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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
Wednesday’s column ended with these words: “Our purpose here is to demonstrate the fact that Jesus was the epitome of The Love of the Truth and thereby define how we as followers ought to be ‘...changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.’ (2Corinthians href="https://pro.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q=2co+3:18">2Corinthians href="https://pro.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q=2co+3:18">2 Corinthians 3.18).” The necessity that we possess The Love of the Truth has been repeatedly stressed as a requirement for salvation (reference again is made to 2 Thessalonians 2.10, the passage from which this series gets its title).
When we consider that Jesus was the epitome of The Love of the Truth, and when we face the fact that we must receive The Love of the Truth, it becomes clear that it is incumbent upon us to become like Him. He not only loved the truth, He was (and is) the Truth (see John 14.6). Paul anticipated our need to become like Him when he penned the passage cited in 2 Corinthians 3.18. We must be changed “…even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” This being the case, we must know the heart of Jesus and how He demonstrated The Love of the Truth in His everyday life. This is the precise reason why such great pains have been taken to reveal the character of Jesus and how He expects us to follow Him. We noticed unmistakably that The Love of the Truthis not merely theoretical; it has a practical side or else it is not the genuine article.
One point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a process involved in becoming Christ-like and in coming to possess The Love of the Truth. It is not something that one just wakes up with one morning and wonders how it got there; it is developed over time and with great effort. While it is true that we are being transformed (passive voice), it is also true that we are transforming ourselves through a diligent study and appropriation of the truths in the Scripture. The Love of the Truth can never be kept to one’s self; it is forced to the surface like cream on milk! It is the showcase of godly attributes but is never showy! It is the pinnacle of character but exudes the greatest humility that circumstances will allow.
Peter was and is a classic example of how one can with great effort and determination progress from a condition of weakness to a position of overall strength and integrity; or to cite a sports phrase to go “from worst to first.” Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him (John 21.15-18). This encounter with Jesus left Peter a different man. I am convinced that it was our Lord's intention to emphasize to Peter what it meant to possess The Love of the Truth. All of this was of course to spur Simon on toward the great potential that he possessed. When Peter penned his second epistle, he closed it out with words that are directly relevant to our need to be changed from “…glory to glory.” Peter declared the need to “...grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” (2 Peter 3.18).
How can I possess The Love of the Truth? By allowing God to work in me and by being transformed from glory to glory!
Questions:
1. How can we know what it means to possess the love of the truth?
2. To whom should we turn to see the love of the truth in action?
3. Is the love of the truth a sudden and inexplicable event, or is it a process that has been well documented? Let your heart speak here?
4. If the love of the truth prevailed in all places and at all times, how would the world be changed?
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