“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” - John 18:37
What is truth? Do your eyes glaze
over in disinterest when you read that? What is the truth? Have you been duped
into thinking no one can really know the truth about anything? Have you bought
into the worlds’ propaganda that truth is relative; what’s true for one person
is not necessarily true for another? Try applying that to everyday living and
you won’t get past the first traffic intersection. But what about truth, is
“truth” something we should be interested in knowing? Is it something we can
know?
The passion of the cross and
resurrection of Jesus is the culmination of a plan of God that existed from the
foundation of the world (cf. Matthew 25:34; Hebrews 4:3; Revelation 13:8;
17:8). In John 18 Jesus is taken into custody, brought before the high priest,
and then brought before Pilate. When Jesus is brought before Pilate He makes a
statement about the cause or reason He came into the world. At this critical
moment what did Jesus say was the cause for which He came? Jesus came as a
physician to treat the spiritually sick and dying (Matthew 9:12; Mark 2:17:
Luke 5:31). Jesus came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). Jesus came to
give His life a ransom for our sin (Mark 10:45). Jesus came to show and provide us with
abundant life (John 10:10). But when it came down to this pivotal point in the
inspired revelation of God what was it God in Christ through the Holy Spirit
expressed as the cause for which Christ came?
Teaching, healing, saving, and
serving are all things Jesus did because of who He was and is. Jesus is God
incarnate. At the heart and root of what Jesus came to do is what Jesus came to be.
Being precedes doing. There is a
principle revealed in this: What you are
determines what you will do. When Jesus stood before Pilate He was asked
about who He was; whether or not He was a King. Jesus acknowledged He was a
King, but not of any earthly kingdom (at least not yet – cf. the Second Coming
and Millennium – Rev. 20). Jesus went on to add to His answer something that is
very revealing. Jesus told Pilate, “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” (John
18:37). The cause of Christ, the reason Jesus came, was to “bear witness to the truth.” What does that mean? Evidently
“truth” is (according to Jesus)
something we should know and care about.
Pilate asked, “What is truth?”
(John 18:38). He seems to have been much like the skeptics of history and our
day. He didn’t have much time for the truth; he had a riot to squelch and
people to appease. Maybe you’re asking the same question? “Who cares about the
truth? I have a life to live, problems that need solving.” Maybe you feel a bit
like Colonel Nathan R. Jessup in the movie A
Few Good Men .Maybe you feel like saying, “You want the truth? You can’t
handle the truth!” Maybe you feel like you can’t handle or get a handle on the
truth. Maybe you’ve been avoiding the truth; excusing or rationalizing it away.
Ignorance is bliss. And really, is the truth of any practical use? Let’s look
at the truth about truth.
Before we go any further we need
to say something about testing or how we gather evidence to determine the
truth. There is truth determined by scientific analysis and there is truth
based on the testimony of witnesses in history. Scientific truth can be
determined by reproducing circumstances and combinations of data in a
laboratory. Truth in a lab is something that can be quantified mathematically:
1 + 1 = 2. Scientifically we can repeat the sequences of events such as in
repeating the splitting of an atom to cause a repeatable chain reaction. Atomic
bombs and the like are true to their formulas.
When we speak of truth based in
history we are speaking of events in history that can’t be reproduced. You
can’t repeat the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., or
Robert F. Kennedy. You can’t repeat the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War
I, World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War. How therefore do we
determine the truth about such historical events? The truth about these
historic events is based on eye witness accounts. The truth about historic
events is based on weighing the evidence of eyewitnesses and determining
probability. In a court of law jurors are asked to weigh the evidence in the
case and make a determination based on “reasonable doubt” or probability.
