Introduction
The Apostle John, inspired by the Spirit of God, wrote in his gospel one of the most quoted and, at the same time, most misunderstood statements in all of Scripture:
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)
This promise has transcended the boundaries of ecclesiastical institutions and has even penetrated the secular world. Yet an urgent and necessary question arises: what exactly is truth? And, more importantly, how do I know that I truly know it? How can I be certain that I am genuinely walking the path of truth?
These are not trivial questions. In the previous teaching we studied the process of forming antichrists that the Apostle John himself describes in chapter 2 of his first epistle. There the apostle declares that a great number of antichrists had arisen, but the most alarming aspect of his teaching is that those antichrists did not come from the outside: “they went out from us,” says the apostle, “but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us.” (1 John 2:19). Many people who were within the church walked, without realizing it, down that path of forming antichrists.
This reality makes it urgent for every believer to ask honestly: where do I truly stand? It is not enough to say “I am part of a church” or “I belong to a ministry,” because God’s own Word teaches us that many have sold their birthright without recognizing the path they were traveling. In Matthew 7:21–22 we find a deeply sobering case: believers who cast out demons, spoke in tongues, and performed miracles in the name of Jesus, yet the Lord declares to them:
“Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:23)
The Spirit of God is warning in these last times that not everyone who confesses the name of Christ and participates in a faith community is truly walking in the truth. For this reason it is essential that we expose ourselves to the Word and discover what evidences confirm whether or not we are on the right path.
The Apostle John, in his first epistle, presents six concrete evidences that distinguish those who walk in truth. He does not define them in terms of membership in a congregation, but in terms of the revelation of the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven. Below we will study each one of them.
First Evidence: Knowledge of the Word of God
The Apostle John establishes in 1 John 2:3–5:
“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.” (1 John 2:3–5)
The first and most fundamental of all the evidences is knowledge of the Word of God. Knowing the truth is not a vague mystical experience; it is a reality attained through concrete knowledge of what God has revealed in the Scriptures. The way I know what displeases God, what He abhors, what He approves — all of this comes through His Word.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). However, in these last times a troubling trend has emerged: the progressive reduction of Scripture. It is frequently heard that the Old Testament has no jurisdiction over believers, that it says nothing relevant to us today, that only the New Testament applies — and even within the New Testament, only what is comfortable or appealing is retained.
This trend is serious because, as God’s Word is reduced, the believer is left exposed to fables, genealogies, and empty preaching that produces no spiritual growth. The prophet Jeremiah conveys God’s warning in these terms:
“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.” (Jeremiah 9:23–24)
There is no way to know God apart from His Word. In John 5:39–40, Jesus speaks to the scribes and Pharisees — men who had memorized the Scriptures — and says to them:
“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” (John 5:39–40)
The text, properly understood in its context and in the indicative form in the original Greek, is not a command to read the Scriptures; it is an ironic declaration addressed to men who read the Word but refused to receive the One of whom it testifies. The Word without Christ is dead letter; yet it is equally impossible to have Christ without His Word.
The Apostle John is unequivocal: “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” There is no room to negotiate with the Lord on this point. Anyone who claims to know Christ but neither knows nor keeps His Word is building upon a false confidence. The Word of God is not information stored in the intellect; it is life instruction that transforms those who receive and obey it.
As the writer of Hebrews declares:
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
The first evidence that someone is walking in truth is, therefore, that they have a genuine knowledge of the Word of God — they read it, study it, treasure it, and obey it.
Second Evidence: The Love of God Manifested in Action
In 1 John 3:16–17, the apostle writes:
“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3:16–17)
The second evidence is the manifestation of God’s love in the believer’s life. A clarification is needed here, one that addresses a widespread misunderstanding in many faith communities: the love the Scripture speaks of has nothing to do with feelings, emotions, passions, or any affective or physical expression. Biblical love is a conduct, a decision, a self-giving.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16). The defining characteristic of love is self-giving: it does not demand, it does not impose; it gives freely and sacrificially. The Apostle Paul describes it with precision in 1 Corinthians 13, where he establishes that neither the gift of tongues, nor prophecy, nor knowledge of all mysteries, nor faith that moves mountains, nor giving all one’s goods to the poor, nor surrendering one’s body to be burned amounts to anything without love:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1)
Love, according to the Scriptures, suffers long, is kind, does not envy, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, and does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in truth (1 Corinthians 13:4–6). This description stands in complete opposition to the natural behavior of the untransformed human being, who competes, marginalizes, and measures generosity by what the recipient deserves.
The case of the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17–22) illustrates this point precisely. When Jesus commanded him to sell everything and give it to the poor, the young man’s deepest obstacle was not wealth itself, but to whom he would have to give it. Giving to the poor, to strangers, to those who had given him nothing — this was incongruent with the world’s logic. And it is exactly that worldly logic that the Spirit of God comes to transform.
How I know I am walking the path of truth: because there is a genuine evidence of God’s love in my life — not as a passing emotion or a social cause, but as a constant disposition of giving and serving, free from partiality, reflecting the love with which God loved the world while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).
Third Evidence: The Truthfulness of Our Deeds
The apostle continues in 1 John 3:18–21:
“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.” (1 John 3:18–21)
The third evidence is the truthfulness of our deeds. Many believers live by intentions: “I intended to do it,” “God knows what is in my heart,” “I am willing to give everything for Him.” The Word, however, is definitive: God does not judge intentions or words; God judges deeds.
Promises made in times of need are a frequent example: “If God heals my child, I will serve Him all my life.” “If God brings my spouse back, I will serve Him.” History, both biblical and personal, has shown that most of those words remain merely words. God will not judge by what was promised, but by what was done.
