We have been saying over the last two weeks that Jesus never showed unmerited favor or grace the expense of truth. To do so would have compromised His declaration in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If we are going to be a people of grace we need to get this truth firmly fixed in our minds. Grace operates in the realm of truth where emotions, intellect, and will are governed by truth of God’s Word. Such people are the Ins of Truth (embrace the principles of God). Let’s talk about the Outs of Truth (those who reject the principles of God) and then return to the Ins.
The Outs of Truth (those who reject the principles of God as a way of life)
Rebellion has never been inert in the human heart; there have always been a defection or departure, or more literally, a falling away (apostasy) from God’s principles to one degree or another throughout the history of man. Whatever God says, you can bet there is going to be a rebellion against it.The word apostasy is not a wholesome word for it always speaks of something negative and sinful.
The word apostasy (apostasia, G646) is derived from the verb aphistemi (G868), to depart. Apostasia (apostasy or departure) literally means the falling away, to depart, or a defection from the state of truth. It is found in only two places in the NT: translated forsake (Acts 21:21) where it refers to a departure from accepted doctrine and the falling away (2 Thes 2:3) where it refers to (1) something definite taking place (The presence of the definite article argues something specific and significant; it is not merely a falling away but the falling away, the great rebellion. With this great rejection there will also be a great acceptance of Christ on the earth. Many more brothers and sisters will emerge from that Hell Hole period. I don’t know if I would go so far as to characterize this as the final rebellion or apostasy because after the millennium, Satan will be released from Hell and allowed to deceive the nations just one more time, to oppose God one final time (cf. Rev 20:1-3; 7-10); then justice is served on all apostates, all the defectors, all the rejecters of Christ and (2) preceding the revealing of the antichrist at the half-way mark of the Tribulation Period.
The Thessalonians were torn out of the frame for they mistakenly interpreted experiencing tribulation (cf. 2 Thes 1:4) as a sign that they missed the rapture (no thanks to the ever present false teachers) because the Thessalonicans were taught by Paul that the rapture preceded the Tribulation Period (1 Thes 4:14-18). The noun (apostasion, G647) also related to aphistemi occurs three times (Mt 5:31; 19:7; Mk 10:4) and is translated divorce. This gives a picturesque meaning of the word apostasy to our culture today given the high rate of divorce. Divorce implies separation, a departure, an abandoning of a position once held (of marital status to single status), like apostasy.
Let me list some various translations and paraphrases of this Greek word apostasia in 2 Thess 2:3.
A falling away (KJV)
The falling away (NKJV, Young’s, preferred by me)
The rebellion (ESV, NIV, Goodspeed, Moffatt)
A defection (Murdock)
Departure (Wuest)
The apostasy (NASB, AMP, HCSB, Darby)
Rebel (CEV)
The final Rebellion (TEV)
A definite rejection (Phillips)
A great rebellion (NLT)
Dissension (Wycliffe)
Stop believing God (Worldwide English)
Paul warned Timothy that in the last days (that’s us, last days saints, NOT, I repeat, NOT “Latter Day Saints”) perilous times will come (2 Tim 3:1). Verses 2-9 will give you insight into apostates and explain why the times are perilous. This is quite a listing of who’s who. This bunch is the reason why persecution increases against those who live for Christ,
2Ti 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
This comes with the crosswalk. Well, let’s add some more bad news about the last days.
2Ti 3:13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Again, this bunch above are going to get as worst as they can possibly get. This sounds like those living in Noah’s day before the flood; it makes you wonder. Humanity going downhill is not cynicism, pessimism, or fatalism but a biblical fact. Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is telling Timothy and us that things are progressively getting worse. Mean can get meaner; meaner can get meanest. Base can get baser; baser can get basest. Evil will dwell in the superlative in the last days. The ultimate and final apostasy for an individual would be receiving the mark of the beast (Rev 13:16-17; 14:11; 16:2; cf. 20:4). It can’t get any worse than that! Thankfully, the church will not be around for the tribulation period if you hold to the eschatological belief in a pre-tribulation rapture.
Now there is debate over who are the apostates. It ranges from Jews, Gentiles, and Christians or inclusive of all three. Here is where I put in my two cents for what that’s worth. I believe that true apostates refer to non-believers only. Because of the sin nature, I do believe it is possible for a believer to commit the vilest of sins (cf. the mess with David and Bathsheba); why, therefore, couldn’t believers be guilty of having a “spirit of apostasy?” We are either mirroring the world or mirroring Christ. When we sin there is a turning away from the principles of God. Believers can get caught up in spiritual error and reflect a "spirit of apostasy."
