TRUTH, OR TRUTHFULNESS ｜ 真实（诚实）

ENTRUTH, OR TRUTHFULNESS. Gr., aletheia. The word is used in two senses: objectively and predominantly, as signifying the true word of God—that is, the revelation of God to men; and subjectively, as truthfulness applied to the character, the speech and the acting of men. Here we refer to the latter. The Scripture reference is threefold. 1. Truth on the lips: Prov. 12:17, 19. He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness . . . The lip of truth shall be established for ever. Mal. 2:6. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips. Eph. 4:25. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor. 2. Truth in the heart: Ps. 51:6. Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts. Ps. 15:2. He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. John 4:23. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Eph. 5:9. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. 2 Cor. 1:12. That in simplicity and godly sincerity . . . we have had our conversation in the world. 3. Truth in the life: 1 Kings 3:6. According as he walked before Thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with Thee. 2 Kings 20:3. Remember now, O Lord, I beseech Thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a perfect heart. John 3:21. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light. Phil. 1:10. That ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. 1 John 3:18. My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

BSBPsalm 51:6 Surely You desire truth in the inmost being; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

中真实（诚实）。希腊文 aletheia。这个词有两种用法：客观的、也是主要的用法，指神真实的道——也就是神向人所作的启示；主观的用法，则指人在品格、言语与行事上的『诚实』。此处所论的是后者。圣经在这方面的提及分三个层面。一、口中的真：箴言 12:17, 19 —— 说出真话的，显明公义……口吐真言，永远坚立。玛拉基书 2:6 —— 真实的律法在他口中，他嘴里没有不义的话。以弗所书 4:25 —— 所以你们要弃绝谎言，各人与邻舍说实话。二、心中的真：诗篇 51:6 —— 你所喜爱的是内里诚实。15:2 —— 就是行为正直、做事公义、心里说实话的人。约翰福音 4:23 —— 时候将到，如今就是了，那真正拜父的，要用心灵和诚实拜他。以弗所书 5:9 —— 光明所结的果子，就是一切良善、公义、诚实。哥林多后书 1:12 —— 我们凭着神的圣洁和诚实，在世为人。三、生活中的真：列王纪上 3:6 —— 因他用诚实、公义、正直的心行在你面前。列王纪下 20:3 —— 耶和华啊，求你记念我在你面前怎样存完全的心，按诚实行事。约翰福音 3:21 —— 但行真理的必来就光。腓立比书 1:10 —— 作诚实无过的人，直到基督的日子。约翰一书 3:18 —— 小子们哪，我们相爱，不要只在言语和舌头上，总要在行为和诚实上。

ENCounsels and instructions: Josh. 24:14. Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth. 1 Kings 2:4. If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul. Zech. 8:16, 19. Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor . . . therefore love the truth and peace. Prov. 3:3. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart. Eph. 6:13, 14. Take unto you the whole armor of God . . . Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth. It was the soldier's girdle or belt that held in place the rest of his armor, and so braced him for the conflict; so truth in the heart and life—truthfulness fibered into the character—girds the whole spiritual nature for its encounter with temptation and evil. Truthfulness ingrained in the nature binds together, holds firmly in place, and nerves for toil and struggle, all the other gifts and graces of the Spirit with which the believer is divinely panoplied. [As truthfulness is at the foundation of all safe and beneficial intercourse among men, the law of social conservation requires of the agent strict adherence to truth in his treatment of the character and reputation of men, and in conversation and business with them. Duty toward self requires that a man be true—even if there were no human being besides himself. The integrity of his being requires that in his development he should be true to his nature; in his acts, true to his law; in his words, true to his character and being; in his whole life, true to his mission—in short, that he be in every way true. D. S. Gregory.]

