John 14:6. Jesus said unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but for me. Matthew 16:24. Then Jesus said to his disciples, If any man will come after me, deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. Acts 4:11. This Jesus is the stone reproached by you builders, who have come to be the head of the angle. 12. And in no other is there salvation; because there is no other name under heaven, given to men, in which we can be saved.
On occasion, it has come to mind what to say if an acquaintance or friend, knowing something of my worldview, were to ask, "What is Christianity?"
Suppose also that the individual desired more than any other consideration, brevity. How to respond?
Depending on the circumstances and level of interest, I have thought I would answer simply by stating a fact,* "Christianity is Jesus Christ." To which someone may respond with some incredulity, "What? Christianity is a person?"
"Yes, a Person, a Unique Person, for Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Trinity, that is, Jesus is God, the Son of God the Father: A Unique Person with a Unique Message, the Gospel of Jesus Christ." The Gospel Message, the Spirit of Truth declares in four simple propositions
2. Jesus Christ was buried;
3. Jesus Christ rose again the third day; and
4. Jesus Christ was seen by the apostles and many disciples.
1 Corinthians 15:3. For I delivered unto you that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4. And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. 5. And that he was seen by Cephas … 6. After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once … 7. After that, he was seen of James, then all the apostles. 8. And last of all he was seen of me also.
These propositional truths speak of the person of Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These two, the Person of Jesus and the Message of Jesus are inseparable, for the message is what Jesus accomplished and proclaimed during his short life and ministry on earth. He came to earth as God-Man to offer His life a ransom for many, to save sinners from the destiny of Adam's disobedience and rebellion leading to eternal death in hell.
Matthew 20:28. Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. 1 Timothy 2:5. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6. Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
JESUS IS THE WAY
Now if anyone thinks that the Way is a method, or a simply a system of religious practices or rituals, or a set of rules or laws to achieve entrance into the Kingdom of God, in other words, a "works religion," that person should think again. When Jesus said that He was The Way, He described it as a journey of Self-Denial. The way of a disciple of Jesus Christ is the way of the mortification of Self, the I or Ego as the ultimate reference for all meaning, significance, knowledge, truth, value, and even life turning to Jesus Christ as the Ultimate Reference for all life now and forever. The regenerated sinner robed in the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ experiences a transformation of the renewed image of God in man to the image and likeness of Jesus Christ by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. This transformation is the work of Sanctification accomplished by the Holy Spirit as the Spirit applies the benefits of the atonement of Jesus Christ to the life of the renewed believer. Death, the exit from space-time existence, completes the Sanctification of the believer and advances the disciple of Jesus Christ to eternal life with Him (Intermediate State) awaiting the resurrection of a glorified body at the Final Judgment. "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27) This Judgment precedes entrance into the Kingdom of God to be with Jesus Christ forever enjoying eternal fellowship with the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Augustinian non posse peccare state (Not-Able-To-Sin) is finally realized for life in Eternity.
Luke 9:23. And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Matthew 16:24 & Mark 8:34)
Matthew 10:37. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
The Way of Jesus is the way of a disciple who denies Self, takes up his cross, and continues daily in the Word following Jesus.
JESUS IS THE TRUTH
John 18:38. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?
John 8:31. … If you continue in my word, then are ye my disciples, indeed. 32. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
A certain Pontius Pilate, fifth Roman governor of Judea, who presided over the trial of Jesus and ordered his execution raised the question 'What is Truth?' as he questioned Jesus only to dismiss any answer.
John 18:38: Pilate said to Him, 'What is Truth?' 14.6b.
