I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
John writes to believers not because they are ignorant but because they already know the truth, and no falsehood of any kind belongs to that truth. Those who know it have the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which is the life of Christ in the soul, and they show it by keeping His commandments, walking as He walked, and abiding in the light in love to the brethren. The warning is given because it is the last time, when many antichrists who deny that Jesus is the Christ have gone out from among believers to deceive, revealing that they were never truly of them. Truth comes pure and uncorrupted from God who is truth, so every lie, fable, false theory and misapplied scripture is foreign to it and must be rejected while holding firm to what was heard from the beginning. Brought into the daily life that truth sanctifies the soul, bears the fruits of the Spirit, and makes men and women complete in Christ and ready for His appearing.
Words and Historical Setting
John did not write because his readers were ignorant of the truth, but because they already knew it, and because no lie belongs to or comes from the truth. Those who know the truth have an anointing from the Holy One and know all things, and it is that anointing that enables them to know the truth and to remain faithful to what they know while rejecting lies. The same word is to be taken to heart by all, believers and unbelievers, calling for Christ to be made a daily personal Saviour with lifelong, persevering effort proportionate to the value of eternal life.
That anointing is the Holy Spirit as the life of Christ in the soul, just as near in one place as in another and working in and through everyone who receives Christ. Knowing that indwelling truth is revealed by bearing the fruits of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith — and if what was heard from the beginning remains in them, they continue in the Son and in the Father. Joined with having the anointing and knowing all things, knowing the truth belongs together with being strong, having the word of God abide within, and having overcome the wicked one.
The setting is the last time, known by the coming of many antichrists and false teaching against which this knowledge stands. Those antichrists deny that Jesus is the Christ and deceive others, and they are apostates who went out from the believers because they were never truly of them, so that their true character would be made manifest. In departing from the truth they reveal that they were not truly of the faithful community, and they do the work of Satan.
The address includes young believers and young men who know the truth and are not ignorant of it. They are strong, they have God's word abiding in them, and they have overcome the wicked one, which equips them to resist deception. Knowing the truth and having God's word abide in them equips young workers to resist deception and overcome the wicked one.
The verse belongs to John's First Epistle, which uses plain figures that ordinary people can grasp, in the same simple speech Christ used so that even unlearned hearers and little children in years can understand. That teaching can be easily comprehended and at the same time is of the highest order. Its second chapter holds plain truths of great importance for those living in the last days and is to be read and studied together with Christ's call to remember fallen first love, repent, and do the first works, teaching that presentation of beautiful theories is not enough unless the love of Christ is in the heart, and that loss of that love results in loss of all things. That second chapter is the best sermon for bringing into practical life the science of simple, trusting faith in God, teaching asking God in faith, trusting God and not human weakness, abolishing false science, refusing to be led astray by any man's supposed wisdom or decoyed from steadfast faith in God to follow another man's judgment, living as God's little children led and guided by the Lord in every step, seeking unto God as helper and the source of all wisdom, and walking in the light of the Word of God.
Knowing the Truth
To know the truth is to keep His commandments and His word, to walk even as Christ walked, to love the brother and abide in the light with no occasion of stumbling rather than hating the brother and walking in darkness, with sins forgiven for His name's sake. Those who know it let that which they heard from the beginning abide in them so that they continue in the Son and in the Father, receiving the promise of eternal life and abiding in Him so as to have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
Those addressed are truly sanctified souls living the Word, educated and taught of God Himself from His law pronounced in grandeur from Mount Sinai, which is obedience to all of God's commandments, rather than learning from human unsanctified teachers who refuse that higher education. That indwelling truth is revealed by bearing the fruits of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith — and by keeping singleness of purpose with wisdom from Christ who is sanctification and righteousness, not crowding the mind with many things but holding to the plain Thus saith the Lord and walking humbly with God.
Truth comes directly and uncorrupted from God, who is truth; received inwardly it works powerfully in the heart and is expressed in the character, and those feeding on the Word show that they know it by practice. Being rooted and grounded in the truth means living out the grand principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ in a life of purity, proclaimed in love and true righteousness and obeyed in all dealings by keeping the precepts of God's law; receiving Jesus by faith and following Him as the pattern gives power to become the sons of God. In 1909 there is privilege of coming to the light with no variance by becoming as little children to learn the will and ways of God out of His Word, which is Spirit and eternal life; from henceforth the truth is to go with special power.
