John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
The Scripture has much to say about the truth. It appears 114 times in the Old Testament and 108 times in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus commented on the TRUTH over 20 times. As Pilate concluded (at the trial of the Lord Jesus) WHAT IS TRUTH? Even today many cannot believe the TRUTH of Scripture.
The following studies contain Verses that speak of the TRUTH. Be sure to read them in context.
John 1:14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:17For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. John 3:21But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. John 4:23-24But 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. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 5:33Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. John 6:14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. John 7:40Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. John 8:32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:40But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. John 8:44-46Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and … John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you …, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. John 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. John 17:17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. John 17:19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. John 18:37-38 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. Acts 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, … Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: Acts 26:25But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
Matthew 14:33Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God. Matthew 15:27And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Matthew 22:16And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Mark 5:33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. Mark 12:14And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Mark 12:32And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: Luke 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; Luke 9:27But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God. Luke 12:44 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that … Luke 21:3And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: Luke 22:59 And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Ofa truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean.
In 13 of the epistles the Apostle Paul wrote; he spoke of TRUTH:
Romans 1:18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Romans 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. Romans 2:2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. Romans 2:8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Romans 2:20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Romans 3:7 For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? Romans 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, Romans 15:8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: 1 Corinthians 5:8Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1 Corinthians 13:6Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 1 Corinthians 14:25And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth. 2 Corinthians 4:2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 2 Corinthians 6:7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 2 Corinthians 7:14For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth. 2 Corinthians 11:10 As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia. 2 Corinthians 12:6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. 2 Corinthians 13:8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
Galatians 2:5 To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. Galatians 2:14But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? Galatians 3:1O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, … Galatians 4:16Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? Galatians 5:7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?Ephesians 1:13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed … Ephesians 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: Ephesians 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus Ephesians 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Ephesians 5:9(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; Philippians 1:18 What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. Colossians 1:5-6 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: 1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you … 2 Thessalonians 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 2 Thessalonians 2:12-13 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
1 Timothy 2:4Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. 1 Timothy 3:15But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 1 Timothy 4:3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. 1 Timothy 6:5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. 2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. 2 Timothy 2:25In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 2 Timothy 3:7-8 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 2 Timothy 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. Titus 1:1 Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; Titus 1:14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
In Exodus chapter thirteen, verse 2, the final plague in Egypt was the death of the firstborn of all households.
God revealed to Israel the one and only way they would be spared was to sacrifice an unblemished lamb and brush its blood on the lintel and doorposts of their homes. Only then would the Angel of Death pass over their homes and spare their firstborn. After the Passover the Lord switched to new instructions concerning the first born child in each Jewish family. These rules preceded the Levites, when a sub group within the Levites, carried out all the rituals involving animal sacrifice that were designated. In other words, these men were set aside for temple service. The Lord’s rule was: Sanctify unto me all the first-born. To “sanctify” means to “consecrate”, “set apart”, from a common to a sacred use.
The foundation of this duty rested on the fact that the Israelites, having had their first-born preserved by a distinguishing act of grace, from the general destruction that overtook the families of the Egyptians, were bound in token of gratitude to consider them as the Lord’s peculiar property At that time in Jewish history a mother’s first child was supposed to be dedicated to the priests. They were consecrated to service for God. Later in the Torah there was a law which designated that 31 days after the child is born the father could pay a priest five silver shekels to “redeem” or free the child from temple work A shekel is 14 grams of silver. A U.S. silver dollar contains 9.83 grams of silver. And we know that the price of the silver in any coin today sells at a very inflated rate, but at this time in history.
And even today, the price was never intended to be a large sum of money. It was not to be a burden for poor people to redeem their first born son. It may seem extreme to have to give your first born to the temple. But to Sanctify unto God all the firstborn was a reasonable demand when you stop to realize that the existing firstborn of Israel, were spared by God when the Egyptian firstborn were destroyed. The firstborn should be regarded as God’s and set apart for His service. But the command is limited, when it says “whatsoever openeth the womb”.
