The word truth is used repeatedly in the two Epistles to Timothy (1 Tim. 2:4; 3:15; 4:3; 6:5; 2 Tim. 2:15-18; 3:8; 4:3-4). Many Christians think that truth is simply doctrine. However, in verses such as John 1:17; 8:32; 14:6; and 17:17, it is clear that the word doctrine could not be used in place of truth, which is sometimes rendered “reality.” We need to see the difference between truth and doctrine.
Truth is reality. John 1:17 gives a comparison between the law and reality. This verse says, “The law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ.” The law was given, but reality came. A thing is given, but a person comes. The word law indicates a large portion of the Old Testament, which is called the Law and the Prophets (Acts 13:15; Matt. 5:17). The Law is the first section of the Old Testament, from Genesis through the Song of Songs; the Prophets is the second section of the Old Testament, from Isaiah through Malachi. The law was given as a shadow, figure, or type, just as a photograph of a person may be sent before the person comes. The law is the picture, and the reality is the person. Christ is the reality.
Let us consider a few examples of the types in the Old Testament and the reality in the New Testament. Genesis 1:26 says that man was made in the image of God. The reality of the image of God is Christ (Col. 1:15). Christ came as the real image of God. Genesis 2:9 mentions the tree of life. Christ came as the reality of the tree of life (John 14:6; 15:1). Genesis 3:15 prophesied that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent. The reality of the seed of the woman came when Christ was born of the virgin Mary. Christ is the real seed of the woman who bruised the head of Satan (Heb. 2:14).
Exodus 12:3-10 describes the passover lamb that was slain for the salvation of the children of Israel. When John the Baptist saw the Lord, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). The lamb in Exodus 12 is a shadow, a picture, of the real Lamb, Christ. Such pictures are found throughout the Old Testament. In Exodus 25 through 30 God gave Moses the pattern for the Israelites to build the tabernacle. John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” Christ in the flesh was the real tabernacle. Christ is the reality of all the things mentioned in the law.
Leviticus describes all kinds of offerings—the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. All the offerings are shadows of Christ. When Christ came, the reality of the offerings came. He is the real burnt offering, the real meal offering, the real peace offering, the real sin offering, and the real trespass offering for us. The offerings in the Old Testament are only shadows; Christ is the reality.
Christ is the real light and the real life (John 8:12; 14:6). He is also the real power, holiness, righteousness, kindness, love, humility, long-suffering, endurance, submission, and every divine attribute and human virtue.
Truth is not doctrine but reality, and the reality of every positive thing, even human beings, is Christ. Without Christ we are empty, having no reality. When we receive Christ, we are no longer empty, for we have the reality, which is Christ, as our real person. Paul says, “To me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). To him, to live was not Paul, which would have been empty, but Christ, who is the reality.
Doctrine is the description of the truth, and it conveys the truth. The truth is the reality of what is described in the doctrine. The doctrine of God’s image is in Genesis 1:26; the reality of God’s image is Christ. Apart from Christ, God’s image in Genesis 1:26 is merely a doctrine.
Justification by faith is the main doctrine of the Lutheran Church. I knew a pastor of a Lutheran congregation in China who strongly preached justification by faith but who had not been justified himself. Although he preached justification by faith, he was secretly smuggling opium. Then a Norwegian missionary went to China to preach not the doctrine of the gospel but the reality—regeneration. Whenever she finished speaking a gospel message, she would stand by the entrance as the audience went out and ask each one, “Have you been regenerated?” One day she visited the town of that Lutheran pastor, and after preaching a message on regeneration, she asked the pastor in front of several members of his congregation whether he had been regenerated. When he replied that he had, she said that she could tell by looking at his face that actually he had not been regenerated. He was greatly offended by this and began to hate her. That night he planned how he might kill her. While he was planning, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Look, how evil you are! You are planning to kill a lady evangelist. Have you been regenerated?” He was enlightened and immediately repented. The next day he came to the meeting to make a public repentance and to testify of what he had experienced. By hearing his testimony, many others were led to be regenerated.
The doctrine of regeneration and the reality of regeneration are two different things. We need to be saved not according to doctrine but according to the truth, the reality. We should not have the doctrine of something yet miss the reality.
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