"Pilate's response was not in the nature of a further pursuit of the matter or even a recognition of the importance of what Jesus said. Rather, it was a cynical response based on what was, to Pilate, the seeming impossibility of ever knowing what truth was. 'What is truth?' he said, and then walked away." (Boice)1
God is the God of Truth. He alone determines what is true and what is false. God is not a liar; He is not a man that could lie, nor the son of man that He changes His mind. In Him, there is no variation neither shadow of turning. (Numbers 23.19; James 1.17). God sent Jesus, the Word (Logic) of God, with a true message to save sinners:
John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
The disciple, follower of Jesus Christ, must always remember that Jesus is God. For in Jesus dwells "all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (Colossians 2:9) Grace and truth came by Christ. (John 1:17) Therefore, if God in Christ is the God of Truth, it follows that Truth exists. Any attempt to deny the existence of truth or true knowledge is false and self-defeating. Skepticism is false for if it is true that there is no knowledge, then the proposition that there is no knowledge is false because the skeptic claims to know that there is no knowledge.
Truth and the existence of truth presuppose minds. There is an intimate relationship between truth and mind such that if there were no minds, then there would be no truth. Truth is mental, that is, truth is for minds. When humans know truth, they know something that exists in the mind of God. Therefore, it follows that truth is immutable, eternal, and superior to human minds; Jesus, who is God, said, I am the truth. To know truth is to know something of the mind of God, God's eternal, immutable propositions about all that can be known by human minds. Of course, the human mind is mutable, but it is impossible for truth to change. Thus, truth exists for minds and minds know immutable, eternal truth. Beliefs may vary from one person to the next, but truth does not. In short, to know truth is to know God's thoughts.
"If truth and the human mind were equal, truth could not be eternal and immutable since the human mind is finite, mutable, and subject to error. Therefore, truth must transcend human reason; truth must be superior to any individual human mind as well as to the sum total of human minds. From this it follows, that there must be a mind higher than the human mind in which truth resides." (Nash)2
Moreover, truth is primarily propositional. (A proposition is the meaning of a declarative sentence.) God alone is the source of all true propositions; whatever He communicates He declares in true propositions, He being the God of all truth. It follows that truth is eternal and immutable since it exists in an eternal, immutable mind, the mind of God. To know Truth is to know something of the mind of God. If a proposition is true, it never changes. If it never changes, it never dies, and human minds can know it for the human mind is created in the image of God.
In sum, truth consists of the propositions that God thinks. These propositions are the thoughts of an eternal, immutable, sovereign mind. As such, God's mind thinks according to the laws of logic; God is not insane. He is not the author of confusion. (1 Corinthians 14:33) Logic is the structure of God's supreme, infallible thinking and reason. God Almighty is the origin and source of all propositional truth. To repeat, if there is no mind, there can be no truth; and if there is no mind, there can be no such thing as logical reasoning. Truth can exist only in some mind for truth is mental. The Creator God, not Man the creature, determines all propositional truth concerning knowledge, meaning, value, history, destiny, creation, life and reality now and in eternity to the Glory of God. Thus Truth is the self-disclosure of the mind of God, the Sovereign Creator and Ruler over all creation and creatures.
JESUS IS THE LIFE
Philippians 1:21. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
The life of a believer is the life of Christ in the believer. The disciple of Jesus enjoys eternal life even now. This is the record of true propositions of Scripture. All those who come to Jesus believing his message of salvation, the Gospel, and "believeth on him, may have everlasting life." (John 6:40)
John 10:28. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish; neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
The true promise of Jesus is "I will raise him up at the last day."(John 6:44)
1 John 5:20 And we know that the Sn of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 5:11. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.
This volume, Solus Christus, contains a selection of sermons (notes and outlines) and commentary from sermons delivered to a faithful congregation of believers by the Reverend Peter A. Carranza, Preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ during his ministry as a pastor in San Jose, California.
Here a careful reader will discover true propositions of the Person of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, and the saving, true propositions of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
May God bless the reader in his quest for truth and salvation.
Elihu Carranza, Sr.
________
*A fact is a value with a variable error of Zero, according to Gordon H. Clark.
12.1. James M. Boice. What is Truth? Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, 1716 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
12.2. Ronald H. Nash. Faith and Reason, Academie Books, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI 49530, p.163.
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