Historic truth may sound like a
lower or lesser degree of dependability but it really isn’t. It’s just a
different way of measuring the truth. For instance, what if you found a notarized
letter from your dear old departed aunt Bessie that said, “Dear Aloysius T. Xavier,
I leave you the entire contents of my _ank account serial number 777056 in the
Bank of New York safety _eposit box” and was signed in her own handwriting? Now
mathematically there is a possibility that the blank letters smudged out of her
document for the words “_ank” and “_eposit” don’t really mean “bank” and
“deposit.” But there is a very high probability that those actually are the
words; beyond a reasonable doubt. Plus you have the testimony of a notary
witness. When we weigh the rest of the verifying evidence such as if Bessie had
such a bank account, how many other Aloysius T. Xaviers there are, the notaries
testimony, etc., we can increase the probability all the more. In the end we
can through weighing evidence come to a very reliable high probability for the
truth as it relates to historic circumstances. We can take it to the bank.
Where is “truth” found? The Bible contains scientifically relevant
truth about the creation of the universe, the sphere of the earth, astronomy,
and natural cataclysmic events etc. But the Bible is not a science book. God’s
truth touches on many different physical topics: healing; marriage; family;
society; government; etc. But the Bible is primarily aimed at revealing metaphysical
truth about God, humanity and our existence. God’s word gives concrete truth
about those things we ponder as human beings, e.g. What is life all about? What
happens after we die? Is there a “God”? Is God personal or impersonal? etc. The
truth about our existence is found in God’s word (Psalm 119:142-160; John
17:17, 19). Jesus said, “Thy word is truth.”
What we as humans need to know is
revealed by God’s sovereign determination in His Holy word: “The secret things
belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us
and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law”
(Deuteronomy 29:29). God has not only provided a tangible word for us to absorb
and live by, He has come in the Person of the Holy Spirit to help us learn His
truth (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13). The Holy Spirit will indwell the person who
through faith accepts Jesus as their Savior (John 3; Romans 8:9-11). God has
provided easy access to His truth. There is no excuse to not know His truth.
You have to reject and rebel against God and His truth to not know His truth.
Despite perpetual attempts to
denigrate and destroy the Bible, God’s word has stood the test of time and
attacks of critics. God’s word contains the most important truth; truth about
our existence and eternal destiny. The Bible provides truth about existence,
reality, humanity, the material as well as the spiritual world. When we weigh
the internal and external evidence; the manuscript, archeological, prophetic
and statistical analysis of Biblical contents we arrive at an incredible, even
miraculous probability that God’s word is true and the truth about our existence.
God’s word is reliable, trustworthy, and true. When you read your Bible you are
reading a love letter and manual for life from God.
The word “truth” occurs 962 times in 904 verses of the Bible. It’s an
important word of God. In the New Testament the word “truth” (Greek aletheia) means that which is in accordance with fact, that which is dependable, or
that which is disclosed and not hidden. Someone has said, “What you see is
what you get.” Or, “It is what it is.” These are common expressions that
something is true (even though we may not like it.) But we know from life that
what you see is not always what you get.
The “truth” about what something or someone actually is, is often quite
different from what is presented. That is because in reality truth is often
hidden or misrepresented.
God’s truth about eternal life is
bound up in the Gospel (Galatians 2:5, 14). The Gospel tells us the truth about
humanities sinful state and its need for a Savior. Jesus described himself as
“the truth” (John 14:6). He described the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of truth”
(John 14:17). Jesus is the culminating truth about how we can receive spiritual
life and spend eternity with God. The Spirit of truth reveals such truth to us.
Jesus taught that His truth frees
us (John 8:31-32). He taught that the truth is found in God’s word and
sanctifies us or makes us suited for God’s use (John 17:17-19). Since,
according to God’s truth, we exist for God’s pleasure (Ephesians 1:5; Revelation
4:11 KJV), when we live by the truth of God’s word we discover and experience our
true meaning and purpose of our existence. That’s fulfilling and satisfying. That’s
good. Peter would later write that the truth purifies us (1 Peter 1:22). Paul
would later write that the truth establishes us or puts us on steady stable
ground (Ephesians 4:15).
It’s important that we respond to God’s truth in the right way.
