Love in Truth

All through the three epistles of John, there is a theme that I see every time I read them.

John is motivated to speak of the grandeur and grace of Christ. He deals with mind-blowing theological concepts and instructs concerning the practical outcome. In all three epistles, he consistently mentions love and truth. They often go together in the theological framework.

John has been called "the disciple of love". It is easy to see why, as he constantly brings it up. Yet, he is also the disciple of truth. He emphasizes truth as much as love. I think the reason for that is, love must be true in order for it to be loving. There is no love without truth. Love loves truly, or it is false. Right? Confusing? I am...

And truth is shelled in the outpouring of love throughout the Word of God.

I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. And now I ask you, dear lady - not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning - that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. (2 John 4-6)

John deals patiently with the people to whom he writes. He encourages them. He is gentle. And yet, when it comes to untruth, he deals swiftly and emphatically with it. He rebukes deceivers. He is not afraid to stand up to tyrannical leaders in the church, such as Diotrephes.

John upheld truth so firmly, because he loved Jesus so wholeheartedly. He stood for the foundation of the gospel because he loved the God Who declared Himself through the gospel. John defended doctrine because he was sold out to the God  showcased in the theology. Truth is never meant to be merely an intellectual exercise. Truth, like love, is lived out every single day in the life of the believer. John knew truth. He was dressed in it. We live and we act and we speak because of the truth in Jesus. John never talked about godly ideas without living them and encouraging others to walk in the same way. We should never think of truth as separate from love, from action, from service, from devotion. After all, the truest example of love I can think of is seen in the sacrificial, atoning death of Jesus:

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:9-11)

To me, it seems that part of what it is to walk in the truth is to recognize daily the fact that God loved us enough to send His Son into the world. I think it is recognizing that we live only through Christ. We walk in truth because of Christ. We are reconciled to God in Christ. We are able to love others because of Christ's love (1 John 4:19). He tells us that we ought to love one another. Such a thing would be hopeless without relying on Jesus! He gives us life and breath and everything.


Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV)