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The Greatest of These is Truth – Notes These are the notes and scripture references that go with my 30-minute lecture “The Greatest of These is Truth” which I gave at the Winnipeg Prophecy Conference, Friday, September 19, 2008. The purpose of this lecture is to shed some light on the question of what is really ultimate in our lives: Doctrinal truth, or love.
Verses stressing the importance of doctrine:
Psalm 138:2 The word magnified above God’s name
1 Corinthians 8:1 Knowledge puffs up; loves edifies
Hosea 4:6 People destroyed for lack of knowledge
2 John 9 The doctrine of Christ essential for salvationVerses stressing the importance of love: 1 Corinthians 13 – The great love chapter
Romans 10:17 Faith comes by hearing the word of God
1 John 4:8 God is Love
Matt. 22:37-40 The greatest commandments: Love God and your neighbor Harmony:
1 John 4:19 “We love Him because He first loved us.”
John 4:24 worship in “spirit and truth”
1 Corinthians 13:6 “Love rejoices in the truth”
Satanic deception: Doctrinal truth is irrelevant to genuine worship
Verses showing the relationship between genuine worship and doctrinal truth: Psalm 138:1-2 (God’s word magnified above His name)
Psalm 119:171-172 (Praise when God’s word has been taught)
Psalm 47:6 (Sing praises with understanding) Man-ward relationships: Ephesians 4:15 “Speak the truth in love.”
What is really ultimate?
Philippians 1:9-18 Paul rejoices in the preaching of the Gospel despite the fact that some people are doing so without any love in their hearts whatever
Jonah: His missionary efforts were a huge success despite the fact that he had no love at all for those in Nineveh.
An analogy: Ephesians 4:15 instructs us to speak the truth in love. This amazing, beautiful combination may be illumined by way of analogy: A bitter medicine administered in chocolate syrup is far more palpable than the medicine alone. The medicine is analogous to truth, which is sometimes hard to accept. The chocolate syrup corresponds to love, which makes the truth much easier to take. The point to remember is that it’s the medicine that the patient needs - with or without the syrup. Likewise, people need the truth of the gospel – with or without our love. Of course, I am speaking theoretically here. An obedient, Spirit-led Christian is not one who would reduce the Gospel to cold, sterile doctrinal orthodoxy, but would communicate this wonderful truth in sincere love.
A rebuttal? John13:35 All men includes the unsaved, who don’t have a Bible with which to measure truth claims. Our love for one another is meant to catch their attention – to draw them closer, where the precious truths of the Gospel may then be shared.
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