Truth is from God
“… If you abide in My
word, you are My disciples indeed. And
you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John
8:31-32
When Jesus uttered the above
words recorded in the gospel of John, He made a very simple, yet profound
statement. He spoke of how to know the
truth. How many men and women over the
centuries have spent years of their lives in search of truth? Philosophers of the Greek and Roman empires
as well as those in Europe and the United States over the past 400 years have
had significant impacts on the ideals and beliefs of societies and people
around the world. While it should be acknowledged
that many of these philosophers have made important contributions in particular
areas, many of their efforts have been in vain. This futility is especially apparent in their search for
truth. A prevailing philosophy in the
world today is that there is no source of ultimate truth. A common belief is that truth is relative
and dependent upon each individual’s opinions and situations. It is ironic that in their search for truth,
philosophers have in their own wisdom confused themselves into concluding that
there is no real standard of truth.
The words of Paul in I
Corinthians 3:19-20 may be appropriately applied here. “For the wisdom of this world is
foolishness with God. … The LORD knows
the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” It may very well be true that men cannot truly establish
standards of truth for other men.
However, the search for truth is so much easier when man looks to God
for the answers. There is a standard of
ultimate truth established by the living God.
Those who ignore it, do so to their own peril. Unfortunately, many in our country and around the world have
ceased to look to the Bible as establishing the basis of truth. The appeal of this article is to remind each
of us to remain rooted in the real truth revealed by the Lord in His word in
determining our convictions and actions.
God has much to say in the
Bible about truth. In the Old
Testament, we find the LORD proclaimed to Moses as ‘merciful, gracious,
longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth’ (Exodus 34:6). The LORD lives in truth, judgment, and
righteousness (Jeremiah 4:2). “…His
truth endures to all generations”
(Psalm 100:5). “Buy the truth and do
not sell it…” (Proverbs 23:23). One
way to characterize ‘buying the truth and not selling it,’ may be in the
following four features: learn truth, love truth, live in truth, and teach
truth. Let’s briefly examine truth in
these four ways.
Learn truth. The first thing we must do is learn the
truth. The Holy Spirit was sent to
guide the apostles into all truth (John 16:13). We learn these same spiritual truths through the Bible. God’s desire is for ‘all men to be saved and
come to the knowledge of the truth’ (I Timothy 2:4). When we are instructed to put on the whole armor of God, the
first piece of that spiritual armor mentioned is truth, which we are to put
upon our waist (Ephesians 6:14). Jesus,
the one whom we follow as His disciples, is ‘the way, the truth, and the life’
(John 14:6). We also study and are
diligent to learn the truth of God, so that we may accurately understand and
apply it (II Timothy 2:15).
Love truth. Since truth is of God and we love God, it is
important for us to love God’s truth.
II Thessalonians 2:10 approaches this from the negative view when it
speaks of those who perished because they did not love the truth. The more I learn of the truth, the more I
love the truth. I Corinthians 13:6
connects love and truth by conveying the principle that love rejoices in the
truth.
“Your word is very pure;
therefore, Your servant loves it”
(Psalm 119:140).
Live in truth. After
learning and loving truth, we also commit to living in truth. To live in truth includes to worship in
truth and obey truth. “God is
Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John
4:24). We must first know truth to
worship in truth. Similarly, we must
first love truth to worship in spirit.
With the love of God and truth in our heart and the knowledge of God and
truth in our mind, we may then worship God in spirit and truth. Equally important is to obey truth. In obeying the truth through the Spirit, our
souls are purified (I Peter 1:22).
Obeying the truth begins when ‘our bodies are washed with pure water’
(Hebrews 10:22) and continues as we are raised to walk in newness of life
(Romans 6:4).
Teach truth. Learning,
loving, and living in truth allow us to be more fully equipped to teach
truth. May we follow the instruction of
Paul to ‘speak the truth in love’ (Ephesians 4:15). As Christians, we are members of the church of the living God,
which is the pillar and ground of the truth (I Timothy 3:15). Whether young or old, we are among the
current and living generations of the Lord’s church today. We have a responsibility to continue to
teach the truth to the church (other Christians) as well as teaching God’s word
to the world.
We see then that mankind has
always had a thirst for truth. Some men
search for truth through science or philosophy, while others seek truth from
God. In cases where science or
philosophy agree with God, contributions should be acknowledged and credit
given. However, many scientists and
philosophers are in over their heads when trying to tackle issues which have
moral or spiritual implications. May we
leave all of these issues to God alone and use Him as our source of all
spiritual truth. May we learn, love,
live in, and teach the truth which is from God.
The Gospel Message
July 2006
by Kevin Ferguson