Re-introducing Aletheia

Using the King James Version as a standard, it is recorded that the first time the word 'Grace' is mentioned in the New Testament, was in the gospel according to Saint Luke.

Luk_2:40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

He was discussing Jesus as a child, stating that the grace of God was upon him. And we see that the manifestation of grace was 1) growth, 2) strong in spirit and 3) full of wisdom. Here we see an unboxing of what grace factually is.

A person with the grace of God upon is neither stagnant nor retrogressive, but progressive - growing and marching forward in all areas. The person's spirit is strong. A strong spirit is able to execute the will of God on earth as it is in heaven. A strong spirit is not broken by the enemy's (Satan) wiles and attacks. The person is also filled with the wisdom that comes from above. We all know the importance of God's wisdom. May all these three evidences of the grace of God be fully manifest in our lives as it was evident in the boy-Jesus, in Jesus name, Amen.

In addition, the next mention of the word 'Grace' was by the Apostle John, our favorite Apostle, who mentions grace in the first chapter of his gospel.

Joh_1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

He discusses how Jesus is the Word of God in the flesh - in human form. And how this human dwelt among we humans on the earth. And he mentions that (we) like-minded people like himself, beheld the glory of Jesus, and it was glaring that the glory they saw could only be that of the Son of God (the only begotten of the Father) and finally, he noted that Jesus was full of grace; but not only grace, he was full of truth as well. John was the first then to realize that Jesus did not only come full of grace, but He also came full of truth as well.

John was the first person in the New Testament to mention truth in the context he used it in John 1:14. For the purpose of proper understanding, the Greek word for truth as it was used by other authors of the gospels is pronounced 'alethos', meaning truly or indeed, emphasizing certainty and sincerity. Now, the Greek word for truth as used by John in the phrase full of grace and truth is pronounced 'aletheia' which means and is used in the sense of factual correctness and moral integrity.

So when John said, Jesus was full of grace and truth, if we unpack it, He was saying Jesus was strong in spirit, full of wisdom, progressive, scripturally factual and had moral integrity.

I believe John is saying, that both grace and truth are a pair. It is unhealthy to have a measure of grace without having a measure of truth and vice versa. They are like the Chinese Ying and Yang!

Jesus defines truth in this manner:

Joh_17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

We are sanctified (set apart) by truth. THE WORD OF GOD IS TRUTH

God's grace is like the rain, it falls on both the good and the evil. But the Truth in you is what makes you known as one who is Christ like.

Samson in the bible could be said to be a person with a measure of grace, but we see by his story that he was not a person of truth. Also, Nebuchadnezzar was as well a person with a measure of grace, in the books of the Prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel, God mentions him as His tool, doing His will even as he went about conquering nations bloodily, but Nebuchadnezzar was not a person of truth.

The foundation of this truth, the word of God, is the commandment of love.

In John's second epistle, where he wrote to the elect lady and her children (Some Scholars believe that the elect lady was the spiritual leader of a congregation - referred to as children in the letter) he commented:

2Jn 1:4  I was overjoyed to find some of your children living truthfully, just as the Father has commanded us. 

2Jn 1:5  Dear lady, I am now requesting of you that we all continue to love one another. It is not as though I am writing to give you a new commandment, but one that we have had from the beginning. 

2Jn 1:6  And this is what demonstrates love: that we live according to God's commandments. Just as you have heard from the beginning what he commanded, you must live by it. 

2Jn 1:7  For many deceivers have gone out into the world. They refuse to acknowledge Jesus the Messiah as having become human. Any such person is a deceiver and an antichrist. 

2Jn 1:8  See to it that you don't destroy what we have worked for, but that you receive your full reward. 

2Jn 1:9  Everyone who does not remain true to the teaching of the Messiah, but goes beyond it, does not have God. The person who remains true to the teaching of the Messiah has both the Father and the Son. 

2Jn 1:10  If anyone comes to you but does not present His teachings, do not receive him into your house or even welcome him, 

2Jn 1:11  because the one who welcomes him shares in his evil deeds. 

If we say Jesus did not come into the world in human form, we are saying God does not love the world.

Jesus taught about truth at many times and in various instances, see:

Joh_3:21  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Here Jesus is saying the works of a person full of grace and truth, are works that have been done in God.

Joh_4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Joh_4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Our worship as well must be done in truth. 

Joh_8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Truth (scripturally factual moral integrity) cannot be found in the devil. This means truth is an identifier for the child of God. 

Joh_14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Just as some have declared Jesus as grace personified, we see Jesus declaring himself as truth personified. Perhaps that was his priority. grace always followed the word.

Joh_14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Joh_15:26  But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 

Joh_16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Anyone that has access to the Holy Spirit, has access to this truth we have been discussing, whether we actually like the truth that He, the Comforter, speaks to us, is another matter entirely.

It is clear now that when we discuss grace, it would be remiss not to talk about truth. And the very foundation of truth is the commandment of love. Upon this love foundation is the truth that God sent his son in human flesh to pay the price for the sin of the world.