_{by Trent - from September 2005}

John 1
17b grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

When one approaches intellectual understanding of Truth under the rule of reason (according to the dictates of limited and available knowledge,) they are bound to realize the limits of their human condition - specifically mental activity of creatures cannot lay hold of UNCREATED Truth. Truth cannot be discovered by thought alone. Any revelation of Truth requires spiritual contemplation, subtle intuition, and pure inspiration. For Truth to set one free, it must be infused within from above. The faculty for such revelation is the human spirit regenerated by and mingled with the Spirit of God.

WHO can rise (through logical thinking) above what is happening by means of abstract thought about some object to reveal spiritual principles without being impotent to overcome the limitations of human intellect? To say that grace and truth is realized through Jesus Christ is to exclaim to all of the world that there is a novel spiritual way to contemplate what is truth, and that way is a person, who is the way, truth, and life. No longer is man separate from truth and hopelessly led to recognize the limitations of the faculty of the mind to grasping reality, itself. (not that they always recognize their limitations, or else there would be no philosophical systems.) Abiding in truth, by way of the Spirit of God is the destiny of those that are born of the Spirit of God. This is the lone escape from inevitable error.

John 14
17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

Christians - Residing in the depths of our souls, He lives in our innermost being. He transcends our soul as the source of truth proceeding in every internal and external manifestations of the soul. In our spirit's core, God's Spirit is formless and without distinction. It does not know about the truth; it IS the truth. The knowledge of the Spirit of Truth is complete. It's essence is total knowledge and all that is is knowable in everything. It knows truth, because it is the truth. There is nothing about truth that it is not, because God knows Himself completely. That is to say that the subject and object of Truth are one, within the life of God.

On the other hand, thought is a single and distinct plane reflecting the intelligible; it is always in motion between the subject (our mind), and the object (that which is reflected in thought, such as a contemplation.) Whatever is reflected in thought is therefore assimilated only in it's reflected form, not in the reality of that which is being contemplated, and certainly not in its spiritual, universal reality. Thus the Spirit of truth never escapes the depths of our spirit, to be fully manifested in thought, or in the symbolic reflection archived in our minds. The reflection never becomes the reality, and thus Truth is a commodity of our spirits that brings us mentally closer to reality. However, the inherent objective and subjective disconnect between Truth and our thoughts about Truth inevitably persist to the point of error.

While God's certainty and wisdom are attributable to the unity of all Truth within Himself, conversely, our doubt and error are caused by the mental disunity of distorted thoughts. This brings us back to the necessity of spiritual revelation to supercede any and all mental notions. It is the Spirit of God that leads us to all Truth. Thoughts, through revelation, can be conformed to and effaced by the Spirit of Truth as the only solution for the obstacle of natural reasoning. Divine revelation is the link between soul and spirit, that otherwise would be separated by the abyss of organic limitation. Therefore, I have no Truth to offer anyone; I can only introduce you to the Spirit of Truth, so that you can forsake thought and embrace reality through revelation.

Isaiah 55
7 Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the LORD,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.
9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

True to my experience, I have tried and failed to present my erroneous thoughts of Truth to no avail. On one occasion I was trying to impart to my mother a truth that seemed so simplistic as to be unavoidable. But, frustration overwhelmed me during the repeated reasoned explanations. At that point I turned to my spirit, and it was revealed that I should say it once more. Bewildered, I almost could not believe that it would make any difference. Finally, I exercised faith in the revelation, and spoke again. This time the message was plain and simple yet inspired, but the response in my mother was completely different. Before I was half way through my first sentence, I saw perfect understanding in her eyes. The Truth was revealed in her through the faculty of her spirit rather the the subjective mind through mental ascent, or the objective reflection in my thoughts and words. Now that it has been revealed to her, it cannot be reconstructed in her mind, thoughts, or words any more then Truth can be reconstructed in my soul-ish faculties, both internal and external. This was the spiritual reality behind the famous recruitment of Peter:

Luke 5
4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."
5 Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets."
6 When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;
7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.
8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!"
9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken;
10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men."
11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

So it is when we are used by the Spirit's direction to introduce the sublime implications of the Gospel to others, so that they may know the deep love of God and be filled with joy! It is not by might, nor power, but by His Spirit.