Thursday: Truth Lovingly Presented
Jesus did not neglect presenting truth for “love’s sake”, because that would not have been love. Love always seeks the best for another. There is no conflict between love and truth. Truth presented humbly and kindly is a statement of love. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Jesus is the only way of salvation (Acts 4:12).
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His grace saves us so that we can know His truth and live His life. Truth without love leads to stifling legalism, which strangles spiritual life. So- called “love” without truth leads to tolerant sentimentalism with no substance, leaving an individual adrift on a sea of uncertainty. Truth presented in love leads to an authentic Christian experience that provides clear direction, purpose, and certainty.
Read 1 Peter 3:15; 2 Timothy 4:2; and Titus 3:4-5. What expressions in these verses present the balance between presenting Bible truth and a humble, accepting spirit?
The New Testament writers never emphasize love over truth. They beautifully blend love and truth, grace and law, compassion and honesty. Peter admonishes fellow believers to “give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15, NKJV). In other words, you need to know what you believe, why you believe it, and be able to explain what you believe and why. This doesn’t mean you have all the answers or must be able to convince others of your beliefs. It means only that with “meekness and fear” — that is, with humility and a sense of the greatness of the issues at stake — you can explain and defend your faith.
Paul counsels his young protégé Timothy to “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2, NKJV). He reminds Titus that it is the kindness and love of God that saved those who have been reborn in Him (Titus 3:5).
We, too, are called to present the truth in love with all meekness and humility. Our Lord invites us to join Him in lovingly sharing with accepting attitudes His last-day message for a world dying without Christ.
| If someone were to ask you, “Why are you a Christian?” how would you respond, and why? |
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Christianity is not a "push" religion, rather it is a "pull" religion. our mission is not to entrap people into the body of Christ, but rather to invite them. Here are a couple of verses that emphasise the idea of attraction.
And of course:
When we love and support one another, we lift up Christ to the world. We show that we have something to share, and others will want that experience too. Then we will have the opportunity to speak "the word".
The Gospel begins at home with those we know the most.
Who is ready to tell me the reason that we belive in christ?
I would hope that I don't need to tell you anything, James. My prayer is that if you come within my sphere of interaction, then the way I treat both you and others will demonstrate why I believe in Christ.
Hi James - I am ready to tell you my reason why I believe in Christ; if you already believe, you will understand. Feel free to express follow-up questions.
Today's lesson provides a good basis for explaining the reason why I believe. In the King James Bible, this Epistle of Paul to Titus is entitled 'Basis of the Christian Ethics'. This 'new ethic' is at the heart of my Faith. I have chosen to give up the ways which governed my old life and live now being a Christian, a faithful citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven! Mark12:29-31
Everyone that choses to live in this Kingdom is given the spiritual and intellectual insight to understand what is required in order to live in this Kingdom. Titus 3:1-8 gives a short glimpse into the directive Paul gave to Titus. I encourage you to read all three chapters to gain a deeper understanding, though.
I want to have peace in my heart and love for my fellow man, therefore I accepted the teachings of Jesus as my way of life; I have submitted my will to the Will of my(our) heavenly Father who sent Jesus to mankind to direct us to Himself; to show us His Way to live our life.
I believe that by living my life according to His Way, Truth and Light, I will experience His Peace and Love and be a blessing to those I interact with.
I believe that mankind is lost in 'darkness', not finding answers to the Why and How of Life by its own wisdom and understanding. Jesus gave us His Holy Spirit to guide us into all Truth and strengthen our walk through life by Faith.
Jesus' revelations shared with us in His Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven give us insight into why we are lost without His Light and the way back to the Father. It is given to all mankind, and those who seek Truth which does not change will believe His teachings.
I first believed, now I know!
Amen! That is nice.
I agree with you maurice, but i want you to keep ready all the time to give everyone who ask you the reason that we belive in jesus and be ready to preach the christ to those who are lost.
Hi James. Yes, of course, I understand where you are coming from. Here is my answer in the form of an illustration.
I love Carmel, my wife. But how do I describe/explain that love? Well, she is good looking and has a pleasant smile and she can cook a whacking good meal. And she has produced beautiful children. I could go on but as I started to write these things down I realised that my arguments are trivial and to a certain extent self-centred. How do you describe your love for your spouse? What are the reasons for loving her. We can make up eloquent phrases but the real proof is that if you see us together, even when we are cranky with each other, you will know that we love one another.
And something like that has to be the basis for our ready answer as to why we believe in Christ.
James, Reasons to follow Jesus - when we get to Lesson 12 of this quarter we will find them beautifully summarized, I am going to save this and will use it as my answer in future:
If thine enemies be hungry give him bread to eat; And if he be thirsty, give him water to eat. Prov 25: 21.
No one comes out of the blues and ask me if I am a Christian. It is after a conversation or some deeds or kindness people will ask me ‘where do you go to church/ have fellowship’? We don’t have to go around telling people we are Christians in our day to day life. If we are doing visitation from house to house or visiting an institution that is different.
When salt is applied to meat/food, salt doesn’t say I am salt but when the food is eaten we know if salt was used or not. So it is with us, when we come in contact with others, they will see our good works and glorify our father in heaven. Many will long to be like us because of the Spirit we possess.
James there are many reasons I believe in Christ. IThe greatest is Calvary. How can the creator, sustainer, redeemer, died for such a sinner like me. How he loves me so much regardless of all my faults. ,
You have right.
