"In Truth and Love"

"The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; for the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever. Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love" (II John 1-3).

The Apostle John reveals the inseparable relationship between love and truth in the salutation of his second epistle.

In the eternal economy of God, there is no love without truth, and no truth without love. In the economy of man, however, the two are almost always foreign to each other. Reality is often overlooked or ignored when the sensibilities of that which we call "love" govern our thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. True love, the love of God, is often missing in those who correctly determine that Truth does in fact exist, and that we must seek to know and respond to it in all things. Only in the Father and the Son, as revealed by the Holy Spirit, does truth and love perfectly unite in such a manner that reality is not compromised as selfless devotion and affection for others is expressed.

"Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Romans 3:24-26).

Our Lord is totally committed to our walk "in truth and love." In His mind, one does not and cannot exist apart from vital relationship with the other. Few aspects of our Christian experience more call us to trust the Lord Jesus for the vital working of His Spirit to produce this dual expression of His presence in our lives. Our responsibility is to understand and accept the calling, and to keep both truth and love at the forefront of our response to God. Believers are to be lovers of truth, and unabashedly devoted to the light, doctrine, and reality of the Word of God. We are also to be lovers of God and man, seeking always the warmth of devotion to both that fragrances our words, attitudes, and deeds with the self sacrificial love of Christ. Truth and love are mutually inclusive. But only in the triune being of God do they perfectly unite to reveal the wonders of His glory. He is working in us to reveal such glory, and we must respond by keeping the union of truth and love at the forefront of our understanding of our Lord's dynamic presence in our lives.

"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."

(I John 3:18)