Ephesians 4:15 says, “Holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ.” After verse 14 speaks of the sleight of men, craftiness, and a system of error, verse 15 speaks of “holding to truth.” Verse 15 says that we should hold to truth because the situation spoken of in verse 14 is not proper.
What is the truth? The truth is God being manifested in the flesh, God becoming flesh. To hold to truth is to hold to the matter of God being manifested in the flesh. If a brother’s preaching is inspiring but does not cause people to touch Christ, we must refuse it regardless of its appeal. Holding to truth means that we want only one kind of preaching, which is God manifested in the flesh; this is holding to truth in love. In order to face the winds of teaching, we need to hold to truth, which is the manifestation of God in the flesh.
Someone once lent me a book about the restoration of the Jewish nation over a period of time in the land of Judea. When I first read this book, I felt that it was quite meaningful, but in fact, even this book has the danger of becoming a wind of teaching because I may not remain in fellowship with Christ by studying it. This does not involve heresy, but it can be utilized by Satan as a wind of teaching to blow people away and not hold to truth.
The word truth is used in the Old Testament but not as frequently as it is in the New Testament. In the New Testament truth does not refer merely to doctrine but to God becoming flesh. Truth is reality, which came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). This incarnated One said, “I am...the reality” (14:6). The apostle John refers to truth the most. Truth in the Bible is a particular noun which specifically speaks of the matter of God becoming flesh. The Greek word for truth denotes reality, not doctrine. God is real; if God were taken away from the universe, everything would be vanity.
When a couple is getting married, they prepare a bridal chamber. If both the bridegroom and the bride are absent on the day of the wedding, the bridal chamber is vain. The reality of the bridal chamber lies in the bridegroom and the bride. Please remember that God is the reality of the universe; only the God who became flesh is real. An unsaved person lacks reality, but when he is saved and receives God into him, reality enters into him. Then he is full of reality. In like manner, today many saints are leading a life that is not real because they do not have reality in their living. Only God is real; holding to truth is not holding to the doctrines in the Bible but holding to the matter of God being manifested in the flesh. Strictly speaking, in the narrow sense, to hold to truth is to hold to the fact of God’s manifestation in the flesh.
In the past when I came across books related to prophecy, I had the intention to study them, but I also inwardly realized that I should hold to truth. As a result, I forsook my intention. We should preach only Christ and the cross. “For indeed Jews require signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1:22-23). Some preach signs, but we preach Christ; some preach wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. If I was a revivalist, I could go to many places to speak revival messages, and many could be stirred up but still not touch Christ. Therefore, what would be the use of listening to such messages? We need to hold to truth and not fall into the craftiness and sleight of the evil one. We should not be led into a system of error or be carried away by winds of teaching. A wind of teaching may be a wholesome doctrine or even a scriptural doctrine, but it is not the truth, because it does not show people that the Son of God is in them as life and that Christ is in them as their everything.
Ephesians 4:15 says, “Holding to truth in love.” Truth is held in love. In the New Testament those who live before God must have love; those who only fear God cannot live before Him. A couple is married in love, not in fear. Couples who have been married for a long time look like each other in behavior and demeanor because they are in love.
Paul says, “He died for all that those who live may no longer live to themselves but to Him who died for them and has been raised” (2 Cor. 5:15). He also says, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me...who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20). The Lord Jesus’ word also indicates, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him” (John 14:23). At the end of the Gospel of John, the Lord asked Peter, “Do you love Me more than these?” (21:15), and then He asked him the second time and third time, “Do you love Me?” (vv. 16-17). From these verses we can see that holding to truth must be in love. We must say to God, “No matter where You place me, I do not fear; I hold to truth, not because of fear but because of love.”
Song of Songs in the Old Testament is a book that begins with love, passes through love, and eventually arrives at love. In the beginning the seeker says, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!” (1:2). If you love someone, this is the best way to express your love. If your wife loves you, she will not be herself; she will be you. If you love your wife, you will not be yourself; you will be her. Your being her and her being you is true love. The utmost love is not to be yourself but to be the one whom you love. Many couples who have been in love for decades are almost alike in their behavior and demeanor.
The Lord became flesh to be like us because He loves us. The highest expression of God’s love toward us is His becoming a man to be us. God did not only remain as God; He came to be a man. This is incarnation. This can be compared to a husband who no longer remains as a husband only; he also becomes the wife. If a husband only regards his position, this shows that he does not love his wife at all. One who truly loves his wife is willing to forsake his status as the husband in order to accommodate his wife. When people see him, they will wonder if he is the husband or the wife. This is the story of the incarnated Jesus, the Nazarene. Is He God or a man? He became a man to be us because He loves us to the uttermost. Conversely, when we love Him to the uttermost, we also should be like Him. From the side of the wife, we should become the husband; from the side of the husband, we should become the wife. Although we may not be exactly alike, we should at least be half alike. God came from heaven; the Word became flesh to be like us. If we want to respond to His love, the flesh must become the Word; we should no longer be man but be God.
Christians should be like Christ; we who love God should be like God. At the end of the Song of Songs, the Shulammite and Solomon are like each other, and they are in a union of love which is as strong as death (8:6). Thus, when their love for each other reaches the peak, Solomon is like the Shulammite, and the Shulammite is like Solomon; this means that God is like man, and man is like God (1 John 3:2). When the love of the two parties reaches the climax, their union in love is as strong as death. We need to hold to truth in such a love.