It seems to me that throughout John’s storytelling, every once in a while he gets a sudden, impassioned urge to compel you to believe the gospel. For some reason he thinks that’s of the highest possible importance! In fact, he makes his reasons clear. First of all, as he sometimes tells us, the gospel really is the greatest news you’ve ever heard or you could ever imagine. But second of all, whether you understand that or not, whether you like it or not, the gospel is entirely true. God really is sovereign, we really are his and not our own, and Jesus really is the only way to salvation. To believe and live according to the gospel is to live according to the truth (and may I remind you, the truth also happens to be the greatest news!)
But how can we know that it’s true? Simple, John says: God is truthful. Other translations simply say God is true. He is the only perfectly reliable source of knowledge to ever exist, because he is perfect and has no need to lie. And this gospel is God’s own testimony we’re dealing with! The stories about Jesus that you have heard, the sermons about his glory and about our salvation and about repentance from sins, are the truth that God Most High himself has spoken unto us for us to believe. And on top of that, all of his essence, his authority, his power, and indeed his truthfulness filled the person of Jesus Christ. So if we believe the testimony of the man who came from Heaven, whose words are God’s words, then that is us boldly proclaiming that we trust the undeniable fact: God is true.
René Descartes, the father of modern philosophy, had history’s most famous existential crisis and wondered whether he could trust any of his own senses. But then he reasoned that since he knew God was good, a good God would not allow him to live under deceptions all the time; a good God would want to guide him toward the truth. Our God does indeed want that. In fact, to guide us toward the truth, he sent his own Son to be the truth walking among us. If God is good and if he is true, than the gospel he has given us is the most provable, certifiable, verifiable information that the human race has. So if you believe that God is true, put your full faith in the gospel of Christ Jesus. It is the great and wonderful truth of the Lord made available to you.