To be clear, in that command we learn it says that every child which is the firstborn of his mother. So if a man had many wives, either together or successively, his first child by every one of these was a firstborn, and, if a male, he was claimed by the Lord. But if a female came first, and afterward a male, that male was not devoted to God, because it was not the firstborn. Thus the parents were not to look upon themselves as having an interest in their firstborn, if males, till they had first solemnly presented them to God, and received them back from him again, by special right and title, as being by singular favor preserved from the common destruction.
The firstborn of man, if male, were claimed for the sacred ministrations of the priestly office and the firstborn were to be redeemed at a certain rate, which was part of the priest’s maintenance. But after the Jewish commonwealth was formed, the Levites were chosen to officiate in their stead.
The extension of the demand to existing beasts was also reasonable, since they too had been spared. God’s further requirement, that henceforth all the future firstborn should also be His, was intended to perpetuate the memory of the recent deliverance, and to help to fix it in the mind of the nation.
The substitution of a redemption in the case of unclean beasts was necessitated by the circumstances of the case, since they could not be sacrificed; and the redemption of the firstborn sons naturally followed when the Levitical priesthood was established, and their services were no longer necessary.
Can you imagine giving away your firstborn son to be raised by a priest and committed to temple service for God. It wasn’t meant as a punishment, it was meant as a privilege.
And it even carried down in our lifetimes when you think about the fact that in many Old Catholic families it was a privilege to have your first born son become a priest. First born sons seem to come equipped for special service or position in most families even today.
After all the rules for the Passover were given Moses brought all the elders of Israel together and told them to go pick out their lambs, slaughter the lambs, then take a bunch of hyssop, to be used as a paint brush, dip it in the blood of the lamb and paint the doorposts and the lintels. After that was accomplished they were to close the door and stay inside until morning. Moses’s explanation to them was when the Lord goes through to smite the Egyptians, He will see the blood and not let the Destroyer enter and smite the first born.
It’s interesting that God wants the Israelites to teach their children the meaning of all that is going on. God encourages the education of children, especially when it comes to God and His will for our lives. There are actually four verses in the first five books of the Bible commanding the education of the children on the Exodus.
On Passover when the child raises the question regarding the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, they are to be told “because He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, but saved our houses.” The questions and answers weredesigned to have them grow up knowing God’s power to both destroy and to save. We are all to fear God, it is the basis of morality. Psalm 111:10 tells us “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.”
Those Israelites must have felt the fear of God because they obeyed and did what Moses told them.It was in the middle of the night that God struck down all the first-born in the land of Egypt who did not have the blood on their doorposts. And this death included the cattle. Pharaoh arose in the night, with all his courtiers and all the Egyptians because there was a loud cry in Egypt; for there was no house where there was not someone dead. That was when Pharaoh declared the Israelites were to leave. His words were, “Up, depart from among my people, you and the Israelites with you! Go worship the Lord as you said. Take your flocks and you herds, and be gone!”
And then what did Pharaoh do? He asks, “May you bring a blessing upon me?”
A presumptuous man, if nothing else. But I suppose he could ask for some pittance of self-aggrandizement, after all God already told the Israelites to ask for all the gold and silver the Egyptians owned. Actually, by the time Pharaoh ‘let the people go’ they had stripped the land of Egypt of all their wealth and God had even taken their first born sons. It’s hard to imagine just how difficult life would be for the Egyptians with their wealth gone and their free labor gone.
That exodus of the Israelites would take 600 thousand men, not to mention the women and the children. Can you imagine how bereft the Egyptians felt with all this gone? Then Scripture says, “a mixed multitude went up with them. These would be added to the number of Israelites who left. And the Israelites also took their livestock.”
The Israelites lived in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years to the day. But only about two hundred of those years had they lived as slaves. When they finally got out from under the heavy hand of Pharaoh, they left without preparation. Can you imagine uprooting your entire family without packing and without food provisions? All they had to eat was the unleavened bread they had been instructed to eat. The law of the Passover said no foreigner shall eat of it. A slave could eat of it once he was circumcised. Hired laborers could eat of it. It was to be eaten in one house, nothing of the Passover meal could be taken outside the house. Every man who eats it must be circumcised. Then God said “one law shall be for the citizen and the strange who dwells among you.” It was unique in the world that both citizens and non-citizens would be treated equally under the law.