The word apostasy gets tossed around like a rag doll which leads to confusion and error of its meaning. I would rather stay true to a proper theological position like eternal security which is the key, in my estimation, to understanding the bottom line of apostasy for the lost do not have it, and the believers do, than compromise a sound doctrine in an attempt to explain every particular to everyone’s satisfaction.
All those who fall away never had the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ. You can’t lose what you never had. Apostates are those who have already shifted from the truth and bought into a lie by virtue of not having the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We who have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior are locked and loaded for glory for this very reason – the Holy Spirit lives within our hearts eternally through faith…. Hallelujah! Eternal security is not a carte blanche to sin. It doesn’t take a true believer very long to realize it doesn’t pay to willfully sin against God. It is hurtful, unloving, disrespectful, unkind, unthankful, and unChrist-like, not to mention missing out on the blessings of fellowship with God.
We as true believers profess and possess; apostates profess but do not possess (2 Tim 3:5). We can see it in organizations, denominations, local churches that were once bastions of truth but eroded into error. But all of these are comprised of individuals. How often could we recount of people we knew who once clung to the truth and turned away from God for a life contrary to the truth they once believed intellectually but obviously not experientially; in other words, they had never received the Holy Spirit of Christ. Sometimes the falling away results in a person or organization never coming back which is evidence they never knew the Lord. The more we draw near the end of days, the more evident those who are apples trees and those who merely claim to be apple trees. Jesus said to his disciples on the Sermon on the Mount, By their fruits you shall know them (Mt 7:20). Believers will produce apples while apostates will produce another kind of fruit (2 Tim 3:1-9).
You know why theologians describe the Bible as perpetually contemporaneous? It is because its relevancy is revealed by the human heart. Man’s heart from Adam until this day is the same. This is why we can read something written over 4,000 years ago concerning men and women who shared similar human experiences we encounter today (cf. Rom 15:4). From heart to heart we can identify because the nature of the human heart is unchanged, except in the event of regeneration; and even then he or she struggles with the presence of the sin nature (cf. Rom 7:18-24). The sin nature has always had a natural proclivity to run away from or reject God’s truth in any period of history. Though mankind has advanced technologically, spiritually speaking, the sin nature cannot be domesticated and has remained wild and rebellious since the fall of man.
But in the last days the spirit of apostasy (or rebellion or departure, literally a turning away from a position once held, in our case the truth of Scripture) becomes increasingly evident, characterized by Paul as perilous times (2 Tim 3:1ff). All who desire to live godly will suffer persecution (v12) while evil men and imposters proceed to the worst state possible deceiving others and themselves (v13). Believers are not immune to deception. Deception finds an entrance into our lives when we fail to continue to live according to the Word of God, and deception can spread like cancer for error feeds upon itself.
The falling away in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 remains controversial among Bible scholars. There remains however a specific apostasy that takes place before the man of sin (the antichrist ) is revealed. This specific departure from the truth has a culminating point –
He [the man of sin] sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God!
2Thes 2:3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
2Thes 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
This will take place after the first three and a half years of the Tribulation period and inaugurate the Great Tribulation lasting another three and a half years.
What is concerning to me in this matter of grace and truth is that more and more believers are drawing away from the truth, and carnality has become an acceptable lifestyle! They spend very little time reading, of studying, meditating in the Scriptures and being proactive in applying it in their lives. This is the culture where ignorance thrives. Sounds like a sweeping generalization doesn’t it? Well, if it does we need to take another hard look at “Christian” lifestyles in the church or maybe examine our own lifestyle. It doesn’t take a spiritual rocket scientist to see that there are many having a form of godliness but denying its power (2 Tim 3:5). In other words they got the “look” but not the reality. Another descriptive word that describes this type of people in the church is tares. They look like wheat from a distance; they live among wheat, but a closer examination in the light of God’s Word reveals that they are not wheat but a tare. Read the comment on this verse from Bible Believer’s Commentary,
These people seem religious. They make a profession of Christianity, but their actions speak louder than their words. By their ungodly behavior, they show that they are living a lie. There is no evidence of the power of God in their lives. While there might have been reformation, there never was regeneration. Weymouth translates: “They will keep up a make-believe of piety and yet exclude its power.” Likewise Moffatt: “Though they keep up a form of religion, they will have nothing to do with it as a force.” Phillips puts it: “They will maintain a façade of ‘religion’ but their conduct will deny its validity.” They want to be religious and to have their sins at the same time (cf. Rev 3:14-22). Hiebert warns: “It is the fearful portrayal of an apostate Christendom, a new paganism masquerading under the name of Christianity.”