It’s wrong to try and alter God’s truth and make it into a lie (Romans 1:25).
Instead we need to come to the truth of God and accept it (2 Timothy 3:7).
Sinfulness is disobedience to the truth of God (Romans 2:8). It’s sinful to
walk contrary to God’s truth (Galatians 2:14). We ought to believe and love
God’s truth; when we don’t it is sin (2 Thessalonians 2:10, 12). To live
without God’s truth makes us destitute (1 Timothy 6:5). Some resist God’s truth
to their own harm (2 Timothy 3:8). Some turn from the truth trusting in their
own ideas (2 Timothy 4:4). When that happens people die spiritually.
How should we respond to God’s truth? Jesus said we should worship
God in truth (John 4:23-24). When we look further into the New Testament we see
we are called to come to the truth of God (1 Timothy 2:4) and believe and know
it (1 Timothy 4:3). We need to handle it accurately (2 Timothy 2:15). We need
to obey God’s truth (1 Peter 1:22) and base our lives on it (2 Peter 1:12). We
should take it to heart and speak it to others (Ephesians 4:25). We should
declare God’s truth openly (Acts 26:25). We should walk in and live by the
truth of God (3 John 3-4).
Something that is not true is false. Deception is presenting
something as truthful when it is really something else. Lies are speaking
falsehoods. No one likes to be fooled by false truth. Relationships are based
on truth. When someone lies to us it betrays our trust in them and it causes
emotional and relational fracturing.
Relativism is not true. We
are living in a time when the prevalent world view is relativism. Relativism is “the doctrine that
knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or
historical context, and are not absolute.”[1]
Relativism is not true because it does not hold up to testing. “If what is true
for me is that relativism is false, then is it true that relativism is false?
If you say ‘no,’ then what is true for me is not true and relativism is false.
But if you say ‘yes,’ then relativism is false. Relativism seems to defy the
very nature of truth; namely, that truth is not self-contradictory.” [2]
Got it? Confused? Confusion is the consequence of relativism.
Relativism leads to instability and
uncertainty because “truth” is constantly changing with the whims of humanity.
Relativism is akin to the way people lived during the time of the Judges; the
low point of God’s people in history. During the time of the Judges it was
said, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 21:25). The
time of the Judges was a very unstable and chaotic time. That is exactly what
we see in the world today. The truth be told, relativism is simply a means to
ignore truth and do what you want when what you want to do goes against the
truth.
Society would fall apart
without absolute truths. Truth is absolute.
Truth, if it means anything, is absolute. If truth changes from day to day or
societies whims then it breeds instability and chaos. We need to be able to
depend on the truth. For instance, if a red light didn’t always mean “stop” and
a green light didn’t always mean “go,” then we literally wouldn’t know if we
were coming or going. If “right” and “left” meant different things to different
people we’d literally be running into each other. Truth can be pretty
practical.
If there were not
standards of being truthful nothing could be trusted. Without standards of
being truthful when promoting products people would be unfairly taken advantage
of (some say this does happen too often already). Ever heard the expression,
“If something seems too good to be true it probably is?” Sales people
frequently sell you things based on false presentations. Advertisements usually
focus on the best quality of a product while distracting you from the truth
about it. “’It is good for nothing,’ cries the buyer; but when he has gone his
way, then he boasts” (Proverbs 20:14). As our society has
adopted a more relativistic worldview we see such a view expressed in everyday
life through lax standards of truth and lax enforcement of what standards of
truth are left. It’s getting harder and harder to depend on what you see and hear.
That’s unsettling.
A legal system is based on people telling truth. It’s a crime to
lie under oath in a courtroom. A witness who lies under oath is guilty of
perjury. The truthfulness of witnesses is important so that the guilty are
punished and the innocent are not. Truth is necessary for justice to occur.
