Week 10 Believe in the Truth
19 "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
20 "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
21 "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."
John 3:19-21 (NASB)
"If Tomorrow Never Comes" by Paul. B is marked with CC BY 2.0.
Background
Quote- Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesman and leader in the American civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. King advanced civil rights through nonviolence and civil disobedience, inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi. King helped organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. On October 14, 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Passage- The book of John is a Gospel that contains Narrative History, Sermons, Parables, and a few Prophetic Oracles. It was written by the Disciple/Apostle John around 85-95 A.D. The key personalities of this book are Jesus Christ, His Twelve Disciples, Mary Magdalene, John the Baptist, Lazarus, his sisters Mary and Martha, Jewish religious leaders, and Pilate.
It was written so that all may believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God who gives eternal life. John’s gospel uses the word “Believe” 98 times and the word “Life” 36 times, in an effort to embed the importance that one must believe in order to live eternally. John is not one of the three synoptic (common view) gospels, but instead was written with a more theological substance, yet equally as inspired and important as the first three gospels.
Lesson Notes
Opening Statement
The path of truth is not subjective. There is no “your truth” and “my truth”, rather only The Truth. This is scriptural, but what does it mean to accept the idea that there really is absolute truth in life?
Ask: Are you pleased and happy about everything you’ve ever done in your entire life?
Point: As human beings we have all done or said something we regret having done or said.
Ask: Is there hope for people who find themselves in this condition?
Point: Re-read verse 21 from today’s passage.
Ask: Where is there hope for people who have done something sinful in verse 21?
Point: “…he who practices the truth…”
Ask: What does that mean to practice the truth?
Point: Before we answer this one let’s look at the King James Version of verse 21, the Greek word behind Truth, and it’s rootword.
First Reading (John 3:21 (KJV)
Ask: What do you notice about the Greek word for truth, the root word of truth, and the definition of Verity?
Point: This is a discussion about what is truth and the philosophical nature of it.
Ask: Does the word choice between the KJV and NASB preceding the word truth indicate anything?
Point: See the definition for the Greek word behind “practices” and “doeth”.
Ask: What do you notice about the definition of the Greek word behind this section of the verse?
Point: There is a lot of meaning encompassed in this one word.
Ask: What can we learn about truth from the Greek word that precedes it?
Point: Re-read verse 21 from today’s passage
Ask: What does doing the truth do for us according to today’s passage?
Point: “…comes to the light…”
Ask: By definition if the light is truth, what is darkness?
Point: lies, falsehood, not telling a complete truth.
Ask: What does the word “manifested” mean?
Point: See the definition of Manifested
Ask: How do we drive out darkness with truth and light?
Point: Re-read verse 21 again
Closing Statement
The light drives out darkness when we do things that are true, practice things that are good, and do them in such a way as to bear fruit for the kingdom of God. As with anything unfamiliar, if this is a new effort or wherever this policy becomes something new in our lives, it takes time. God doesn’t do anything fast and neither should we expect either He or ourselves to make these kinds of fundamental changes quickly. We should absolutely not use that last statement as an excuse or reason to procrastinate. We should use it as a reason to expect this to be a process that needs tending over time. Sometimes tended by us, but other times tended by someone else. The key isn’t to not do it because it will be long and difficult. The key is to understand it will be long and difficult, and plan accordingly. The alternative is to allow the lie of omission to become the acceptable norm, which means allowing a greater or lesser degree of darkness in our lives, and that is just not acceptable.
Questions for the Week
From where do you draw your greatest source of strength when you have to tell or deal with hard truths?
If your first reaction to the above question was not Jesus/God/The Holy Spirt, why not?
Scripture
First Reading
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
John 3:21 (KJV)
For Comparison from today’s passage
21 "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."
John 3:21 (NASB)
Definitions
Greek Strong's Number: 225
Truth
Greek Word: ἀλήθεια
Transliteration: alētheia
Phonetic Pronunciation:al-ay'-thi-a
Root: from <G227>
Cross Reference: TDNT - 1:232,37
Part of Speech: n f
Vine's Words: True, Truly, Truth
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
truth 107
truly + <G1909> 1
true 1
verity 1
[Total Count: 110]
from <G227> (alethes); truth :- true, × truly, truth, verity.
James Strong, Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary, (Austin, TX: WORDsearch Corp., 2007), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "225".
Greek Strong's Number: 227
True
Greek Word: ἀληθής
Transliteration: alēthēs
Phonetic Pronunciation:al-ay-thace'
Root: from <G1> (as a negative particle) and <G2990>
Cross Reference: TDNT - 1:247,37
Part of Speech: adj
Vine's Words: Indeed, True, Truly, Truth
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
true 23
truly 1
truth 1
[Total Count: 25]
from <G1> (a) (as a negative particle) and <G2990> (lanthano); true (as not concealing) :- true, truly, truth.
James Strong, Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary, (Austin, TX: WORDsearch Corp., 2007), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "227".
verity
ver·i·ty | \ ˈver-ə-tē \
plural verities
Definition of verity
1: the quality or state of being true or real
2: something (such as a statement) that is true especially : a fundamental and inevitably true value such eternal verities as honor, love, and patriotism
3: the quality or state of being truthful or honest the king-becoming graces, as justice, verity— William Shakespeare
Greek Strong's Number: 4160
Do, doeth
Greek Word: ποιέω
Transliteration: poieō
Phonetic Pronunciation:poy-eh'-o
Root: apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary
Cross Reference: TDNT - 6:458,895
Part of Speech: v
Vine's Words: Abide, Abode, Appoint, Appointed, Banded, Bear, Bring, Bringing, Brought, Cause, Commit, Commission, Deal with, have Dealings with, Do, Done, Excute, Exercise, Give, Keep, Keeping, Make, Observation, Observe, Perform, Performance, Purpose, Put, Shew, Spend, Spent, Work, Wrought, Yield
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
do 357
make 113
bring forth 14
commit 9
cause 9
work 8
show 5
bear 4
keep 4
fulfil 3
deal 2
perform 2
not tr 3
miscellaneous translations 43
vr do 3
[Total Count: 579]
apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct) :- abide, + agree, appoint, × avenge, + band together, be, bear, + bewray, bring (forth), cast out, cause, commit, + content, continue, deal, + without any delay, (would) do (-ing), execute, exercise, fulfil, gain, give, have, hold, × journeying, keep, + lay wait, + lighten the ship, make, × mean, + none of these things move me, observe, ordain, perform, provide, + have purged, purpose, put, + raising up, × secure, shew, × shoot out, spend, take, tarry, + transgress the law, work, yield. Compare <G4238> (prasso).
James Strong, Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary, (Austin, TX: WORDsearch Corp., 2007), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "4160".
manifest
man·i·fest | \ ˈma-nə-ˌfest \
Essential Meaning of manifest
formal
1: able to be seen : clearly shown or visible Their sadness was manifest in their faces. His love for literature is manifest in his large library. There was manifest confusion in the streets.
2: easy to understand or recognize The truth was manifest [=(more commonly) obvious] to everyone but me.a manifest injustice