All those Israelites obeyed God’s laws regarding their exodus. And that very day the Lord freed the Israelites from the land of Egypt, troop by troop.
The blood placed on the posts of the door frame and the lintel was ‘for the Jews and not for God.’
In my naïve thinking, having heard this story from the time I was a small child until now, I was under the perception that that blood was placed there so God could see who was faithful to Him. But that turns out to be a joke when we realize God said it was a sign for the Jews and not for Himself. It was there to assure the Israelites that they will be spared in spite of the death that will be taking place all around them. As well as saving the Jews from destruction, God is a teacher to them. Remember all those things we all were forced to memorize in school?
Well, God has SIX things He told the Jews to remember or memorize, and they do it right up to this day. The FIRST was the Sabbath, “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.” The SECOND was the Exodus. “You shall not eat anything leavened with it…so that you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live.” Number THREE was Receiving the Law at Sinai, “So that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eves…. and make them known to our children and your children’s children, the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb….” The FOURTH was “Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey after you left Egypt, how, undeterred by fear of God he… cut down all the stragglers in your rear.” FIVE was The Golden Calf and other incidents in which the Israelites angered God. “Remember, never forget, how you provoked the Lord your God to anger in the wilderness.” And finally the SIXTH remembrance was, God’s punishment of Miriam for speaking ill of Moses. “Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the journey after you left Egypt.”
Not only would it be difficult for me to remember all these things, but I must admit I don’t recall ever hearing of some of them in the first place. How very much easier we have it as grace believers. Yes, there are verses we know by heart and concepts that we know even better, but basically it’s important to understand, and believe: “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” And then added to that: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”
After God tells the Israelites to remember the Passover, He adds; you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord throughout the ages; you shall celebrate it as an institution for all time. And the interesting part of that entire scenario is whether today’s Jews remember their God or not, they do remember to celebrate the Passover. Added to the remembrance through celebrating Passover the Jews were given another instruction. That instruction was to eat unleavened bread for seven full days. In fact the instruction was extended to include that they must remove all leaven from their houses.
Leaven is a substance, such as yeast, used to produce fermentation in dough or in a liquid. It includes anything that modifies or lightens, such as baking powder that is used to produce a gas that lightens the dough. It mingles with or permeates whatever it is introduced to. Fermentation is a form of decomposition and therefore represents decay and death. Not only were they to remove all leaven from their homes, but Scripture says, “Whoever eats leavened bread from the first day to the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.” Being cut off is one of the most severe punishments in the Torah. There is some confusion as to what being “cut off” means but the consensual thought is it would be to “cut off from God and His people.”
Some Jewish people still practice the prohibition of yeast for seven days, others may think of it as a quaint ritual or as simply pointless. But nonetheless the Torah says, “You shall celebrate a sacred occasion on the first day, and a sacred occasion on the seventh day.”
How much easier Christ’s death has made it for us. “For by grace are ye saved through faith… lest any man should boast.”
Without the Bible, the Holy Scripture, we have nothing to base our beliefs on. The Bible is God’s word about man and his relationship to God. Psalms 12:6The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Psalms 119:105Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. The Lord Jesus told how important Scripture is: Matthew 5:18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Matthew 24:35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Luke 16:17And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. Study the Word 2 Timothy 2:15Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. 1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Reason to Study 2 Timothy 3:16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: Doctrinea belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a Church, political party, or other group. Reproof an expression of blame or disapproval. Correctionthe action or process of correcting something, used to introduce an amended version of something one has just said. Instructiondetailed information telling how something should be done, operated, or assembled. Righteousness the quality of being morally right or justifiable. 2 Timothy 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. PERFECT having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be. Furnished to supply with what is useful or necessary, to fit out, provide, equip.
And to conclude: 1 Corinthians 2:12-16Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.
