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The Experiment

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2 John 1-2 The elderly elder [of the church addresses this letter] to the elect (chosen) lady (Cyria) and her children, whom I truly love—and not only I but also all who are [progressively] learning to recognize and know and understand the Truth—2 Because of the Truth which lives and stays on in our hearts and will be with us forever….

As we asked in a previous blog, What is truth?, it helps to have a refresher. How is truth defined? Truth is that which affirms propositionally the nature of reality as it is. This means that when we talk about truth we are not talking about something being subjectively true for me. We’re talking about something that is objectively true and actually real. (Medium, In Defense 315)

Ravi Zacharias, in The Logic of God, stated: Truth by definition is exclusive. Everything cannot be true. If everything is true, then nothing is false. And if nothing is false, then it would also be true to say everything is false. We cannot have it both ways. One should not be surprised at the claims of exclusivity. The reality is that even those who deny truth’s exclusivity, in effect, exclude those who do not deny it. The truth quickly emerges. The law of noncontradiction does apply to reality: two contradictory statements cannot both be true in the same sense. Thus, to deny the law of noncontradiction is to affirm it at the same time.

There are three ways to test Truth. Now think about that. Jesus is the TRUTH. You could say, then, that Jesus can be “tested” to see if Who He is and what He says is TRUTH. Not only does Christianity teach that TRUTH is objective and absolute it also teaches that TRUTH is knowable. WE can know Him – the TRUTH. Hebrews 3:10 in the AMPC verifies this stating: And so I was provoked (displeased and sorely grieved) with that generation, and said, They always err and are led astray in their hearts, and they have not perceived or recognized My ways and become progressively better and more experimentally and intimately acquainted with them. The Greek word that the AMPC translation is drawing this meaning from is ginosko. Ginosko speaks of a knowing on multiple levels. Thus experiment is defined in English as, a test, or investigation, done in order to learn something or to discover if something works or is true.

We come to know Jesus the TRUTH through “testing” Who He is, what He says, and what His followers say. The three ways of testing something to be true are as follows: logical consistency, empirical adequacy, and experiential relevance. Is Jesus, His claims and His Word, logically consistent? Is it rational? Does it make sense in itself? Medium, In Defense 315 blog states: Basic doctrines like God existing, the Incarnation, the Resurrection, and even the Trinity need to be logically consistent. Now this is not to say that we can comprehend the complexity of a thing, but only that it is apprehensible. Can you apprehend Jesus? Can you perceive or grasp Who He is, His words, and His lifestyle – mentally? Can you ask Jesus to allow you to apprehend any of the above and receive an answer? Absolutely! He stands the logical consistency test.

Yet, Its a funny thing about putting something to the test. Eventually, if you are sincere and honest, the test should have a boomerang effect. Namely it should cause you to pause and ask yourself, Do I pass the logical consistency test? Does the life I live – my thinking, language, actions, etc. – match what I say I believe about Jesus? As John encourages the recipients of his letter by stating that they were: [progressively] learning to recognize and know and understand the Truth. This was something that was observable. But not only was it observable it passed the empirical adequacy test. Empirical adequacy correctly represents observable phenomena. For example, When people see your version of Christianity are they simply seeing someone going to church, and being a good person OR are they seeing someone radically following Jesus; doing things only Jesus can do? When you are tested or squeezed by life’s circumstances does Jesus exude through the stench of the difficulty? Which leads to the next test: experiential relevance. If Jesus passes the first two tests then I guarantee He will pass this last test. Experiential Relevance is just a fancy way of saying, Does this work in real life? Does Jesus work in real life, and more importantly does He work in your life? Does He challenge you, change you, and sustain you through good and bad times?

If He hasn’t, may I suggest that you do some faith experiments with Him today or this week. See if He works in your life. Talk to Him and let Him know that you desire to [progressively] learn to recognize and know and understand the Truth – that you want to know Him better as TRUTH. Ask Him what area of your life He wants you to experiment in and then ask for the GRACE and the Power of the Holy Spirit to step out in faith.

