“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.” John 17:17 (King James Version)

Picture it. It was night. Jesus was with his apostles. He knew they were about to face a severe test of faith. With this in mind, Jesus raises his eyes toward heaven and pours his heart out to his heavenly Father in prayer.  This was an extremely important prayer.  It took place the night before Jesus would give his life as a sacrifice for our sins.  You can read his heartfelt prayer at John chapter 17.

It is in verse 17, that we find the words quoted above.  In this verse Jesus says that the truth would sanctify his disciples.  What truth is Jesus talking about?  Speaking to his heavenly Father, Jesus says, “Your word is truth.”(New American Standard Bible)  Jesus is speaking about God’s word the Bible.

Previously Jesus spoke with a Samaritan woman at a well and said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in TRUTH.” (John 4:24 –King James Version) Yes, our ability to serve God, our relationship with him and our very salvation depend on the truth of God’s word.

Jesus often referred to God’s word. He used it to refute the devil when he was tempted (Compare Mathew 4:4 and Deuteronomy 8:3, Mathew 4:7 and Deuteronomy 6:16, Mathew 4:10 and Genesis 2:24). He rebuffed the hypocritical religious leaders with it (Compare Mathew 19:3-7 and Deuteronomy 17:6). He also used it to share core principles that every Christian should apply in their life (Compare Mark 12:28-31 and Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18).

Hebrews 4:12 (New Living Translation) says, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” To really benefit from God’s word we need to read it daily. We need to pray for God’s spirit to help us understand.

As you consider these scriptural emails, I would encourage you to be as the Christians in Be·roe′a who the apostle Paul praised as “more noble.” Why did he say this? Because they did not just receive his words with great eagerness, and they carefully “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” Acts 17:11 (New King James)

Jesus stuck with the teachings of God and did not speak of his own originality (John 7:16, 17). Please take the time to read the scriptures cited these daily emails so you can see for yourself that I am not seeking my own Glory (John 7:18), but rather following in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:21).

In the next post  we will take a closer look at the book we rely on for our salvation and answer questions like, what proof is there that the Bible is inspired of God?