Truth Excludes Every Falsehood
No lie, falsehood, supposition, fable, prevarication, deception, untruth, or error comes from or belongs to the truth, and truth and error can have no agreement. Claiming to have made no mistakes while refusing to confess errors is deception, not truth, and what denies having erred or having been led by deceptive spirits cannot be from the One who is truth. The truth is to be held pure and unadulterated with no vital point surrendered, holding confidence firm to the end, for truth so held withstands false theories.
Christ Himself declared that no falsehood belongs to truth, and His words were not mere sentiment or opinion but pure, unadulterated truth of the highest order, framed from eternity. No supposition, fable, prevarication, deception, or untruth ever passed His lips, while false theories are dangerous evils to be met and opposed. Truth was His authority and gave force to His requirements, commandments, and reproofs, because He Himself is truth, magnifying and honoring God's law in His living representative life with no inconsistency between His teaching and His daily life, a life of pure, holy, disinterested benevolence unmarred by selfishness.
Jesus Christ does not take the words, suppositions, and statements of men as verity and truth. Having lived a human life in which His own words were misunderstood and misinterpreted almost as soon as they left His lips, He knows by experience what all who live face. When He sees and hears the speeches and complaints of even church members about each other, He who knows receives nothing unless it is clean truth, and when truth is spoken He endorses it, which is encouragement and cause for gladness to believers and reason that no false lips should utter falsehoods against the truth.
Scripture was given to strengthen truth, not to substantiate error. When those who know the truth collect Scriptures to pile up around erroneous theories that have no foundation in truth, those Scriptures are misapplied and misplaced. Even leading minds to believe the false theory is no evidence that it is true, and a theory's ability to persuade people does not prove it true.
False interpretations, deceptive interpretations, and fables distort truth, weaken faith, confuse understanding, undermine foundations, and can draw people away from what they have learned and received from God. Those who know the truth must reject them and hold firmly and fast to what they have received and learned from God, holding confidence firm to the end with no vital point surrendered. Truth comes directly and uncorrupted from God, who is truth, and received inwardly it works powerfully in the heart and is expressed in the character, while brought into the daily life it sanctifies the soul and makes men and women more like Him who is Truth until at last they are complete in Christ, in word and deed revealing His likeness.
Those connected with sanitariums must reach a higher standard by refusing to follow cunningly devised fables and delusive sophistries and by breaking every human-made yoke and no longer being bound or enslaved to men. Following such fables joins the enemy's forces and unites with the enemy's forces against God and Christ.
The sanctuary question as held for many years stands in righteousness and truth, while the opposing sanctuary theory of A. F. Ballenger is false, deceiving, and not according to the Word of God, with the enemy leading minds off on sidetracks. A lie cannot be made truthful by appeals for sympathy, as applied to Dr. Kellogg's course, whose words and actions will be reviewed before God with reward according to works. Likewise the accusation that W. C. White manipulates or changes the writings is identified as a lie opposed to the truth and false and contrary to the truth.
No misstatement to shield oneself and justify errors will cleanse away wrong. Denying that one has erred or been led by deceptive spirits, refusing to admit errors, and claiming to have made no mistakes are contrary to the truth and are deception, not truth. The blessing of heaven requires clearly seeing that one's course hindered the work of God and confessing errors rather than justifying self and venturing to justify self.
The one who holds to self-shielding falsehood must fall on the Rock and be broken and experience the new birth told to Nicodemus, or coming up to the judgment as he stands he will not be acquitted.
Antichrist Prophecy and Last Days
The meaning of antichrist must be clearly seen from the Word, for confusion on this point will surely place a person on the side of antichrist. That siding takes place in the enemy's last determined conflict, the last battle between the powers of darkness and the powers of light. To know the truth in that setting requires understanding the prophecies of Daniel and of John, which interpret each other and by their fulfillment in these last days explain themselves and witness to the world. It requires also open conformity to the law of Jehovah by observing the Sabbath as the sign between God and His people, while the Lord is about to punish the world and religious bodies for rejecting light and truth.
Men are taking sides according to choice. Those who refuse to be taught of God hold the traditions of men and keep themselves in hand to mold themselves, and at last pass over to the side of the enemy against God and are written Antichrist, finding in Antichrist the center of their union. By contrast the people of God understand their position in this world's history and press together in unity, one with Jesus Christ. Standing on the Lord's side, they seek by precept and example to reform the world, while the two parties stand in collision until the Lord appears to shine before His ancients gloriously and sets up a kingdom that shall stand forever.
Sanctifying Power and Daily Life
Truth brought into the daily life sanctifies the soul and makes men and women more like Him who is Truth until at last they are complete in Christ, in word and deed revealing His likeness. No error is of the truth, and error cannot sanctify the soul or save, while truth sanctifies, so those who teach truth must speak truthfully. Recognizing error and turning from it makes it possible to set wrongs right.
