Ⅲ
For the consummation of the divine economy, we need to be absolute for the way of the divine truth—2 Pet. 2:2:
A
The way of the truth is the path of the Christian life according to the truth, which is the reality of the contents of the New Testament—v. 2.
B
The way of the truth is the straight way; to take the straight way is to live an upright life without crookedness and bias—v. 15.
C
The way of the truth is the way of righteousness; to take the way of righteousness is to live a life that is right with both God and man, a life that, according to righteousness, can receive God’s governmental judgment for His kingdom of righteousness—vv. 21, 9; Matt. 5:20; Rom. 14:17.
D
The way of the truth is “the Way,” denoting the Lord’s full salvation in God’s New Testament economy—Acts 9:2:
１
It is the way God dispenses Himself into the believers through Christ’s redemption and the Spirit’s anointing—Eph. 1:7; 1 John 2:27.
２
It is the way the believers partake of God and enjoy God—2 Pet. 1:4.
３
It is the way the believers worship God in their spirit by enjoying Him and follow the persecuted Jesus by being one with Him—John 4:24; Heb. 13:12-13.
４
It is the way the believers are brought into the church and built up into the Body of Christ to bear the testimony of Jesus—1 Cor. 1:2; 12:27; Rev. 1:2.
Morning Nourishment
2 Pet. 2:2 And many will follow their licentiousness, because of whom the way of the truth will be reviled.1 Pet. 1:22 Since you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned brotherly love, love one another from a pure heart fervently.
[In 2 Peter 2:2] the way of the truth is the path of the Christian life according to the truth, which is the reality of the contents of the New Testament (1 Tim. 2:4; 3:15; 4:3; 2 Tim. 2:15,18; Titus 1:1). It is designated by other titles according to its various virtues, like the straight way (2 Pet. 2:15; see Heb. 12:13), the way of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:21; Matt. 21:32), the way of peace (Luke 1:79; Rom. 3:17), the way of salvation (Acts 16:17), the way of God (Matt. 22:16; Acts 18:26), the way of the Lord (John 1:23; Acts 18:25), and the Way (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:22). It was slandered as the way of heresy (Acts 24:14).
Because of the false teachers, the way of the truth will be reviled. Since the way of the truth is the way of reality, and the way of reality is the way of God’s economy, this means that the false teachers will cause the entire revelation of the New Testament to be reviled. (Life-study of 2 Peter, p. 80)
Today’s Reading
The purification of our souls is the Spirit’s sanctification of our disposition that we may live a holy life in God’s holy nature (1 Pet. 1:15-16). It is deeper than the purification of our sins (Heb. 1:3) and the cleansing of sin (1 John 1:7). The latter is the purification of our outward doing; the former, the purification of our inward being—the soul. This is like the washing in the word in Ephesians 5:26.In order to understand what it means to purify our souls by obedience to the truth [1 Pet. 1:22], we must be clear concerning the meaning of truth in this verse. Truth here is the sanctifying truth, which is God’s word of reality (John 17:17). Truth in this verse does not mean doctrine. Truth is the reality contained in God’s word and conveyed by it. For example, John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world.” This is the divine word. This word, however, should not merely be a doctrine to us, as it is with so many readers of John 3:16. To read this verse only in a doctrinal way is to have a natural understanding…. If we are to have more than a natural understanding of John 3:16, we need to touch the reality contained in this short word and conveyed by it. When we read, “God so loved the world,” we need to ask ourselves if we have experienced this love. We should say, “God so loved the world. Does this ‘world’ include me? Does this word mean that God so loved me?” Anyone who reads John 3:16 in this way will get saved. Such a one would say, “O God, how I thank You that the world includes me. For You to love the world means that You love me.” This is to take John 3:16 as truth, as reality, and not merely as a doctrine.
First Timothy 3:15 says that the church is the house of the living God. This verse contains doctrine, but to us it should not be merely a doctrine. Rather, Paul’s word about the church being the house of the living God should be a truth, a reality. We need to ask, “Is the church in my locality the house of the living God?” If we read the verse in this way, we shall contact reality, truth. The truth is the solid content, the reality, contained in the word of God and conveyed by it to us.
[In 1 Peter 1:13] Peter charges us to gird up the loins of our mind and to be sober. We should not allow our mind to wander, and we should not be drunken or drugged. To gird up our mind is actually to purify our soul. Whenever our mind is wandering, our soul is impure. Dissenting thoughts cause our mind to wander….When our mind begins to wander, our soul becomes unclean. If this is our situation, we need to purify our soul….We purify our soul by girding up our mind and by setting it on one thing, not allowing it to wander. (Life-study of 1 Peter, pp. 113-117)
Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Peter, msgs. 2, 9, 13