BSBEphesians 6:14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed,

中劝勉与教导：约书亚记 24:14 —— 现在你们要敬畏耶和华，诚心实意地事奉他。列王纪上 2:4 —— 你的子孙若谨慎自己的行为，尽心尽意诚诚实实地行在我面前。撒迦利亚书 8:16, 19 —— 你们各人与邻舍说话诚实……所以你们要喜爱诚实与和平。箴言 3:3 —— 不可使慈爱、诚实离开你，要系在你颈项上，刻在你心版上。以弗所书 6:13-14 —— 所以要拿起神所赐的全副军装……所以要站稳了，用真理当作带子束腰。当年正是军人的腰带把其余的甲胄固定在位，使他整装备战；照样，心中与生活中的真实——即织进品格里的诚实——也束住整个属灵的本性，使之能迎战试探与邪恶。诚实一旦长进人的本性之中，就把信徒身上一切属灵的恩赐与美德捆在一起、稳稳固定住，并使它们在劳苦争战中挺得住——这些恩赐美德正是神为信徒披挂上的全副装备。〔既然诚实是人际之间一切安全而有益之交往的根基，那么维系社会的法则就要求行事者严守真实：在对待别人的品格与名声上，在与人交谈与做生意上，都要如此。而对自己所当尽的本分，则要求一个人作真实的人——即便世上除他以外再无别人，也当如此。他这一存在的完整性要求：在发展上，他要忠于自己的本性；在行为上，忠于自己的法则；在言语上，忠于自己的品格与存在；在整个一生中，忠于自己的使命——一言以蔽之，要在每一方面都是真的。格雷戈里（D. S. Gregory）〕

EN[The habit of strict veracity cannot be over-estimated in importance, if we really desire to enjoy the fullness of Christian experience. We do not now refer to willful and secret prevarications, much less to open falsehood: such sins are conceded to be despicable, and are positively destructive of all manly character. We refer rather to that secret withholding of the truth by which one party may mislead another in matters trivial in importance. Genuine honesty in our intercourse should not arise merely from motives of policy, but from a lively sense of what eternal rectitude is in itself, and from just views of what that rectitude requires of all responsible intelligences. Whoever is willing to speak or act so that his fellow-man shall receive a false impression concerning a fact is guilty of falsehood, according to God's perfect standard. "Moral truth consists in our intention to convey to another, to the best of our ability, the conception of a fact exactly as it exists in our own minds." When such an intention dominates our whole being, then will our habits in speaking and acting result not only in present happiness, but in right character-building also. At no point is the Christian called to be more watchful than just here; because conscience is easily paralyzed by forgetting that God, from the necessity of His nature, "requires truth in the inward parts." In the busy marts of trade the temptation to depart from strictest veracity is seldom absent; in social life the excessive touches of urbanity are sometimes only the attempted concealment of subtle falsehood; and a willingness to shine in borrowed vesture is of the same ignoble character. All these efforts partake more or less of moral weakness, and form serious obstructions to the work of the Holy Spirit in the soul.]

BSBProverbs 12:19 Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

中〔我们若真心渴望享有基督徒经历的丰盛，那么『严守实话』这一习惯的重要性怎样估计都不为过。此处所说的，不是指有意而隐蔽的支吾其词，更不是指公然的谎言：这类罪人所公认是可鄙的，也断然会摧毁人一切堂堂正正的品格。我们所指的，毋宁是那种暗中把真相扣住不说、从而在一些无关紧要的事上使对方受误导的做法。我们在与人交往中真正的诚实，不应仅仅出于权宜的算计，而应出于对『永恒之正直本身为何物』的鲜活体认，以及对『那正直向一切有责任之理性者所要求的是什么』的正确认识。凡甘愿以某种说法或做法，使自己的同胞对一件事实得着错误印象的人，按神完全的标准，都犯了说谎的罪。『道德上的真实，在于我们存心尽自己所能，把一件事实在我们自己心中的实际样子，如实传达给别人。』当这样一种存心主宰我们整个人时，我们言行的习惯就不但会带来当下的快乐，也会造就正直的品格。基督徒在任何一点上都不比在这一点上更被要求警醒；因为人一旦忘记神『按其本性的必然』是『喜爱内里诚实』的，良心就很容易麻痹。在忙碌的商贸市集里，偏离最严格之实话的诱惑几乎无时不在；在社交生活中，那些过分的客套有时不过是企图掩盖某种微妙的虚假；而乐意穿着借来的衣裳出风头，也属同样卑下的性质。这一切举动或多或少都带着道德上的软弱，并对圣灵在人灵魂里的工作构成严重的阻碍。〕