If we are "a people of grace," as advertised on our church sign, living in an age of apostasy that is heading for the-mark-of-the-beast-time, how can we know when our expressions of “grace” are at the expense of truth if most people are generally ignorant to the truth? We can’t; truth is compromised; and we don't even realize it! This is how grace and truth become polarized. People get warm and mushy on grace and others get cold and hard on truth. People either get cold on grace and warm on truth or warm on grace and cold on truth. The grace group hold to a doctrine of love and acceptance, pointing to the truth group as Pharisees. The truth group believes that they are the last remaining vestige of truth and spirituality, accusing the grace group as liberal minded and compromisers of the truth. Both are radical in their position.
The grace group strives to be non-judgmental and therefore wishy washy in their standards, and the truth group strives to have solid standards but turn out to be too judgmental. It sounds like a classic case of ultra liberal versus ultra orthodox. Both groups need to meet the Man in the middle who is full of grace and truth (Jn 1:14). Love has a standard which is why Jesus never showed unmerited kindness at the expense of truth. Paul said in the great love chapter,
The grace group strives to be non-judgmental and therefore wishy washy in their standards, and the truth group strives to have solid standards but turn out to be too judgmental. It sounds like a classic case of ultra liberal versus ultra orthodox. Both groups need to meet the Man in the middle who is full of grace and truth (Jn 1:14). Love has a standard which is why Jesus never showed unmerited kindness at the expense of truth. Paul said in the great love chapter,
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing ( 1 Cor 13:2).
But he also said in 2 Cor 12:15,
The more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.
But he also said in 2 Cor 12:15,
The more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.
More than ever we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ need to get biblical understanding on grace and truth. The end of days is two thousand years closer; we need to be about the Father’s business with a sense of urgency.
A lack of grace, a lack of truth, and a lack of love are prevalent among believers today to the extent that the truth haters (liberals) and grace haters (Bible thumpers) wouldn’t recognize biblical grace any more than they would recognize biblical truth! Sadly, the expressions of grace and truth by either group are beyond biblical range! Remember when Jesus was standing before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, and Pilate ask Jesus if He was a king. Jesus answered,
"You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice" (Jn 18:37).
Pilate then utters those famous three words that must have replayed and is replaying in his mind this very moment in the confines of hell,
What is truth? (v38) Was Pilate being sarcastic, philosophical, or interested? This passage illustrates the truth of 2 Cor 4:4 vividly,
2Co 4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
2Co 4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Whatever Pilate meant by his question, the John-fourteen-six-Truth was standing right in front of him, and he didn’t see the truth, only that he could find no fault in this man (cf. Ex 12:5, Jesus would die like a Passover lamb)! This is a classic case of hidden in plain sight.Truth to Pilate was soldiers, armies, Rome, Caesar, and political power (Guzik on Jn 18:38). He was so close to truth that Jesus was within his grasp, and yet, he let Him slip through his fingers out of political expediency. And you know the rest of the story – Jesus got nailed to the cross.
Are not Pilate’s words the mantra of the relativist of today – “What is truth?” Or, “There are no absolutes!” They claim to be absolutely sure of it!... Truth is relative, right or wrong are terms defined by the individual and for the individual, not for the masses. There is no standard of truth for it is solely based on the apprehension of truth by the individual in whatever he or she is experiencing. It is easy for this mindset to say that the Bible is only true in so far as to what they perceive to be true. Some things may be true for others but not true to them. With the doctrine of relativism, there is no personal responsibility to others only to self which makes this neo-pagan philosophy so popular. What is truth? The existentialist would answer, “What I make of it.”
The Ins of Truth (those who embrace the principles of God as a way of life)
If anyone holds to a John 14:6 belief,
Jesus said to him [Thomas, about the way to heaven], I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me,
will be held in contempt by a world that rejects that claim that Jesus made in that verse. Those who believe this are considered narrow minded bigots, Bible thumpers, arrogant, insensitive, judgmental, extreme, and grace haters! The epithets can escalate to real ugly, but you get the idea.
