I. The Moral Imperative.

Simon Greenleaf, Testimony of the Evangelists:


The credit due to the testimony of witnesses depends upon, firstly, their honesty; secondly, their ability; thirdly, their number and the consistency of their testimony; fourthly, the conformity of their testimony with experience; and fifthly, the coincidence of their testimony with collateral circumstances.


Let the evangelists be tried by these tests.


And first, as to their honesty. Here they are entitled to the benefit of the general course of human experience, that men ordinarily speak the truth, when they have no prevailing motive or inducement to the contrary. This presumption, to which we have before alluded, is applied in courts of justice, even to witnesses whose integrity is not wholly free from suspicion; much more is it applicable to the evangelists, whose testimony went against all their worldly interests. The great truths which the apostles declared, were that Christ had risen from the dead, and that only through repentance from sin, and faith in him, could men hope for salvation. This doctrine they asserted with one voice, everywhere, not only under the greatest discouragements, but in the face of the most appalling terrors that can be presented to the mind of man. Their master had recently perished as a malefactor, by the sentence of a public tribunal. His religion sought to overthrow the religions of the whole world. The laws of every country were against the teaching of his disciples. The interests and passions of all the rulers and great men in the world were against them. The fashion of the world was against them. Propagating this new faith, even in the most inoffensive and peaceful manner, they could expect nothing but contempt, opposition, revilings, bitter persecutions, stripes imprisonments, torments and cruel deaths. Yet this faith they zealously did propagate; and all these miseries they endured undismayed, nay, rejoicing. As one after another was put to a miserable death, the survivors only prosecuted their work with increased vigor and resolution. The annals of military warfare afford scarcely an example of the like heroic constancy, patience and unblenching courage. They had every possible motive to review carefully the grounds of their faith, and the evidences of the great facts and truths which they asserted; and these motives were pressed upon their attention with the most melancholy and terrific frequency. It was therefore impossible that they could have persisted in affirming the truths they have narrated, had not Jesus actually rose from the dead, and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any other fact. If it were morally possible for them to have been deceived in this matter, every human motive operated to lead them to discover and avow their error. To have persisted in so gross a falsehood, after it was known to them, was not only to encounter, for life, all the evils which man could inflict, from without, but to endure also the pangs of inward and conscious guilt; with no hope of future peace, no testimony of a good conscience, no expectation of honor or esteem among men, no hope of happiness in this life, or in the world to come. Such conduct in the apostles would moreover have been utterly irreconcilable with the fact, that they possessed the ordinary constitution of our common nature. Yet their lives do show them to have been men like all others of our race; swayed by the same motives, animated by the same hopes, affected by the same joys, subdued by the same sorrows, agitated by the same fears, and subject to the same passions, temptations and infirmities, as ourselves. And their writings show them to have been men of vigorous understandings. If then their testimony was not true, there was no possible motive for this fabrication.

 

 

A. The prophets and the apostles knew the law regarding false witness.

Exodus 20:16
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Exodus 23:1
“You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

Deuteronomy 5:20
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

 

Deuteronomy 11:1
“Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always.


Deuteronomy 13:1-3
1 “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, “Let us go after other gods’--which you have not known--”and let us serve them,’ 3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 18:22
when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

Deuteronomy 19:15
“One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.


Proverbs 6:19
A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.
 

Proverbs 12:17
He who speaks truth declares righteousness, But a false witness, deceit.


Proverbs 14:5
A faithful witness does not lie, But a false witness will utter lies.

 

Proverbs 14:25
A true witness delivers souls, But a deceitful witness speaks lies.
 

Proverbs 19:28
A disreputable witness scorns justice, And the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.

Proverbs 24:28
Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, For would you deceive [Septuagint and Vulgate read Do not deceive] with your lips?

Proverbs 25:18
A man who bears false witness against his neighbor Is like a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow.

