In Romans 3:7 Paul speaks concerning a different aspect of the truth: “But if the truth of God abounded in my lie unto His glory, why still am I also judged as a sinner?” In this verse truth refers to the faithfulness of God. This, of course, is different from the meaning of truth in 1:18, where truth denotes the characteristic of God as revealed through the visible things in the universe. But in Romans 3:7 we have another matter concerning God—God’s faithfulness.
How can we prove that the truth in Romans 3:7 denotes God’s faithfulness? This can be proved by studying the context. Verses 3 and 4 say, “For what if some disbelieved? Shall their unbelief make the faithfulness of God of none effect? Certainly not! But let God be true and every man a liar, as it is written, That You should be justified in Your sayings and will overcome when You are judged.” Notice that in verse 3 the word “faithfulness” is used. Then in verse 4 we have the adjective “true.” Verse 4 indicates that God is true, faithful, in what He says; that is, God is faithful in His words. In verses 5 and 6 Paul continues, “But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak according to man. Certainly not! Otherwise how shall God judge the world?” These verses also are related to God’s faithfulness. Then in verse 7 Paul goes on to speak concerning the truth of God. According to the context, therefore, truth here denotes God’s faithfulness. Instead of saying “the truth of God,” Paul could have said, “the faithfulness of God,” since truth here equals faithfulness. This is the reason we interpret the word truth in Romans 3:7 as denoting God’s faithfulness.
Romans 15:8 says, “For I say that Christ has become a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises given to the fathers.” In this verse truth also denotes God’s faithfulness. If we do not understand the word truth in this verse as referring to God’s faithfulness, we shall not be able to understand this verse. Christ became a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises. This means that Christ became a servant of the circumcision for the faithfulness of God, to confirm the promises. Here Paul indicates that whatever God has promised, He will fulfill. God fulfills His promises because He is faithful. Once again, we see that truth in Romans 3:7 and 15:8 refers to a particular virtue of God, God’s faithfulness.
Mark 12:14 says, “And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man; for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” The Pharisees were trying to trap the Lord Jesus by asking Him this question. Before they asked the question, they said to Him that He was true and taught the way of God in truth. Here “in truth” means in honesty. Because the Lord was true and honest, He taught the Word of God in honesty, not in falsehood. Therefore, in this verse truth denotes the human virtue of honesty.
In 2 Corinthians 11:10 the word truth is again used to denote a human virtue. In this verse Paul says, “The truth of Christ is in me, that this boasting shall not be stopped concerning me in the regions of Achaia.” Here truth denotes truthfulness, faithfulness, trustworthiness, honesty. First, it denotes the faithfulness, the honesty, of the Lord Jesus when He lived on earth as a man. Then it denotes this virtue as present in the living of the apostle Paul. This virtue was an attribute of Christ. But since Paul lived by Christ, whatever Christ is became his virtue in his behavior. The important point for us to see is that in 2 Corinthians 11:10 truth denotes the human virtue of truthfulness, trustworthiness, faithfulness, and honesty.
First John 3:18 tells us to love in truth: “Little children, let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and truth.” Here truth denotes sincerity in contrast to tongue, just as deed is in contrast to word. In this verse the apostle John is telling us to love in truth, in honesty. If we say that we love our brother, we should love him in deed and in truth. Otherwise, we shall love only in word or in tongue, but not in sincerity.
In 2 John 1 the apostle John uses the word truth in two ways: “The elder to the chosen lady and to her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth.” First, John speaks of loving in truth. In this case truth denotes the revealed divine reality—the Triune God dispensed into man in the Son Jesus Christ— becoming man’s genuineness and sincerity. Therefore, truth in this sense denotes a human virtue. However, this virtue is not produced by our natural being; rather, it issues from the enjoyment of the divine reality. This is the divine reality becoming our genuineness and our sincerity. In this verse John also speaks of knowing the truth. Here truth denotes the divine reality of the gospel, especially concerning the Person of Christ.
I use these verses as examples to point out our need to study all the verses in the New Testament that speak of the truth. Then with the help of the note on the word truth in 1 John 1:6, we can discern how this word is used in different verses. As 2 John 1 indicates, this word may be used in two different ways in the same verse. In each case, the denotation of the word is determined by the context. Therefore, to understand the meaning of the word truth in any particular verse, we need to study its context. As we have pointed out, the Greek word for truth, aletheia, is used in the New Testament more than one hundred times. By studying this word in its context, we shall be helped to have a proper understanding of truth in the New Testament.