The Truth we are talking about is obviously a Person by the name of Jesus the Messiah. Let’s see how narrow this gets to the point of absolute exclusivity. It is so profound it is a staggering truth to take in.
Paraphrasing, anyone or anything else is the opposite direction of heaven, a lie, and literally, the center of death. The next statement is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed of in our belief; absolutely, no one comes to the Father in heaven, and here it is, the EX factor – Except through Me. This is some radical stuff! He just shut down every pagan religion, any idea of works, born of blood, will of man, or will of the flesh to reach heaven (cf. Jn 1:13). It accentuates having to be born of God. Another way of saying it,
Their birth depended not on the course of nature nor on any impulse or plan of man, but on God (Phillips).
Their birth depended not on the course of nature nor on any impulse or plan of man, but on God (Phillips).
Mat 7:13 Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
Mat 7:14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
What makes it so narrow? You know the answer, Jesus. No wonder we are accused of being too "narrow minded." I take that as a compliment. It is the Ex-factor truth.
Let’s return to the passage in 2 Timothy 3 and take a look at why we believe the Bible to be the absolute authority in all matters of faith and practice. Those who take that position are the Ins of Truth.
Let’s return to the passage in 2 Timothy 3 and take a look at why we believe the Bible to be the absolute authority in all matters of faith and practice. Those who take that position are the Ins of Truth.
In 2 Tim 3:14-15 I want to make a short comment then look at a premier statement concerning the Word of God.
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, (15) and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Truth is not only taught, it is caught, mainly in his godly mother (Acts 16:1) and Paul (1 Cor 4:17). What great examples and mentors of faith. People are observing our behavior and weighing our words all the time.
Well, even in the midst of perilous times, Timothy is to continue in the things which he learned. If there is another word for faithfulness in this context it is this word, continue in the teaching of Scripture. From it he found salvation, wisdom, and how to live a godly life.
Paul declares,
2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
2Ti 3:17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
We could spend several sessions on the salient features that reveal what makes the Word of God unique among all the books of the world, but you have heard these before. Let me give you two. There is the remarkable and amazing unity of Scripture having been written by over 40 authors, living on three continents, spanning a period of 1600 years speaking in one voice.
Let me quickly share another one . There are at least 332 Messianic prophecies in the OT; Jesus fulfilled every one of them perfectly. Here are some staggering numbers on the probability of Jesus fulfilling these prophecies (Guzik on 2 Tim 3:16).
- The probability of 8 prophecies being fulfilled by the same person is 10 to the 17th power (1 with 17 zeroes behind it). This I am told would cover the state of Texas 2 feet deep in silver dollars! Paint a red dot on one. Within a landmass of 268, 581 sq mi there is a silver dollar with a red dot on it, face down from view. You pick one occupying real estate the size of a silver dollar anywhere within the borders of Texas. Pick carefully because you have only one chance. These are the odds of 8 prophecies fulfilled by one person.
- The probability of 48 prophecies being fulfilled by the same person is 10 to the 157th power.
Since I am not a mathematician (I majored in aftermath), the probability of 332 prophecies being fulfilled by the same person would be a jump into hyperspace. Christ Jesus fulfilled at least 332 prophecies!
All Scripture (Gk, graphe, G124 is from the verb grapho, to write). Technically, scripture here refers to the completed OT but also includes portion of the NT already written when this epistle was penned to Timothy. Paul referred to Luke’s writing as graphe or Scripture by quoting Lk 10:7 in 1 Tim 5:18. Peter called Paul’s writings as graphe (2 Pet 3:16). Genesis to Malachi and Matthew to Revelation are graphe or Scripture. What makes them authoritative is what Paul declares about graphe. Its source is not from this world though God used men to write down His revelation to mankind; it is not the writings of man, but the very words of God.
Notice that Paul said of graphe that it is given by inspiration of God. It literally means God breathed. The Greek word for inspiration is only found here, theopneustos (G2315) meaning to breathe or blow, inspire. The idea is of a sailing vessel being borne along or carried along the water as the sails billow by the wind (2 Pet 1:21, moved, phero, G5342, borne along or carried along). Luke used this word of sailing vessels carried along by the wind (Acts 27:15, 17).