The chapter is instruction to those who know the truth, calling them to criticize themselves instead of exalting themselves and disparaging others. They are to confess and forsake their own sins, to make diligent work of repentance and be cleansed from sin, and to set their own hearts in order without a moment to lose. This urgency is because they are living in the great day of atonement and must be made ready for the Lord's appearing.
It is a word to take heed to for all, believers or unbelievers, calling them to make Christ a daily personal Saviour and to give a lifelong, persevering effort proportionate to the value of eternal life. Those who know the truth are to keep walking in the knowledge of the truth as partakers of the divine nature. They obtain a genuine experience of more value than is recognized by keeping singleness of purpose with wisdom from Christ who is sanctification and righteousness, not crowding the mind with many things but holding to the plain Thus saith the Lord.
Those who know the truth are to remain faithful to what they know and to reject lies, for no lie is of the truth. The truth is to be held pure and unadulterated, with no vital point surrendered, holding confidence firm to the end, and thus it withstands false theories. By walking humbly with God they are called faithful in that which is least.
Young workers who know the truth and are not ignorant of it are strong, with the word of God abiding in them, having overcome the wicked one, and they are to study diligently and carry every burden their health and youth allow. They are to be faithfully taught and counselled by older laborers, to receive wisdom from Christ, and to unite their forces harmoniously with the old in brotherly love, pity, courtesy, mutual counsel, prayer, and respect, after the pattern of Elijah training youth in the schools of the prophets. Those who know the truth have no lie in them and must become more and more distinct from the world with no assimilation.
In these last times men are not to be bound down and forbidden to go forth in the power and grace of God, but are to enter any place and kindle an interest wherever they can. There is privilege of coming to the light with no variance by becoming as little children to learn the will and ways of God out of His Word, which is Spirit and eternal life, and from henceforth the truth is to go with special power. They are to live as God's little children led and guided by the Lord in every step, asking God in faith, trusting God and not human weakness, seeking unto God as helper and the source of all wisdom, and walking in the light of the Word. This practical life of simple, trusting faith abolishes false science and refuses to be led astray by any man's supposed wisdom or decoyed from steadfast faith to follow another man's judgment.
John writes to believers not because they are ignorant but because they already know the truth, and no falsehood of any kind belongs to that truth. Those who know it have the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which is the life of Christ in the soul, and they show it by keeping His commandments, walking as He walked, and abiding in the light in love to the brethren. The warning is given because it is the last time, when many antichrists who deny that Jesus is the Christ have gone out from among believers to deceive, revealing that they were never truly of them. Truth comes pure and uncorrupted from God who is truth, so every lie, fable, false theory and misapplied scripture is foreign to it and must be rejected while holding firm to what was heard from the beginning. Brought into the daily life that truth sanctifies the soul, bears the fruits of the Spirit, and makes men and women complete in Christ and ready for His appearing.
Words and Historical Setting
John did not write because his readers were ignorant of the truth, but because they already knew it, and because no lie belongs to or comes from the truth. Those who know the truth have an anointing from the Holy One and know all things, and it is that anointing that enables them to know the truth and to remain faithful to what they know while rejecting lies. The same word is to be taken to heart by all, believers and unbelievers, calling for Christ to be made a daily personal Saviour with lifelong, persevering effort proportionate to the value of eternal life.
That anointing is the Holy Spirit as the life of Christ in the soul, just as near in one place as in another and working in and through everyone who receives Christ. Knowing that indwelling truth is revealed by bearing the fruits of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith — and if what was heard from the beginning remains in them, they continue in the Son and in the Father. Joined with having the anointing and knowing all things, knowing the truth belongs together with being strong, having the word of God abide within, and having overcome the wicked one.
The setting is the last time, known by the coming of many antichrists and false teaching against which this knowledge stands. Those antichrists deny that Jesus is the Christ and deceive others, and they are apostates who went out from the believers because they were never truly of them, so that their true character would be made manifest. In departing from the truth they reveal that they were not truly of the faithful community, and they do the work of Satan.
The address includes young believers and young men who know the truth and are not ignorant of it. They are strong, they have God's word abiding in them, and they have overcome the wicked one, which equips them to resist deception. Knowing the truth and having God's word abide in them equips young workers to resist deception and overcome the wicked one.
