For The Truth's Sake

 

For The Truth’s Sake

 

II John 1:2

 

For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.

 

“For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us” Our Lord Jesus Christ said: “..I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). And He said: “Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice” (John 18:37). Everyone that is quickened by the indwelling “Spirit of truth” (John 14:17) hears the voice of the Good Shepherd, as it is written: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28). “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Those who are “of the truth” (being the children of God by the electing and predestinating mercies of God the Father) hear and love the truth because they are quickened and indwelt by the Spirit of Truth, who is to them the Spirit of life (Romans 8:2; Revelation 11:11).

 

The truth that indwells the children of God is the Spirit of Christ, who is the truth, and it is He who causes those in whom He abides to love the truth and to embrace the truth in such a way that they will not believe any refuge of lies in which the unregenerate seek to hide themselves (Isaiah 28:17). The Spirit of Christ being the Spirit of life and of truth to the children of God is the teacher of the children of the covenant to whom He is given, and in whom He is put by the power of God (Jeremiah 31:34; Ezekiel 36:27). This great Teacher of the covenant teaches all and every one of the children of God, as it is written: “And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children” (Isaiah 54:13). The Apostle John repeats this precept, as it is written: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me” (John 6:44-45). Every individual of mankind that hath heard and learned of the Father by the immediate work of the Spirit of truth believes on Jesus Christ as the Savior of His people (Matthew 1:21).

 

Believing the gospel is not according to the choice of the sinner; but believing is according to the terms of the everlasting covenant of grace and believing the gospel is through the power of God the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God enters the heart of the chosen and redeemed sinner and takes it for Himself, as it is written: “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: (that is, Satan keeps his house which is the sinner whom he possesses: writer) but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils” (that is the Spirit of Christ comes upon and overcomes Satan and takes from him the chosen and redeemed sinner whom Satan had ensnared: writer) (Luke 11:21-22; Colossians 1:13). Christ Jesus takes His elect from Satan and delivers them from his power, as it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound” (Isaiah 61:1).

 

 

The Children of God will not turn from the truth, “for the truths sake”. It is love and faith that binds the children of the covenant to God their Father, as is written: “We love him, because he first loved us” (I John 4:19). Love and faith are two of the cords that bind the children of God and are the bond of the covenant, as it is written: “And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant” (Ezekiel 20:37). Love and faith constrain the Children of God to live unto Him who died for them and rose again, as it is written: “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (II Corinthians 5:14-15).

 

The love of God toward the elect has always been and will always be the same, as it is written: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I John 4:10). Note the tenses of love mentioned in these verses: we love Him, because He first loved us. The children of God are brought to love God in time being taught by the Holy Ghost. And not only taught that God is their Father; but also the Spirit of adoption is put in them whereby they cry “Abba Father”, as it is written: “ And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6). The Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the Son and sometimes He is simply called the Spirit. It is He who enters the heart of the elect sinner and takes possession of him through the effectual working of His power, as it is written: “Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power” (Ephesians 3:7).

 

The purpose and grace of God was given us in the covenant of grace before the world began (II Timothy 1:9). The gift of the grace of God is given to us experientially by the effectual working of the power of God the Holy Ghost. God first calls us into existence in the birth which is of nature. Then at the time appointed of the Father we are born of the Spirit of God in the birth from above, we are born again, as it is written: “..Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

 

 God has loved the children of the covenant with an everlasting love, (Jeremiah 31:3) and the love of God is shed abroad in the heart of chosen and redeemed sinners by the Holy Ghost, as it is written: “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5). The love that is shed abroad in the hearts of the children of God, is the love of God in the Trinity of His Most Sacred Persons. It is the love of the people of God and love of the gospel of God. The love of God that is shed abroad in the hearts of the people of God is called charity in the following verses: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away” (I Corinthians 13:4-10).

 

“And shall be with us for ever” It is “the Spirit of His Son” that God has put in the hearts of His children of the covenant. And “the Spirit of His Son” will never leave us, as it is written: “.. lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:20). The children of the covenant of God, that is those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as all their salvation should remember the word of the LORD to Joshua, that is to say: “..I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage..” (Joshua 1:5-6). Christ Jesus will take experiential possession of all those whom He has purchased, and He will cast out Satan who overcomes them experientially and takes possession of them while unregenerate. The Spirit of God is in the hearts of His elect, redeemed and regenerated people. God has written the law of Christ upon the hearts of the people of God and has given us all the inheritance of grace: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (I Corinthians 15:58).

 

AJ Ison

 

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