Zechariah 8:16
These are the things you shall do: Speak each man the truth to his neighbor; Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace;

Matthew 7:15
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

Matthew 19:17-19
17So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? [NU-Text reads Why do you ask Me about what is good?] No one is good but One, that is, God. [NU-Text reads There is One who is good] But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
18He said to Him, “Which ones?”
Jesus said, ““You shall not murder,’ “You shall not commit adultery,’ “You shall not steal,’ “You shall not bear false witness,’ [Exodus 20:12-16; Deuteronomy 5:16-20]  19”Honor your father and your mother,’ and, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”‘[Leviticus 19:18]


Mark 10:19
You know the commandments: “Do not commit adultery,’ “Do not murder,’ “Do not steal,’ “Do not bear false witness,’ “Do not defraud,’ “Honor your father and your mother.”‘[Exodus 20:12-16; Deuteronomy 5:16-20]


Luke 18:20
You know the commandments: “Do not commit adultery,’ “Do not murder,’ “Do not steal,’ “Do not bear false witness,’ “Honor your father and your mother.”‘[Exodus 20:12-16; Deuteronomy 5:16-20]


Acts 6:13
They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous [NU-Text omits blasphemous]  words against this holy place and the law;


Romans 13:9
For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” [NU-Text omits “You shall not bear false witness.”] “You shall not covet,” [Exodus 20:13-15, 17; Deuteronomy 5:17-19, 21] and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” [Leviticus 19:18]


2 Corinthians 13:1
This will be the third time I am coming to you. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” [Deuteronomy 19:15]
 

 

B.  The prophets and the apostles knew the consequences for disobeying the law.


Leviticus 5:1
“If a person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath, and is a witness, whether he has seen or known of the matter--if he does not tell it, he bears guilt.
 

Numbers 22:18
Then Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.

Deuteronomy 17:6
Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness.

Deuteronomy 17:7
The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 18:20-22

20But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21And if you say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’-- 22when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

Deuteronomy 19
16If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17then both men in the controversy shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. 18And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, 19then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 28:15
“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

Proverbs 19:5
A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who speaks lies will not escape.

Proverbs 19:9
A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who speaks lies shall perish.

Proverbs 21:28
A false witness shall perish, But the man who hears him will speak endlessly.

Isaiah 3:9
The look on their countenance witnesses against them, And they declare their sin as Sodom; They do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves.

Jeremiah 23:1
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the LORD.



Hebrews 10:28
Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

 

Deuteronomy 19:15
“One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.


2 Peter 2:1
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.

1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Revelation 19:20
Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Revelation 20:10
The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where [NU-Text and M-Text add also] the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Revelation 22
12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” [NU-Text and M-Text read the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End]
14Blessed are those who do His commandments, [NU-Text reads wash their robes] that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15But [NU-Text and M-Text omit But] outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
16”I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

 

C. The prophets and the apostles knew the rewards for obeying the law.

Numbers 18:31
You may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your reward for your work in the tabernacle of meeting.

Ruth 2:12
The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”

 

1 Samuel 2:30
Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: “I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the LORD says: “Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

 

1 Samuel 24:19
For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore may the LORD reward you with good for what you have done to me this day.

 

2 Samuel 22:21
“The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.


2 Chronicles 15:7
But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”


2 Chronicles 20:11
here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.


Psalm 15:1-3
1 LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
        Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
        2He who walks uprightly,
           And works righteousness,
           And speaks the truth in his heart;
        3He who does not backbite with his tongue,
           Nor does evil to his neighbor,
           Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;

 

Psalm 18:20
The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.


Psalm 19:11
Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.


Psalm 58:11
So that men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely He is God who judges in the earth.”

 

Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.

 

Proverbs 13:13
He who despises the word will be destroyed, But he who fears the commandment will be rewarded.


Isaiah 49:4
Then I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; Yet surely my just reward is with the LORD, And my work with my God.”‘


Matthew 5:12
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.


Matthew 5:46
For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?


Matthew 6:6
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. [NU-Text omits openly]


Matthew 10:40-42

40 “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 41He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. 42And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”


Matthew 16:27
For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.


Mark 9:41
For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.


Luke 6:23
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.


Luke 6:35
But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.


1 Corinthians 3:8
Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.


1 Corinthians 3:14
If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.


1 Corinthians 9:17
For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship.


Colossians 3:23-25

23And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for [NU-Text omits for] you serve the Lord Christ. 25But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.


Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.


Hebrews 11

24By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in [NU-Text and M-Text read of ] Egypt; for he looked to the reward.


James 5:19-21
19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul [NU-Text reads his soul] from death and cover a multitude of sins.


1 Peter 4:8
And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”[Proverbs 10:12]


2 John 1:8
Look to yourselves, that we [NU-Text reads you] do not lose those things we worked for, but that we[NU-Text reads you] may receive a full reward.


