The book of John may be familiar to us, yet we can never exhaust the riches in this deep book. The first crucial point in this book is life. In 14:6 the Lord said, “I am the way and the reality and the life.” In our experience we first gain the Lord as our life, then we have the reality, and the reality eventually becomes the way. In verse 6 the Lord mentioned the way first because the disciples had asked Him to show them the way to the Father (v. 5). He told the disciples that He is the way. However, before we can have the way, we need to have the reality, and in order to have the reality, we first need to experience life. Therefore, the Lord ultimately brought His disciples to life. Life is the basic Christian experience.
Most Christians understand the word truth to mean “doctrine.” They think that truth and doctrine are synonymous. However, according to the Greek, the word truth in the New Testament means “reality” (1:14; 8:32; 14:6). Doctrine and truth are two different things and should not be confused. Nevertheless, it is sometimes difficult to separate truth from doctrine because every proper doctrine conveys a certain truth, and the truth is always in a certain doctrine. This is the reason Christians think that doctrine and truth are the same. Although doctrine conveys the truth, the truth is not doctrine. Let us consider some illustrations in order to see the difference.
Concerning the Lord’s table, there are doctrines, and there is the truth. The British Brethren studied many doctrines concerning the Lord’s table. They studied how often Christians should have the Lord’s table, who is qualified to partake of the Lord’s table, who is qualified to distribute the elements of the table, and whether the cup should contain wine or grape juice. They debated much concerning these and other doctrines. They studied whether to use one large cup or many small cups, leavened or unleavened bread, one large loaf or many small pieces. They also studied whether the bread or the cup should be passed first. They spent much time to study and write books concerning all these things. Regrettably, however, all these matters are only doctrine and not the truth.
The truth in the doctrines concerning the Lord’s table is the Body of Christ, Christ the Head, and the death and resurrection of Christ. The loaf on the table signifies the Body of Christ, the church, and the Body points to the Head, Christ. The bread and the cup, which signify the Lord’s body and His blood, being separate on the table displays the Lord’s death. The table also displays the Lord’s resurrection through the bread, which is made of many grains that are produced in resurrection and that have been blended into one loaf. It is in Christ’s resurrection that we were produced as the many grains to form Christ’s Body.
When we are at the Lord’s table, if we do not see the Body of Christ, Christ the Head, and the death and resurrection of Christ, we have only doctrine. It is very serious to have only a doctrinal Lord’s table, meeting on the first day of the week merely to view the symbols of the loaf and the cup as a remembrance of the Lord. If we have seen the truth, the reality, of the Lord’s table, we will touch the reality of the Body of Christ in our spirit when we participate in the physical symbols, and through the Body we will realize and enjoy Christ the Head. We will also touch the death and resurrection of Christ, realizing that His death has terminated our natural being and that we are now His Body in resurrection. In this way we not only keep a practice according to doctrine, but we also touch the truth within the doctrine. The truth of the reality of the Body of Christ, Christ as the Head, and the death and resurrection of Christ is conveyed in the doctrine of the Lord’s table, but we are not destined by God for the doctrine. Rather, we are destined by God for the reality, the truth in the doctrine. The doctrine is an otherwise empty means to convey the truth. The truth is the real contents of the doctrine.
It is possible to know and even teach and preach the doctrine of justification by faith yet never experience the reality of being justified by faith. The reality of justification by faith is nothing less than Christ Himself. Christ is the real justification received by us through faith. Someone may know the doctrine of justification by faith yet not have Christ, the reality of this doctrine. Many ordinary believers do not fully know the doctrine of justification by faith, yet they have the reality of justification by faith. They have received and experienced Christ, and this living Christ becomes their justification received through faith. Regrettably, however, some have the doctrine, the shell, of justification by faith, but they do not have the reality, the content.