by Jim West
Most of us (at least those of us with significant age) have heard a witness sworn in to testify in a court trial by a bailiff using these words. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” As the witness agreed to these conditions to testify, he would do so with his right hand in the air and his left hand placed on a Bible. Sadly, we now live in a culture in which some are “offended” by references to God, so most states and jurisdictions have omitted the Bible and the phrase “so help you God” from the swearing in process.
By God’s grace, TCBC has from its inception been a body of believers who are unashamed to promote truth. God’s truth. Absolute truth. Unchanging truth. Though so many, including many who actually profess to know Christ, would hold to a teaching that there is no absolute truth, that no one can know anything with certainty, including whether or not they are saved, the body of TCBC has stood faithfully on truth as recorded and preserved in God’s Word.
This Sunday, Pastor Andy will share our Core Value from 2 Timothy 2:15, Faithful Devotion to God’s Word. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” The passion of everyone who teaches or preaches the Bible at TCBC is to handle the truth accurately. To get it right. Devoid of cultural pressure or influence; devoid of personal bias. Teachers study in preparation to present the truth because we have no liberty to teach anything other than what God intended. It is, after all, His truth. The original Greek for “accurately handing” carries the idea of making a straight cut or dissecting correctly. Paul tells Timothy (and us by extension) in this text that to get it right requires diligence and the efforts of a workman. Each of us as followers of Christ, as His disciples, must desire to “not be ashamed” of our lack of diligence or apathy to truth. We are called to be truth bearers to a world that needs Truth!
It is the truth of His Word (and the power of the Spirit) that convicts us that we have sinned against God, that presents the need of a human soul for forgiveness of that sin, and that presents the only hope of finding that forgiveness, the person of Jesus Christ.
If you haven’t yet seen the new commercial spot by Focus on the Family on John 3:16, check it out here, it is, well, truth!
WOW :))))
As His disciples, we have indeed been sworn to tell His truth, His whole truth, and nothing but His truth. Prayerfully we can ask the Lord to help us be faithfully devoted to His Word. We sincerely desire to present the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, “so, please, help us God.”
In the words of Mercy Me…
Word of God speak
Would You pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see
Your majesty
To be still and know
That You're in this place
Please let me stay and rest
In Your holiness
Would You pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see
Your majesty
To be still and know
That You're in this place
Please let me stay and rest
In Your holiness
Word of God speak
…and all God’s children said…”Amen!”
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