Scripture Reading: John 8:12, 32; 1 John 1:5-8; 3 John 3-4, 8; 1 Tim. 2:4; 4:3

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.

E. To take the way of the truth is to purify our souls by obedience to the truth; this is the sanctifying truth, which is God’s word of reality—1 Pet. 1:22; John 17:17:

1. The purifying of our souls by obedience to the truth causes our entire being to be concentrated on God so that we may love Him with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind—Mark 12:30.

2. Such a purifying of our souls issues in unfeigned brotherly love, that is, in our loving from the heart fervently those whom God loves—1 John 5:1.