We should never be mean with truth, but, should redemptively present the truth to people as we seek out to win souls to Christ in our personal or cooperate evangelism.
Our Walk in the Gospel Way of Jesus' Truth and Light - His spiritual teachings applied/lived, motivated by our love of God the Father of all Truth and maintained through faith - is at the very foundation of all the believer is asked to do; and this is where the focus of our 'learning and maturing' needs to be; to increase our intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father is to become one with the Spirit of the Father.
The 'how, what, why, where, when', the basis and content of our interaction with our 'neighbor', is established through the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
It is this intimacy of our relationship with the Holy Spirit which is then reflected in our 'attitude' and 'conduct' toward others. We can either be filled with the Spirit of God to overflowing - which is *witnessing* -, or we are just starting to allow Him to change our mind and heart and are not yet ready to witness to His Truth, Love and Goodness to others; though we can always witness to our willingness to be changed.
Yes, the leaders, teachers and preachers of congregations throughout the lands need to focus on educating the spiritual aspect of the believer, call all to submit their will to the Will of God and open their minds and hearts fully to live the Way of the Lord - the Way the citizen of the Kingdom of God lives.
Then we are ready to project the Leven of the Word of Truth to the world: exhibiting by our conduct the effects of the Salt, the Water, the Bread, and the Light that shines in the darkness. The effectiveness of our testimony to the world is directly linked and proportional to the love we have for our Savior and the God to whom He points - our Father who gave us His Spirit. How great is our Joy in our Salvation?!
This call can only be directed to the Christians - 2Cronicles7:14
We must endeavor to meet them at their highest.
Paul in his speech to Athenians approvingly quotes from non-christian poets(Acts 17:28), and this tells us his attitude to these faiths.Even though he quoted from these unbelievers,he didn't accept the whole religious system of their philosophies.He saw glimmerings of truth in these systems that could be used to buttress his case for Christianity.His audience was familiar with these writers and accepted them as their teachers.He used their literature to develop his case for Christian Gospel.We may quote appropriate words from a well-known writer without committing ourselves to their total context or background of thought.
By affirming what was good in Greek philosophy,he gave us an important principle about the Christian attitude toward other faiths-we must endeavor to meet them at their highest.
When we not only know, but experience the "Truth", we will only be able to present it as Jesus did, who "so loved the world that He" laid down His Life to save all who will "receive Him...and believe on His name".
Truth only benefits those who accept and act on it. Faith acts, while unbelief only acknowledges and boasts of having the "truth".
The core reason why I am a Christian: Genesis 3:15 and Luke chapters 23 and 24. This sums it all up.
In keeping with Maurice’s comment that Christianity should be a “pull” process rather than a “push” through process, I’m quite sure that I do not agree with the statement in the lesson from Wednesday that , after getting to know someone, we should be prepared to “confront” inappropriate behavior. I for one will leave this to the Holy Spirit.
As most of us know, conversion is not an over night process. In many cases, it takes years or even decades to complete. Be supportive, loving, kind and instructive but I would specifically recommend against confronting an acquaintance or friend with what we think is a fatal flaw in their lifestyle. There are exceptions to every rule but in this case, they should be rare. Telling/confronting people with how they “should” behave will end a relationship quickly in most cases. If they are inviting help or advice that is a good example of an exception.
If someone were to ask you, “Why are you a Christian?” how would you respond, and why?
I would respond first by telling my Salvation Story. How I was searching and praying to God for something that was missing in my life. This prayer started when I was 13, when I was got baptized just because my nephew, Corey, who was 7 at time, took his stand to be baptized, into the Baptist church. However, it wasn't until I was age 19 while in junior college, after going thru many life experiences, I re-discover my love for Jesus. That is when I gave my life and heart to Jesus, and re-confirm that He is my personal Savior.
However, later on, after many years in my sanctification process, or my conversion experience thru the Holy Spirit, I realized that being a Christian means that you have entered into a Love Relationship with Jesus, and with the entire Godhead. That is what means when John said in 1 John 4:19,"We love him, because he first loved us." Jesus the Son, God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, has ALWAYS Loved us, we just didn't know or love Him. You can not Love someone that you don't KNOW or have a Relationship with. Even in a Teacher/Student Relationship, good or bad, both person know each other. So, when I became a Christian, I decided to enter a Love Relationship with Jesus (falling in love with Jesus), by getting to KNOW Him (He already knew everything about me, but I knew very little about Him), and that's when I truly became a Christian.
Because I am in a relationship with Jesus, I have several hundred Personal Testimonies (Stories) on how I joined the church, how He heard and answered my prayers, how He healed my body, how He protected me from seen and unseen forces. Also, I have heard His voice, God the Holy Spirit, several times in my life, given me clear and direct, and personal instructions. I have hundreds and hundreds of stories, and I'm willing to tell them all to the people that Jesus wants me to tell, by God the Holy Spirit leading. I'm ready to give a defense for why I Believe.
I have been listening to this song all week long, "I Believe" by Angie and Debbie Winans. It's a jazzy Gospel song (look it up on Youtube), but the chorus of the song says "I Believe in Jesus, I Believe in God, I Believe in Mary's Baby, I Believe in Jesus Christ." Hebrews 11:6, says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must BELIEVE that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." It's a lifelong process, but we must start the process by believing in Jesus, and then be willing to get to Know Him as our personal Friend and Savior.
God's Blessings to you all!