The verse belongs to John's First Epistle, which uses plain figures that ordinary people can grasp, in the same simple speech Christ used so that even unlearned hearers and little children in years can understand. That teaching can be easily comprehended and at the same time is of the highest order. Its second chapter holds plain truths of great importance for those living in the last days and is to be read and studied together with Christ's call to remember fallen first love, repent, and do the first works, teaching that presentation of beautiful theories is not enough unless the love of Christ is in the heart, and that loss of that love results in loss of all things. That second chapter is the best sermon for bringing into practical life the science of simple, trusting faith in God, teaching asking God in faith, trusting God and not human weakness, abolishing false science, refusing to be led astray by any man's supposed wisdom or decoyed from steadfast faith in God to follow another man's judgment, living as God's little children led and guided by the Lord in every step, seeking unto God as helper and the source of all wisdom, and walking in the light of the Word of God.
Knowing the Truth
To know the truth is to keep His commandments and His word, to walk even as Christ walked, to love the brother and abide in the light with no occasion of stumbling rather than hating the brother and walking in darkness, with sins forgiven for His name's sake. Those who know it let that which they heard from the beginning abide in them so that they continue in the Son and in the Father, receiving the promise of eternal life and abiding in Him so as to have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
Those addressed are truly sanctified souls living the Word, educated and taught of God Himself from His law pronounced in grandeur from Mount Sinai, which is obedience to all of God's commandments, rather than learning from human unsanctified teachers who refuse that higher education. That indwelling truth is revealed by bearing the fruits of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith — and by keeping singleness of purpose with wisdom from Christ who is sanctification and righteousness, not crowding the mind with many things but holding to the plain Thus saith the Lord and walking humbly with God.
Truth comes directly and uncorrupted from God, who is truth; received inwardly it works powerfully in the heart and is expressed in the character, and those feeding on the Word show that they know it by practice. Being rooted and grounded in the truth means living out the grand principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ in a life of purity, proclaimed in love and true righteousness and obeyed in all dealings by keeping the precepts of God's law; receiving Jesus by faith and following Him as the pattern gives power to become the sons of God. In 1909 there is privilege of coming to the light with no variance by becoming as little children to learn the will and ways of God out of His Word, which is Spirit and eternal life; from henceforth the truth is to go with special power.
Truth Excludes Every Falsehood
No lie, falsehood, supposition, fable, prevarication, deception, untruth, or error comes from or belongs to the truth, and truth and error can have no agreement.
Claiming to have made no mistakes while refusing to confess errors is deception, not truth, and what denies having erred or having been led by deceptive spirits cannot be from the One who is truth.
The truth is to be held pure and unadulterated with no vital point surrendered, holding confidence firm to the end, for truth so held withstands false theories.
Christ Himself declared that no falsehood belongs to truth, and His words were not mere sentiment or opinion but pure, unadulterated truth of the highest order, framed from eternity.
No supposition, fable, prevarication, deception, or untruth ever passed His lips, while false theories are dangerous evils to be met and opposed.
Truth was His authority and gave force to His requirements, commandments, and reproofs, because He Himself is truth, magnifying and honoring God's law in His living representative life with no inconsistency between His teaching and His daily life, a life of pure, holy, disinterested benevolence unmarred by selfishness.
Jesus Christ does not take the words, suppositions, and statements of men as verity and truth.
Having lived a human life in which His own words were misunderstood and misinterpreted almost as soon as they left His lips, He knows by experience what all who live face.
When He sees and hears the speeches and complaints of even church members about each other, He who knows receives nothing unless it is clean truth, and when truth is spoken He endorses it, which is encouragement and cause for gladness to believers and reason that no false lips should utter falsehoods against the truth.
Scripture was given to strengthen truth, not to substantiate error.
When those who know the truth collect Scriptures to pile up around erroneous theories that have no foundation in truth, those Scriptures are misapplied and misplaced.
Even leading minds to believe the false theory is no evidence that it is true, and a theory's ability to persuade people does not prove it true.
False interpretations, deceptive interpretations, and fables distort truth, weaken faith, confuse understanding, undermine foundations, and can draw people away from what they have learned and received from God.
Those who know the truth must reject them and hold firmly and fast to what they have received and learned from God, holding confidence firm to the end with no vital point surrendered.
Truth comes directly and uncorrupted from God, who is truth, and received inwardly it works powerfully in the heart and is expressed in the character, while brought into the daily life it sanctifies the soul and makes men and women more like Him who is Truth until at last they are complete in Christ, in word and deed revealing His likeness.
Those connected with sanitariums must reach a higher standard by refusing to follow cunningly devised fables and delusive sophistries and by breaking every human-made yoke and no longer being bound or enslaved to men.
Following such fables joins the enemy's forces and unites with the enemy's forces against God and Christ.
