The elder,
To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth— 2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.
Any idea what the theme was in this quarter of the book? John uses the word "truth" in his writings 43 times. This is relevant to today because people aren't really interested in "the" truth, they are interested in "their" truth which is ironic because their truth may be totally incorrect but it doesn't really matter to them. Plus, their truth may change over time which means one of them wasn't true. "Truth" is defined as that which is in accord with reality.
One of John's most notable accounts of "truth" is found in Jesus' discourse with Pilate which is only found in his gospel, not the other three. It relates to today because Jesus was explaining who He was and the kingdom of God and explaining the truth and Pilate wasn't interested because his truth was that he had to keep peace even if it meant killing an innocent man. I suppose his truth was true, but Jesus is THE truth, so the question is which truth are you going to follow? What God asks us to do is submit our truth to His. What would that look like in Pilate's case? The truth was that he would lose his job, status, favor with the king, maybe even his life if he didn't keep peace which in this case was sentencing an innocent man to die. To put his truth in submission to Jesus' would have been to admit that what Jesus said was true and to follow Him no matter what the cost because his job and life is nothing compared to the wonder of following Christ.
That's what happened with Saul/Paul who was advancing in power with the Pharisees by persecuting Christians until he met the truth on the way to Damascus, left his truth and followed the truth and proclaimed that whatever he was then was rubbish compared to the glory of knowing Christ.
This is what John is talking about as he starts his letter to this body of believers. He is beyond excited that this group of believers have put their truth in subjection to THE Truth who has now given them a new truth which is in line with what is really true. Make sense? In my life, I was introduced to the truth at a very early age but in my college years, when I was on my own, I had to decide is this really the truth or have I been brainwashed. I knew like Trump, Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson that this way of living led to a good life and wholesome world. But is that enough? Do you really want to be a Christian because it works even if it is not true and Jesus wasn't God and didn't rise from the dead? That's what Karl Marx called the opiate of the masses - let them believe a lie because it makes them endure suffering without complaining. No, I, like Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men wanted to know the truth and after investigating I was convinced that Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life and no one comes to God except through Him.
That's the truth and I'm following it (Him).
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