. Keeping in the Truth is powerful armor: they won every battle, and it
kept the the "river of life", the power of God flowing through them so that they
could heal the sick and lame, the deaf and blind, and Paul, another apostle even
survived the deadly bite of a viper, because they clung to the truth, lived in
the truth, preached the truth and never took their eyes off the way, the TRUTH,
and the Life: Jesus Christ, or in Hebrew Yshua HaMeschiach (Jesus the Messiah).
Gird Yourself with the Truth
The Bible tells us to gird ourselves with
the truth:
Eph 6:14 "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with
truth,...."
How can you put on the Truth? The Book of Ephesians tells us to have our
loins (waist and hips) 'girt' or wrapped and clothed ('girdled') about with the
truth. In those days, if a person wore one piece of clothing and only one, such
a fishermen working on a hot day, it would be to wear what they called a
'loincloth' or girdle. Soldiers also often on the front of this piece of
clothing wore a small shield to keep them safe from flying arrows, swords and
spears. It was absolutely necessary to wear that piece of clothing, a little
like 'shorts' so that one would not be naked or embarrassed! That is how we
should consider the TRUTH: if we are not wearing it, it should be as
embarrassing for us as though we had nothing on! The truth must matter that
much! What we believe about God and His Son, how we understand His Word, all has
to do with whether we are of the truth and clothed in the truth. It protects us
from the deadly arrows which are hurled our way, arrows such as hatred, deceit,
fraud, unbelief, and harm. When we tell the truth, we are at peace and resting
in the Strength of the Lord: we have nothing to hide. When we believe the
TRUTH, we gain 'Eternal Life': life that lasts forever in Joy and peace and
happiness in the presence of GOD, knowing what LOVE really is. How could you not
want to be 'girt with the TRUTH'?! |
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