The sanctuary question as held for many years stands in righteousness and truth, while the opposing sanctuary theory of A. F. Ballenger is false, deceiving, and not according to the Word of God, with the enemy leading minds off on sidetracks.
A lie cannot be made truthful by appeals for sympathy, as applied to Dr. Kellogg's course, whose words and actions will be reviewed before God with reward according to works.
Likewise the accusation that W. C. White manipulates or changes the writings is identified as a lie opposed to the truth and false and contrary to the truth.
No misstatement to shield oneself and justify errors will cleanse away wrong.
Denying that one has erred or been led by deceptive spirits, refusing to admit errors, and claiming to have made no mistakes are contrary to the truth and are deception, not truth.
The blessing of heaven requires clearly seeing that one's course hindered the work of God and confessing errors rather than justifying self and venturing to justify self.
The one who holds to self-shielding falsehood must fall on the Rock and be broken and experience the new birth told to Nicodemus, or coming up to the judgment as he stands he will not be acquitted.
Antichrist Prophecy and Last Days
The meaning of antichrist must be clearly seen from the Word, for confusion on this point will surely place a person on the side of antichrist. That siding takes place in the enemy's last determined conflict, the last battle between the powers of darkness and the powers of light. To know the truth in that setting requires understanding the prophecies of Daniel and of John, which interpret each other and by their fulfillment in these last days explain themselves and witness to the world. It requires also open conformity to the law of Jehovah by observing the Sabbath as the sign between God and His people, while the Lord is about to punish the world and religious bodies for rejecting light and truth.
Men are taking sides according to choice. Those who refuse to be taught of God hold the traditions of men and keep themselves in hand to mold themselves, and at last pass over to the side of the enemy against God and are written Antichrist, finding in Antichrist the center of their union. By contrast the people of God understand their position in this world's history and press together in unity, one with Jesus Christ. Standing on the Lord's side, they seek by precept and example to reform the world, while the two parties stand in collision until the Lord appears to shine before His ancients gloriously and sets up a kingdom that shall stand forever.
Sanctifying Power and Daily Life
Truth brought into the daily life sanctifies the soul and makes men and women more like Him who is Truth until at last they are complete in Christ, in word and deed revealing His likeness. No error is of the truth, and error cannot sanctify the soul or save, while truth sanctifies, so those who teach truth must speak truthfully. Recognizing error and turning from it makes it possible to set wrongs right.
The chapter is instruction to those who know the truth, calling them to criticize themselves instead of exalting themselves and disparaging others. They are to confess and forsake their own sins, to make diligent work of repentance and be cleansed from sin, and to set their own hearts in order without a moment to lose. This urgency is because they are living in the great day of atonement and must be made ready for the Lord's appearing.
It is a word to take heed to for all, believers or unbelievers, calling them to make Christ a daily personal Saviour and to give a lifelong, persevering effort proportionate to the value of eternal life. Those who know the truth are to keep walking in the knowledge of the truth as partakers of the divine nature. They obtain a genuine experience of more value than is recognized by keeping singleness of purpose with wisdom from Christ who is sanctification and righteousness, not crowding the mind with many things but holding to the plain Thus saith the Lord.
Those who know the truth are to remain faithful to what they know and to reject lies, for no lie is of the truth. The truth is to be held pure and unadulterated, with no vital point surrendered, holding confidence firm to the end, and thus it withstands false theories. By walking humbly with God they are called faithful in that which is least.
Young workers who know the truth and are not ignorant of it are strong, with the word of God abiding in them, having overcome the wicked one, and they are to study diligently and carry every burden their health and youth allow. They are to be faithfully taught and counselled by older laborers, to receive wisdom from Christ, and to unite their forces harmoniously with the old in brotherly love, pity, courtesy, mutual counsel, prayer, and respect, after the pattern of Elijah training youth in the schools of the prophets. Those who know the truth have no lie in them and must become more and more distinct from the world with no assimilation.
In these last times men are not to be bound down and forbidden to go forth in the power and grace of God, but are to enter any place and kindle an interest wherever they can. There is privilege of coming to the light with no variance by becoming as little children to learn the will and ways of God out of His Word, which is Spirit and eternal life, and from henceforth the truth is to go with special power. They are to live as God's little children led and guided by the Lord in every step, asking God in faith, trusting God and not human weakness, seeking unto God as helper and the source of all wisdom, and walking in the light of the Word. This practical life of simple, trusting faith abolishes false science and refuses to be led astray by any man's supposed wisdom or decoyed from steadfast faith to follow another man's judgment.