Don’t Ask the Fish

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As I mentioned in a previous blog a worldview answers four necessary questions: origins, meaning, morality and destiny. That worldview must answer individual questions in correspondence to reality, and the sum of those answers must be coherent, or in agreement. Many persons have the mistaken notion that they have reasons for their beliefs. Unfortunately after some discussion the discovery is made that those opinions are not based in fact, but hearsay. Ravi Zacharias states: “One of the most shocking lessons one learns in countries where culture is interwoven with religion is that living within a certain framework all the time is, in a sense, the surest way to be detached from it.” Hence the Chinese proverb: “If you want to know what water is, don’t ask the fish.” Ravi continues: Most Hindus know little about Hinduism’s scriptures or it’s development in dogma. Most Buddhists know little about Buddhism. Religion is much more a culture to most people than it is a carefully thought-through system of truth. Even Islam finds the same ignorance. Dare I say most Christians know very little about the teaching and history of their own beliefs …Then the conclusion is inescapable: What I now believe may be good, but it’s not good enough.”

As I grow older I have come to the realization that much of what I put my faith in was only an entry way or door into a whole other realm I never knew existed. Unfortunately for me and others, we have mistaken the door for the entire house. This is why the Lord would have His Church, His Bride to awaken to the inheritance we have in Him. Notice I did not say eternal life. Many have mistaken eternal life as a final destination when Biblically it is an ongoing, experiential relationship. Luke 17:21, alluded to in a previous blog, states that we have God’s Kingdom inside of us through our connection to Jesus. John 10:10 states eternal life has brought us to life to live for Him. John 14:30 states: I will not talk with you much more, for the prince (evil genius, ruler) of the world is coming. And he has no claim on Me. [He has nothing in common with Me; there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me.] Eternal Life progressively transforms us so that eventually we have nothing in common with the evil one. After our being born-again, we may have a mild distaste regarding sin, but Jesus hates it. He hates any and all things that stand between us and His love for us. That’s why Eternal Life is more than just a shadowy, dream world in the not so present future but a concrete reality in the now. And it has to be. Shallow, shadows of existence and perception can do little to transform our affections or uphold us like the concrete reality of experiential love. Love, like Eternal Life, is the personification of Jesus.

Our inheritance guarantees freedom from harassment, and oppression from the evil one. Acts 10:38 How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the [Holy] Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and,  in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by [the power of] the devil, for God was with Him. Jesus was anointed – as God limited by humanity – to free others who were being harassed and oppressed by the power of the devil. What will a Resurrected, and Ascended Jesus do now for those He loves and adores?

As co-heirs with Christ Jesus He is saving us to break chains of slavery to sin, addictions, traumas, demonic strongholds, ungodly beliefs, cycles of sin, and all the multiple works of darkness. Romans 6:16-18 Do you not know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will, you are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness (right doing and right standing with God)? But thank God, though you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching in which you were instructed and to which you were committed. And having been set free from sin, you have become the servants of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in thought, purpose, and action).We have become inheritors of freedom and righteousness (rightly related to God and man). Hardly do we think of ourselves when mention is made of being rightly related to our fellow man. Yet, Sunday after Sunday, church attenders find themselves not rightly related to themselves (Truth be known how can they be rightly related to God and man?) The call of Jesus is a call to be rightly related to Who Jesus is within us. Rightly related to who He made us to be. Rightly related to what’s been crucified and defeated. Rightly related to the Spirit of God within our spirits. We find our “stride,” or “sweet spot,” in He Who has made, and is making His Home within us.

In conclusion don’t be asking the contented, pew sitting “fish” how the “Water” is. Instead look for those swimming in the Spirit of their inheritance through Jesus. Feel the radiant, glow from their faces as they light up talking about Him. Listen for their Jesus-centered, worship as their hearts swell, overflowing into a life-time of praises. Looking and listening carefully will lead you to a discovery that’s beyond the door; to an Ocean of endless, and eternal joy, Whose Name is Jesus. He’s our inheritance. He is eternal life. Come on, let’s jump in and learn how to swim.