These guys just didn’t take upon themselves to write something about God (2 Pet 1:20-21). Nor did anyone volunteer for this duty. What we do know is that God didn’t throw around some ideas with these men as some kind of think tank to get their feedback on the best way to reveal Himself to mankind. The Words came from God, and the process of putting it on “paper” was superintended by the Holy Spirit so that graphe was without error, or infallible. It was not pure dictation for the writing styles of, say, John, Luke, Peter, or Paul are different. Yet these were the very words of God expressed in the writing style of the different “sailing vessels.” This movement of the Holy Spirit is not fully understood; different writing styles, yet the very words of God. We see a similar consideration of our individuality or personality in God’s desire for us to be Christ-like without disregarding or destroying our individuality. God wants us to be Christ-like through us not somebody else, being Christ-like through our uniqueness; there is only one set of fingerprints like us in the world! Christ is to shine through us.
These boys couldn’t have pulled this off without the help of the Holy Spirit. This simply illustrates the obvious truth that without God’s help we cannot carry out any of His commands (cf. Jn 15:5; 16:13; Gal 5:16; Php 4:13). There are some difficulties in Scripture, but they are extremely minuscule in comparison to the volume of Scripture and involving no major doctrines which is pretty amazing when you consider how the Bible has survived essentially in tact over the centuries. This speaks of the preservation of the Word though we do not possess the original autographs.
The Outs of Truth deny the authority of the Scripture, and the numbers are rising. We, the Ins of Truth, need to take a stand on a high view of Scripture. The trustworthiness of the Scriptures is not based on a psychological pep rally but a historical fact. We need to stand firm on a belief that the Bible is the absolute authority in all matters of faith and practice without apology to all the Outs of Truth. A high view of Scripture is a belief that Scripture or graphe is verbal, plenary inspired and infallible or inerrant. We cannot have a proper theological view of God and have a low view of Scripture.
- Verbal inspiration means the words originally written by the forty or more writers were God breathed (1 Cor 2:13). The very words were given by the Holy Spirit.
- Plenary inspiration means Genesis to Revelation and Matthew to Revelation are God-given.
- Inerrancy means that the original autographs (not translations) are totally without error in every area of life.
The Bible is the only book in the world or has ever been in the world or will ever be in the world that is absolutely trustworthy. It has no agenda but to help us in every way and to give us the very best. But God shoots straight with us and holds back no punches. The Ins of Truth have figured that out thanks to the Holy Spirit.
2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
2Ti 3:17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
All (Genesis to Revelation) scripture is profitable for teaching, rebuking sin, correcting error, and instructing in godly living. Eph 2:10 states,
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them,
Which goes along with the bottom line talk of 2 Tim 3:17,
That the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
James stated that faith without works is dead (2:20).
In these perilous, troublesome times, the Word of God helps us to stay the course while all the Outs of Truth are doing their own thing, and the Ins of Truth bring glory to God by continuing in the principles of God taught and caught. What a precious gift we have in the Word of God, beloved.
That the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
James stated that faith without works is dead (2:20).
In these perilous, troublesome times, the Word of God helps us to stay the course while all the Outs of Truth are doing their own thing, and the Ins of Truth bring glory to God by continuing in the principles of God taught and caught. What a precious gift we have in the Word of God, beloved.
Postscript
Next Sunday we attempt to bridge this unnecessary separation of grace and truth, God willing. The challenge is to be a people of grace and truth or the Ins of Truth in a world saturated with the Outs of Truth. We may be the only Jesus they will ever see. One thing is for certain; Jesus never showed grace at the expense of Truth, and if we are not walking in the Truth, they will never see Him in us. The Outs of Truth don’t realize it, but they need to see grace and truth by the Ins of Truth because the greatest threat to unregenerate man is the holiness of God. God will judge sin that is why He provided a way out through His Son (Rom 5:8; Jn 3:16).
And Pilate, as one of the eternal Outs of Truth, will never forget that before his very eyes that day was the only God-man full of grace and truth standing before him. The answer to his question, "What is truth," was realized the very moment he entered into a lifeless eternity - Jesus. <><
And Pilate, as one of the eternal Outs of Truth, will never forget that before his very eyes that day was the only God-man full of grace and truth standing before him. The answer to his question, "What is truth," was realized the very moment he entered into a lifeless eternity - Jesus. <><
