The Truth About The Truth?

 

God Does Play a Role in Your Understanding!

Herbert Armstrong taught that God had revealed a number of biblical "truths" to him that had been lost down through the ages since Christ and his apostles walked the earth. He also taught that God wasn't "calling" everyone now, and that only those few whom God had "called" would be able to understand and accept the "truths" that had been revealed to him. Unfortunately, as with many of the other things that Herbert taught, these notions about understanding biblical truth were a perversion of what Scripture actually has to say on the subject.

First, Scripture clearly states that God loves the people of this world and gave his beloved Son so that they could be saved from sin and death. (John 3:16-17) Scripture also reveals that Jesus Christ is the way to God the Father, and that he came to this earth to reveal the Father to us. (Matthew 11:27, Luke 10:22, John 10:25-38 and 14:6-11) Moreover, Scripture reveals that God has spoken to all of us through his Son, and that he has provided the clearest and most perfect revelation of the Father that has ever been shared with humankind. (Hebrews 1:1-3) Now, this is the context for the passage which Armstrong employed to teach that only the few folks whom God had "called" would be able to understand Herbie's "rediscovered truths."

In the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, we read: "For no man can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up." (John 6:44, NLT) Without the aforementioned context, Herbert claimed that this passage demonstrated that only the folks whom God had specifically called to Christ would understand his little package of "truth." However, even without that wider scriptural context, the very context of this particular passage refutes its usefulness as a prooftext for Herbert's understanding!

Christ had just told his disciples that he was the true "bread of life" - the real manna which came down from heaven. (John 6:22-42) Now, this was NOT well received by many of the folks who heard it, and they did NOT understand how Christ could insist that folks would have to consume him to be saved. Then we read: "But Jesus replied, 'Stop complaining about what I said. For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.) I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. Yes, I am the bread of life! Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.' Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' they asked. So Jesus said again, 'I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever." (John 6:43-58, NLT)

Clearly, God wants EVERYONE to be saved, and he has "called" or invited EVERYONE to come to Christ in order to have access to him! Indeed, most Christians understand that Jesus was explaining to his followers that salvation is found through his broken body and spilled blood, and that he was speaking about the Eucharist which his followers would be required to participate in for the rest of their physical lifetime on this planet. In reality, NOTHING in this passage suggests or supports a claim of exclusivity of understanding!

Moreover, I believe that part of Herbert's blind spot where this teaching is concerned can be attributed to his rejection of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. "Why do you say that?" Because Scripture reveals that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ALL have important roles to play in our ability to understand God and his plans for us! We've already seen the role of the Father and the Son. Next, we will look at the role assigned to the Holy Spirit.

Again, in the Gospel of John, we are informed that Judas asked Christ about how he would reveal himself to them, and not to the world as a whole. Christ replied: "All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me. I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you." (John 14:23-26, NLT) A little later, in the same account, Jesus went on to say: "But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry." (John 15:26-27, NLT)

Paul wrote to the saints at Corinth that ordinary humans do not understand what God has in store for them. He continued: "But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us." (I Corinthians 2:10-12, NLT) Thus, according to Scripture, we can see that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ALL THREE have significant roles to play in the revelation of God's will and plans to our minds!

Moreover, the passages which we have explored together make plain that the goal of the Godhead is spiritual understanding for ALL. However, even for Christians, this is NOT a "one and done" kind of phenomenon! It is NOT accomplished over the course of a few months in a public library or by reading a series of booklets. The PLAIN TRUTH is that even Christians are expected to grow in grace and knowledge. (Ephesians 4:11-13 and II Peter 3:18) Currently, we (Christians) see through a glass darkly. (I Corinthians 13:9-12) In short, we must NOT forget that the earth being filled with the knowledge of the Lord is a PROPHECY about the future (Habakkuk 2:14), it is NOT the present reality for ANYONE (including Christians). THIS is the truth about "the truth."

by Miller Jones/Lonnie C Hendrix