The Lord Jesus Himself appealed to this evidence when He spoke to His adversaries:
“Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.” (John 14:11)
He did not ask to be believed for His words, but for His works. This is the measure by which the believer must also be assessed. And the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30) confirms it irrefutably: the servant who received one talent did not lose it or squander it — he simply did nothing with it. His justification was that he knew his master’s character and was afraid. But the master’s reply was:
“You wicked and lazy servant… you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers.” (Matthew 25:26–27)
The judgment fell not on what the servant said, but on what he failed to do. God will judge us by the truthfulness of our deeds, not by the abundance of our words nor by the sincerity of our intentions.
Fourth Evidence: The Manifestation of the Spirit of God
In 1 John 3:24 we read:
“Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” (1 John 3:24)
The fourth evidence that one walks in truth is the manifestation of the Spirit of God in the believer’s life. The Apostle Paul declares in Galatians 4:6:
“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”” (Galatians 4:6)
And in Ephesians 1:13 he confirms:
“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” (Ephesians 1:13)
The man and woman who walk in truth do so under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This means they do not decide on their own initiative, do not act by their own self-sufficiency, and do not rely solely on their own abilities. The path of truth is the path of dependence on the Spirit: “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:5).
One of the most eloquent accounts of this evidence is found in Acts 16:6–9, where the Apostle Paul and his companions attempted to preach the Word in Asia, and the Holy Spirit forbade them. They then attempted to go to Bithynia, and once again the Spirit did not permit them. Only after those two refusals, in the city of Troas, did Paul receive the vision of the Macedonian man who pleaded with them to come over and help — and they understood where the Spirit had been leading them all along.
This is the evidence of a man and a woman who walk in truth: they do not do what they feel like doing, they do not say what seems best to them, they do not move by a personal agenda. They submit, they yield, and they wait for the direction of the Spirit of God. When the Spirit says advance, they advance; when He says stop, they stop.
The life of faith is not theoretical. If the Spirit has been deposited in the believer, He must be manifested. The Spirit is present and active to the degree that the believer moves in accordance with His instruction.
Fifth Evidence: Sound Doctrine
In 1 John 4:2 the apostle establishes:
“By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.” (1 John 4:2)
The fifth evidence is to speak, proclaim, teach, and walk in sound doctrine. It is impossible to walk in truth while tolerating or promoting apostate doctrine. The Apostle John is categorical on this point in his second epistle:
“If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.” (2 John 1:10–11)
How I know I am in the truth: because I know sound doctrine, I move in it, and I proclaim it. This is an unavoidable responsibility for every believer and, in a particular way, for all who teach the Word.
When a man or woman of God is lenient or tolerant toward apostate doctrine, what they reveal is that there are still spaces of darkness within them, because they are permitting what God abhors. The calling of God demands uprightness: to proclaim the truth even when it is not pleasing to the hearers, to establish sound doctrine even when it is not agreeable to those who receive it.
The believer is accountable to God, not to people. At the end of the road, the account rendered before the Lord will not be about how many applauded the preaching, but about whether what God commanded was faithfully taught.
Sixth Evidence: Being Led by the Spirit of God
The apostle concludes this section in 1 John 4:13–15:
“By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:13–15)
The sixth evidence revisits and deepens the theme of the Spirit, now from the perspective of spiritual movement. In John 3:8, Jesus declared:
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
To be born of the Spirit means not moving by personal agenda. Those born of the Spirit are individuals whose lives are not governed by their own plans and conveniences, but by the precise and direct instruction that the Spirit of God establishes. When the Spirit says to advance, we advance. When He says to speak, we speak. When He says to stop, we stop.
This absolute disposition to follow the precise instructions of the Spirit of God is the sixth and final evidence that someone is genuinely walking in truth.
Conclusion: The Truth That Sets Us Free
The Apostle John was the recipient of the great declaration of Jesus: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Throughout his first epistle, that same apostle, guided by the Spirit of God, explains with precision what it means to know the truth and what the freedom it produces truly consists of.
Truth cannot be reduced to repeating the name of Jesus Christ. Truth has concrete and verifiable evidences in the life of those who know it. Those evidences are six:
- Knowledge of the Word of God: knowing what pleases God and what He abhors, and living accordingly.
- The love of God manifested in action: a genuine self-giving, free from partiality, reflecting the love with which God loved the world.
- The truthfulness of our deeds: promises and good intentions are not enough; God judges by what is done, not by what is said.
- The manifestation of the Spirit of God: living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, yielding to His direction before acting.
- Sound doctrine: knowing, proclaiming, and defending the doctrine of the gospel without tolerance for apostasy.
- Being led by the Spirit of God: not by personal agenda, but by precise and direct instructions from the Holy Spirit.
We are free to the extent that we submit to the Word of God and yield to it — not under human imposition or religious tradition, but because God’s Word is what establishes when, how, and where we are to act in accordance with the calling we have received. Only then can we say with solid foundation: I am in the truth, I know the truth, and the truth has set me free.
The warning is solemn: there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12). Not every participation in a church, ministry, or religious activity guarantees that one is walking in truth. The six evidences presented by the Apostle John are the mirror in which every believer must look — not for condemnation, but to make the necessary adjustments while there is still time.
Review Questions
- Of the six evidences of truth presented in this chapter, which one or ones do you consider least developed in your own life at this moment? What concrete steps can you take to strengthen them?
- The chapter distinguishes between living by intentions and living by deeds. Are there promises or commitments you have made before God that you have not yet fulfilled? What has prevented you from doing so, and how can you make things right?
Being led by the Holy Spirit means consulting God before acting, rather than asking for His help after decisions have already been made on our own. How would you describe your usual pattern of decision-making? In what areas of your life do you need a greater submission to the Spirit?
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