1 JOHN 1:6

6. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.

1 John 1:6

The simple truth is a thing that is often lacking in those who claim to have a complex one. The environment of proto-Gnosticism harbored such “knowledge.” It claimed that true knowledge was of a secret nature, that truth could only be known by clandestine revelation, and that it couldn’t be understood by a person with a simple thought process. Christ taught his disciples something different. He taught that he was the clear and present revelation of the Father and that one need only come to him for the truth to be freely given. Yet, the idea that true knowledge can be had without a relationship with God still pervades. John expresses the dichotomy clearly. No, a relationship with God is not only no relationship with the truth, but it is a lie. Conversely, truth without a relationship with God is essentially not possible. This is a core facet of Christian maturity. We often try to usurp this tenant for relational ease when truth becomes inconvenient. We think that if we can just maintain a relationship and avoid truth it will all be okay. We often go the opposite way as well. If we just tell the truth and don’t consider how that may affect our relationship with God or his image-bearers, we think erroneously that God will honor that action. Often when we do compromise one for the other, we find that the truth we felt compelled to tell, is no longer The Truth. We find that the relationship we tried so hard to keep, is no longer a God-honoring one. We must always seek to marry the two. Due to the nature of our finiteness and God’s infiniteness, it is safe to say that a mature believer will always be maturing in this process no matter how much he has grown. This is the simple truth.