Revelation 11:18
The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”


Revelation 22

12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” [NU-Text and M-Text read the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End]
14Blessed are those who do His commandments, [NU-Text reads wash their robes] that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15But [NU-Text and M-Text omit But] outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
16”I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

 

D.  The prophets and the apostles knew God Himself was a witness to their actions.


Simon Greenleaf, Testimony of the Evangelists:

“They had every possible motive to review carefully the grounds of their faith, and the evidences of the great facts and truths which they asserted; and these motives were pressed upon their attention with the most melancholy and terrific frequency. It was therefore impossible that they could have persisted in affirming the truths they have narrated, had not Jesus actually rose from the dead, and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any other fact. If it were morally possible for them to have been deceived in this matter, every human motive operated to lead them to discover and avow their error. To have persisted in so gross a falsehood, after it was known to them, was not only to encounter, for life, all the evils which man could inflict, from without, but to endure also the pangs of inward and conscious guilt; with no hope of future peace, no testimony of a good conscience, no expectation of honor or esteem amom men, no hope of happiness in this life, or in the world to come.

“Such conduct in the apostles would moreover have been utterly irreconcilable with the fact, that they possessed the ordinary constitution of our common nature. Yet their lives do show them to have been men like all others of our race; swayed by the same motives, animated by the same hopes, affected by the same joys, subdued by the same sorrows, agitated by the same fears, and subject to the same passions, temptations and infirmities, as ourselves. And their writings show them to have been men of vigorous understandings. If then their testimony was not true, there was no possible motive for this fabrication.

 “It would also have been irreconcilable with the fact that they were good men. But it is impossible to read their writings, and not feel that we are conversing with men eminently holy, and of tender consciences, with men acting under an abiding sense of the presence and omniscience of God, and of their accountability to him, living in his fear, and walking in his ways. Now, though, in a single instance, a good man may fall, when under strong temptations, yet he is not found persisting, for years, in deliberated falsehood, asserted with the most solemn appeals to God, without the slightest temptation or motive, and against all the opposing interests which reign in the human breast. If, on the contrary, they are supposed to have been bad men, it is incredible that such men should have chosen this form of imposture; enjoining, as it does, unfeigned repentance, the utter forsaking and abhorrence of all falsehood and of every other sin, the practice of daily self-denial, self-abasement and self-sacrifice, the crucifixion of the flesh with all its earthly appetites and desires, indifference to the honors, and hearty contempt of the vanities of the world; and inculcating perfect purity of heart and life, and intercourse of the soul with heaven. It is incredible, that bad men should invent falsehoods, to promote the religion of the God of truth. The supposition is suicidal. If they did believe in a future state of retribution, a heaven and a hell hereafter, they took the most certain course, if false witnesses, to secure the latter for their portion. And if, still being bad men, they did not believe in future punishment, how came they to invent which was to destroy all their prospects of worldly honor and happiness, and to insure their misery in this life? From these absurdities there is no escape, but in the perfect conviction and admission that they were good men, testifying to that which they had carefully observed and considered, and well knew to be true.”


Genesis 31:50
If you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us--see, God is witness between you and me!”


Numbers 17:6-8
6So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each of their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7And Moses placed the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.
8Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds.


Numbers 18:2
Also bring with you your brethren of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be joined with you and serve you while you and your sons are with you before the tabernacle of witness.


Deuteronomy 4:26
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed.


Deuteronomy 12:28
Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.


Deuteronomy 30:19
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;


Deuteronomy 31:28
Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.

 

Judges 3:7
So the children of
Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs. [Name or symbol for Canaanite goddesses]

Judges 10:6
Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.


Judges 11:10
And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD will be a witness between us, if we do not do according to your words.”


1 Samuel 12:3
Here I am. Witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.”


1 Samuel 12:5
Then he said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they answered, “He is witness.”


1 Samuel 20:12
Then Jonathan said to David: “The LORD God of Israel is witness! When I have sounded out my father sometime tomorrow, or the third day, and indeed there is good toward David, and I do not send to you and tell you,


1 Kings 21:10
and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, You have blasphemed God and the king. Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.


2 Chronicles 36:5
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in
Jerusalem. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

2 Chronicles 36:12
He did evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD.

 

Job 10:17
You renew Your witnesses against me, And increase Your indignation toward me; Changes and war are ever with me.

 

Job 16:8
You have shriveled me up, And it is a witness against me; My leanness rises up against me And bears witness to my face.

Job 16:19
Surely even now my witness is in heaven, And my evidence is on high.

 

Ecclesiastes 5:2
Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few.


Isaiah 43:10
“You are My witnesses,” says the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me.


Isaiah 43:12
I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the LORD, “that I am God.