To break the law is a kind of breaking truth. People use lies and
deception to break the law. When the law is broken it leads to unrest. Laws
based on lies are detrimental to the peace of the people they govern. That is
why in the resolution of conflicts in court those who testify are required to
swear an oath to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”
(and they used to add, “so help me God”). As more people operate under relativism
more people are presenting “truth” in manipulative ways to promote their
personal agendas. That is a dead end street as far as the truth is concerned.
It’s important that media
communications be based on truth. The media is (or should be) taken to task
when it does not report events in a truthful way. Media reporting that is not
truthful degenerates into propaganda and can’t be trusted. Media today,
regardless of network, is becoming more a presentation of opinion than
objective sharing of news. That’s dangerous and deceptive.
A political system requires truth to last. God has offered to provide
order for government. Governments relying on human resources alone degenerate.
Government based on God’s truth lasts and flourishes. America used to be a
nation flourishing because of its connection to God and His word. As we have
moved further away from our holy roots, our nation has degenerated into
something much less than she could have been (cf. Romans 13).
When leaders lie to their
constituency they are removed because trust in leadership is very important. Populous
needs to know the truth about where resources are being used and how they are
being used. We need to know who is contributing to our politicians and whether
or not such contributions are payoffs to influence politicians in some way.
People feel betrayed by
politicians who promise the world during their campaigns for election only to
deliver little to nothing once elected. The confidence in government is
undermined when politicians manipulate, ignore, and bend the truth for their
own purposes. In extreme cases the failure of the government to adhere to truth
leads to revolution.
Betrayal is breaking truth in a relationship. History is filled
with those who betray people and nations by betraying the truth. In a time of
war truth is essential. Those who lie to their compatriots are usually
determined to be traitors. Judas betrayed Jesus trust and truth and was entered
by the devil. Benedict Arnold betrayed the truth and the trust General George
Washington placed in him. Arnold almost stifled the American Revolution. During
World War Two Tokyo Rose used lies and deceit to try and demoralize American
soldiers. The Cambridge Five were spies for the Russians during the Cold War. Falsehood
is a weapon in warfare.
Lies are used to deceive and manipulate people. “The lie” (2
Thessalonians 2:11), the first lie, was used by the serpent to deceive Eve and
Adam into disobeying God. The consequence of that first lie was devastating; it
led to the contamination of the entire human race with sin (Genesis 3). The
serpent Satan used untrue false statements in order to bring Adam and Eve and
humanity under his control. When untruth and lies are used to deceive and bring
persons under the liar’s control in some way, Satan, the father of lies, and
his demons are in some way involved.
We can deceive ourselves. Jeremiah was inspired to write, “The
heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I
the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according
to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:9-10). The
apostle John wrote, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Do you know the truth about yourself? Are
you self-deceived?
To deny God’s truth is to call Him a liar. When we say and accept
things as true that are really contrary to God’s word we in effect accuse God
of being a liar - “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and
His word is not in us” (1 John 1:10). “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” (1 John 5:10b). Are you calling God
a liar by contradicting or denying His word of truth in some way?
People use lies to deceive and get an advantage over others. People
use untruths or false impressions in order to use people for their own
devices. In the Old Testament Delilah
lured Samson to his demise using love in a deceptive way (Judges 13-16). Amnon,
son of King David, lured his half sister Tamar into a compromising position and
then raped her all by way of deception (2 Samuel 13). Judas betrayed Jesus with
lies. Falsehoods destroy relationships. Relationships are built on truth.
Hypocrites present themselves as something that in truth, they are not.
Our sinful nature is inclined to hide the truth about who we are. Ananias and Sapphira
presented themselves as benevolent givers when in fact they were using their
giving to manipulate the church. The Holy Spirit would have none of that and
disciplined these two hypocrites with the cost of their lives. The Spirit sent
a message to the fledgling church from the start; hypocrisy is not acceptable;
live in truth (Acts 5). We all want to put our best foot forward but we cross
the line when we say we are something that, if truth be told, we really are
not. The truth is important. Falsehood breaks trust and makes building
relationships impossible. Truth brings us together. Falsehoods separate us.
