Coming to The Knowledge of the Truth

by James Manning
03/07/20
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Coming to the Knowledge of the Truth

 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4).

It does not matter if we understand it or not, but the truth is the truth; it's the will of God that all men be saved. Jesus prayed in what we call the Lord's prayer that the will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Furthermore, we read in the book of Hebrews if we ask anything according to the will of God, he hears us, and if God hears us, we know that we have what we ask of him.

Ladies and gentlemen, the word of God, is the will of God, and when we pray according to the word of God, we are praying his will. Well, if that is correct, then when we pray for all the people in our household, city, community, state, and Country to receive salvation, we are praying the will of God. If we pray that all receive salvation, we can expect the salvation of all, because as we have already read, it's the will of God that all men receive salvation.

Someone may respond to what I said by saying, but what about the will of the individual, there is self-will. My response to your question is, who told you that. According to the written word of God, there is no such thing as self-will; that kind of teaching goes against the word of God.

The Bible teaches that all flesh stands doomed, dammed, and fit for destruction. None do good, no, not even one. If the decision falls on man, the only thing to look forward to is destruction. Now, think about this, Jesus said no man comes to me except the Father draws him to me. That means the decision is a decision of the Father's and his alone.

Takes Away the Sin of the World

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29).

Notice what the above scripture says, the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. It did not say who takes away the sin of those who believe. It did not say who takes away the sin of some people, but who takes away the sin of the world.

If the Lamb of God took away the sin of the world, then where is the sin?  If the lamb of God took away the sin of the world, then there is no sin as far as God is concerned.

Changing the World

Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things become new.

18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.

The word 'reconcile' in verse eighteen is a Greek word that means to change. The word reconciles or change looks back to what he said in verses sixteen and seventeen.

He started by saying we know no man after the flesh. Even though we have known Christ after the flesh, we know him no more after the flesh. Then he goes on to say in verse seventeen if any man is in Christ, he a new creature, old things are passed away; behold, all things become new. Then in verse eighteen, he gives his reason for saying what he said in verses sixteen and seventeen.

When we look at ourselves according to the flesh, we do not see a new formation. What we see is the old man of flesh. We have, in our view, the man of the flesh because we know him. We cannot know the new man until we stop knowing the old. The knowledge of the man of the flesh must be erased or purged from our mind.

God himself changed us by Christ Jesus. Jesus became sin without sinning after Jesus defeated the sin in his flesh by not walking after the flesh he died on the cross, buried in the grave, and on the third day, he resurrected. In the Bible, it says he was delivered or our sin, raised from the grave for acquittal. We have been set free of all charges that were against us: but we still have the awareness and experience of slaves.

In Christ, the change already made, but we must come to the change. Jesus made sin; then he returned to being righteous; When he changed, we changed with him.

By Christ Jesus, God changed the whole world, but the world continues with the awareness and experience of slaves. We all go through the same experience because the remembrance of sin still in our minds.

It's this way because we are yet to arrive at the knowledge of the truth. We are continually learning, but we are not arriving at the place of change. The position of transformation is where the knowledge of God becomes our present and our only reality. There should not be any remembrance of sin.

Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:7).

We spend our time going from one bible study to the next without entering the results of our learning. It's not enough to merely learn; we must come to the knowledge of the truth.

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9)14)l

But in those sacrifices, there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. (Hebrews 10:3).

 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 10:17).

In the original text of Hebrews 10:17, it does not say, 'I will remember their sin no more.' It says, "and their sins and iniquities remember no more." it's a take from verse sixteen which says,

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; (Hebrews 10:16).

When God's law established in our minds, we will remember sin no more. This happens when we come to the knowledge of the truth.

When we come to the knowledge of the truth, we lose sight of the man after the flesh.

The next time I will show why we are not arriving and what we must do to enter our place of change.

James R Manning