Isaiah 44:8
Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.”‘


Jeremiah 14:14
And the LORD said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart.


Jeremiah 29:23
because they have done disgraceful things in Israel, have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken lying words in My name, which I have not commanded them. Indeed I know, and am a witness, says the LORD.


Jeremiah 32:25
And You have said to me, O Lord GOD, “Buy the field for money, and take witnesses”!--yet the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”‘


Jeremiah 32:44
Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captives to return,’ says the LORD.”


 Jeremiah 42:5
So they said to Jeremiah, “Let the LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the LORD your God sends us by you.


Micah 1:2
Hear, all you peoples! Listen, O earth, and all that is in it! Let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, The Lord from His holy temple.


Zephaniah 3:8
“Therefore wait for Me,” says the LORD, “Until the day I rise up for plunder; [Septuagint and Syriac read for witness; Targum reads for the day of My revelation for judgment; Vulgate reads for the day of My resurrection that is to come] My determination is to gather the nations To My assembly of kingdoms, To pour on them My indignation, All My fierce anger; All the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy. 


Malachi 2:14
Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the LORD has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant.


Malachi 3:5
And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien-- Because they do not fear Me,” Says the LORD of hosts.


Luke 16:15
And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.


John 5:36
But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish--the very works that I do--bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.


John 8:18
I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”


Acts 1:3
to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.


Acts 5:32
And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”


Acts 10:31
and said, “Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God.


Acts 10:41
not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.


Acts 14:3
Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.


Acts 23:11
But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.”


Romans 1:9
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,


Romans 2:13
(for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;


Romans 8:16
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,


Romans 9:1
I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,


1 Corinthians 15:15
Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up--if in fact the dead do not rise.


2 Corinthians 1:23
Moreover I call God as witness against my soul, that to spare you I came no more to
Corinth.


2 Corinthians 2:17
For we are not, as so many, [M-Text reads the rest] peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.


2 Corinthians 4:2
But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.


Galatians 3:11
But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”[Habakkuk 2:4]


Galatians 1:20
(Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)


Philippians 1:8
For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.


1 Thessalonians 1:3
remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,


1 Thessalonians 2:5
For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness--God is witness.


1 Thessalonians 2:10
You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe;


1 Timothy 2:3
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,


1 Timothy 6:13
I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate,


2 Timothy 4:1
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:


Hebrews 2:4
God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?


Hebrews 10:15
But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,


1 Peter 3:4
rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.


1 John 5:6-8
6 This is He who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 8And there are three that bear witness on earth [NU-Text and M-Text omit the words from in heaven (verse 7) through on earth (verse 8). Only four or five very late manuscripts contain these words in Greek] the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.


1 John 5:9-11

9If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which [NU-Text reads God, that] He has testified of His Son. 10He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

 

 

E.  The prophets and the apostles appealed to reason.


1 Samuel 12:7
Now therefore, stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous acts of the LORD which He did to you and your fathers:


Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.


Isaiah 41:21
“Present your case,” says the LORD. “Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob.

 

 

Matthew 19:5
and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?

 

Genesis 2:24
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

 


Mark 12:34
Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” But after that no one dared question Him.


Acts 17:2
Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,


Acts 17:17
Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.


Acts 18:4
And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.


Acts 18:19
And he came to Ephesus, and left them there; but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.


Acts 19:8-10

8And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. 9But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:21
Test all things; hold fast what is good.

 

Philippians 1:8-10

8For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.
9And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,

1 Peter 3:15
But sanctify the Lord God [NU-Text reads Christ as Lord] in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

 

F.  The prophets and the apostles appealed to the truth.

Exodus 34:6
And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,


Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.


2 Samuel 7:28
“And now, O Lord GOD, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant.


1 Kings 8:26
And now I pray, O God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David my father.


2 Chronicles 6:17
And now, O LORD God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David.


Psalm 15:2
He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart;


Psalm 25:10
All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.

 

Psalm 31:5
Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

 

Psalm 33:4
For the word of the LORD is right, And all His work is done in truth.

 

Psalm 40:11
Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.

 

Psalm 43:3
Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your tabernacle.

 

Psalm 86:15
But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.


Psalm 89:14
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.


Psalm 91:4
He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.


Psalm 100:5
For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.


Psalm 108:4
For Your mercy is great above the heavens, And Your truth reaches to the clouds.


Psalm 115:1
Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth.


Psalm 117:2
For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!


Psalm 119:142
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law is truth.