A heresy is a half-truth. Cults deal in partial truths. They lure
their victims in with partial truth and then hold them in a web of falsehoods. Many
people are deceived and devote their entire lives and all they own to cults
based on half-truths and outright falsehoods. The truth is important. Truth
directs us to the way to eternal life. Jesus is the way, the truth and the
life. No one comes to the Father except by Jesus. The truth you need to know is
bound up in God’s Holy Word. If you want to be safe from spiritual deception,
you need to know the truth of God’s word.
Satan is the father of falsehoods, untruth and lies (John 8:44).
Whenever we lie or are deceived we can be sure that Satan and his demons are in
some way involved. Our mandate as believers is to “speak the truth in love”
(Ephesians 4:15). “The entirety of Your word is truth” (Psalm 119:160). Jesus
said, “Your word [God’s word] is truth” (John 17:17). We need to be people of God’s
word who stick close to and live within the truth-full parameters of His word. Truth
without love is harsh. Love without truth is weak sentimentality. Truth shared
in love is powerful.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
Jesus was and is the embodiment of truth. Everything about Jesus is truthful;
full of truth. Jesus reveals truth and wherever He is the truth, or lack
thereof, is exposed. The Gospel of John is a revelation about the truth of
Jesus: He is God; He is the solution to humanities sin problem; He is the way
to live, the truth about God, and the Source of eternal life, abundant life. If
you want to know the truth about anything you have to look to Jesus.
In John’s gospel we see Jesus
reveal many truths. Some of these truths are:
- Jesus is the Word made flesh; God – John 1:1-2 and 14
- Jesus is the Creator of the universe – John 1:3
- Jesus is the source of life – John 1:4
- Jesus came to His own but His own rejected Him – John 1:10-12
- Those who received Jesus by faith are children of God - John 1:12
- Jesus came to take away the sins of the world – John 1:29
- Jesus said a person must be spiritually born (“born again”) in order to experience eternal life and spend eternity with Him in heaven – John 3
- Jesus gives us the water of everlasting life – John 4:13-14
- Jesus said we must worship God in spirit and truth – John 4:23-24
- Jesus has power to heal – John 4:46-54; 5:1-15; etc.
- Faith in Jesus results in everlasting life not judgment – John 5:24
- Everyone will be resurrected, some to eternal life, others to eternal damnation – John 5:29
- Jesus can defy nature; walk on water – John 6:15-21
- Jesus can provide for our needs, e.g. feeding thousands of people with morsels of food – John 6
- Jesus’ teachings are rejected by some – John 6:60
- Jesus will give the Holy Spirit to those who come to Him – John 7:37-39
- Jesus has the truth that can free us from our sins – John 8:31-36
- Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life to save the sheep – John 10
- Jesus came to give us an abundant life – John 10:10
- Jesus can raise the dead to life – John 11
- Jesus is worthy of worship – John 12
- Jesus was a servant – John 13
- Jesus gave us an example of love to follow – John 13:34-35
- Jesus would send the Helper; the Holy Spirit to help us live for Him – John 14-16
- Jesus prayed and we should too – John 17
- Jesus came to testify to the truth – John 18
That is only a short summary of
the truth Jesus conveyed in John’s gospel. These are life changing destiny
altering truths. Are you living by such
God revealed truth?
The abundant life of Jesus is
true; you can depend on it. The abundant life Jesus spoke of is one based on
truth, births truth and breeds more truths about life and our existence. The
more you live the truthful abundant life of Jesus, the more truth you learn and
experience. That an abundant life is described and offered to those who believe
and follow Jesus is an abundant truth. The abundant life is based on truth,
filled with truth, and leads to more truth. The abundant life of God’s truth is
the life God intended for His creation from the beginning. Tell the truth, are
you living the abundant life of Christ? Has Christ’s cause impacted you? Are
you true to Him and His word? Really, truly, where are you in relation to God’s
truth?
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