The Whole Truth
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross
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Yesterday, nobody was minding the store. So don't
miss Phil Sander's article, "God's Forgiveness."
forthright.antville.org/stories/1021237/
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COLUMN: Final Phase
The Whole Truth
by J. Randal Matheny
As I sat at the snack bar, the unwelcome noise of
the television descended from the high corner
where it was bolted to the ceiling.
"... I want the whole truth!"
I snapped my head around to see a soap opera in
progress, a severe older man twisting a woman's
arm.
The scene quickly lost my interest, but the phrase
stuck with me.
When, like the woman with the flow of blood, I
fall at the feet of Jesus and tell him the whole
truth, I discover his forgiveness and receive his
blessing (Mark 5:33).
With all the truth revealed by the Lord, I can
walk as a child of the light and learn how to
please the Lord (Ephesians 5:9).
When I have the whole truth, I stand in good
position to rebuke sharply those whose characters
need it, "that they may be sound in the faith"
(Titus 1:13).
When I listen to the Spirit of truth who gave "all
truth" to the apostles (who, with the prophets,
gave us the New Testament), I can do like the
Spirit does -- glorify Jesus (John 16:13-14).
Of course, I should not throw pearls to pigs
(Matthew 7:6) and tell someone the whole truth of
a matter, when they will use that to separate me
from the power of God (Judges 16:17-18).
I want the whole truth, not half-truth(s), which
are actually untruths, or lies. In the whole
truth, there is no deception, no slants, no
tendencies.
Though we shouldn't make too much of it, there was
even a word for complete knowledge of God and his
truth: "epignosis." An example of the word is in 1
Timothy 2:4, where God wants "all men to be saved,
and to come to the full knowledge of the truth"
(YLT). God wants people to repent in order to come
"to the [full] knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy
2:25).
Some have a bah-humbug attitude about the whole
truth, the full truth, the complete truth, all
truth. Perhaps they find something disconcerting
in the whole truth. Something that doesn't tickle
their ears.
I want the whole truth. The truth that frees.
Because life is no thirty-minute soap opera. It's
for real. It's for eternity.
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Read this article online, tell us what you think,
see who's commenting, click here:
forthright.antville.org/stories/1025489/
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Again, be sure to read Phil's article here:
forthright.antville.org/stories/1021237/
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You can help us get the word out. Here's how:
forthright.antville.org/stories/340415/