Psalm 119:151
You are near, O LORD, And all Your commandments are truth.


Psalm 119:160
The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.


Psalm 138:2
I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.


Psalm 145:18
The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.

 

Psalm 146:6
Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever,

 

Proverbs 12:22
Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal truthfully are His delight.


Jeremiah 4:2
And you shall swear, “The LORD lives,’ In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; The nations shall bless themselves in Him, And in Him they shall glory.”


Jeremiah 10:10
But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.


Jeremiah 42:5
So they said to Jeremiah, “Let the LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the LORD your God sends us by you.


Daniel 4:37
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.


Daniel 9:13
“As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.


Daniel 10:21
But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince.


Zechariah 8:8
I will bring them back, And they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They shall be My people And I will be their God, In truth and righteousness.’


Malachi 2:6
The law of truth [Or true instruction ] was in his mouth, And injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, And turned many away from iniquity.


Matthew 22:16
And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.


Mark 12:14
When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?


Mark 12:32
So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He.


Luke 20:21
Then they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:


John 1:9
That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. [Or That was the true Light which, coming into the world, gives light to every man. ]


John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.


John 1:17
For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.


John 3:21
But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”


John 3:33
He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.


John 4:23-25
23But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”


John 5:32-34

32There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. 33You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.


John 6:32
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.


John 7:18
He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.


John 7:28
Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, “You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.


John 8:13-15

13 The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”
14Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. 15You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.

 

John 8:16-18

16And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. 17It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. 18I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”


John 8:26
I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.”


John 8:31
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.


John 8:32
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”


John 8:40
But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.


John 8:44-46

44You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 45But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 46Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?

 

John 10:41
Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.”

 

John 14:1
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.


John 14:17
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.


John 15:1
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.


John 15:26
“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.


John 16:13
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.


John 17:3
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.


John 17:17
Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.


John 17:19
And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.


John 18:36-38
36Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”
37Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”
Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
38Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.


John 19:35
And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.


John 21:24
This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.


Acts 10:34
Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.


Acts 26:24-26
24 Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!”
25But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. 26For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner.


Romans 1:18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,


Romans 2:15
who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)

Romans 3:4
Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.”

 

Psalm 51
4Against You, You only, have I sinned,
        And done this evil in Your sight--
        That You may be found just when You speak [Septuagint, Targum, and Vulgate read in Your words]
        And blameless when You judge.

 

Romans 4:5
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,


Romans 9:1
I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,


Romans 15:8
Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers,


1 Corinthians 5:8
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.


2 Corinthians 2:17
For we are not, as so many, [M-Text reads the rest] peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.


2 Corinthians 4:2
But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.


2 Corinthians 6:7
by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,


2 Corinthians 7:14
For if in anything I have boasted to him about you, I am not ashamed. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, even so our boasting to Titus was found true.


2 Corinthians 11:10
As the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia.


2 Corinthians 12:6
For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.


2 Corinthians 13:8
For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.


Galatians 2:5
to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.


Galatians 3:1
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, [NU-Text omits that you should not obey the truth] before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you [ NU-Text omits among you] as crucified?


Galatians 4:16
Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?


Galatians 5:7
You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?


Ephesians 1:13
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 4:15
but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ—


Ephesians 4:21
if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:

Ephesians 4:24-26
24and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. 
25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” [Zechariah 8:16] for we are members of one another. 26”Be angry, and do not sin” [Psalm 4:4] do not let the sun go down on your wrath,

 

Commentary by J.P. Holding: http://www.tektonics.org/af/beangry.html

 

Zechariah 8:16

16These are the things you shall do:

        Speak each man the truth to his neighbor;

        Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace;

Psalm 4
4Be angry, and do not sin.
        Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah

 

Ephesians 5:8-10

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9(for the fruit of the Spirit [NU-Text reads light] is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.


Ephesians 6:14
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,


Philippians 1:18
What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.


Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.

 

Colossians 1:4-6

4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, [NU-Text and M-Text add and growing] as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;


1 Thessalonians 1:9
For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,


1 Thessalonians 2:5
For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness--God is witness.


1 Thessalonians 2:13
For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.


2 Thessalonians 2:10
and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.


2 Thessalonians 2:13
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,


1 Timothy 2:3-5
3For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,


1 Timothy 2:7
for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle--I am speaking the truth in Christ [NU-Text omits in Christ] and not lying--a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.


1 Timothy 3:15
but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.


2 Timothy 2:25
in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,

 

2 Timothy 3:8
Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;