The concept of truth has clearly
fallen on hard times.
Pilate posed one of the most profound
and eternally significant questions in the Bible. He asked Jesus in His final
hour, “What is truth?” It was a cynical response to what Jesus had just
revealed: “I have come into the world, to testify to the truth.” Two thousand years later, the whole world breathes Pilate’s
cynicism, with good cause.
So, what is truth?
Here’s a simple definition drawn from
what the Bible teaches: Truth is that which is consistent with the mind,
will, character, glory, and being of God. Even more to the point: Truth
is the self-expression of God. That is the biblical meaning of truth.
The Old Testament refers to the Almighty
as the “God of truth” (Deut. 32:4; Ps. 31:5; Is. 65:16). When Jesus said of
Himself, “I am...the truth” (John 14:6), He was making a profound claim
about His own deity. He was also making it clear that all truth must
ultimately be defined in terms of God and His eternal glory. After all, Jesus
is “the brightness of [God’s] glory and the express image of His person” (Heb.
1:3). He is truth incarnate—the perfect expression of God and therefore
the absolute embodiment of all that is true.
Jesus also said that the written Word
of God is truth. It does not merely contain nuggets of truth; it is pure
and unchangeable truth that (according to Jesus) “cannot be broken” (John
10:35).
Of course, there cannot be any
difference between the written Word of God (the Bible) and the incarnate
Word of God (Jesus). In the first place, truth by definition cannot
contradict itself. Second, the Bible is called “the word of Christ” (Col.
3:16). It is His message, His self-expression. In other words,
the truth of Christ and the truth of the Bible are of the very same character.
They are in perfect agreement in every respect. Both are equally true. God has
revealed Himself to humanity through The Bible and through His Son. Both
perfectly embody the essence of what truth is.
The Bible also says God reveals basic
truth about Himself in nature. The heavens declare His glory (Ps. 19:1). His
other invisible attributes (such as His wisdom, power, and beauty) are on
constant display in what He has created (Rom. 1:20). Knowledge of Him is inborn
in the human heart (Rom. 1:19), and a sense of the moral character and
loftiness of His law is implicit in every human conscience (Rom. 2:15).
Those things are universally
self-evident truths. According to Romans 1:20, denial of the spiritual truths
we know innately always involves a deliberate and culpable unbelief. And for
those who wonder whether basic truths about God and His moral standards really
are stamped on the human heart, ample proof can be found in the long history of
human law and religion. To suppress this truth is to dishonour God, displace
His glory, and incur His wrath (vv. 19-20).
Still, the only infallible
interpreter of what we see in nature or know innately in our own consciences is
the explicit revelation of The Bible. Since the Bible is also the one place
where we are given the way of salvation, entrance into the kingdom of God, and
an infallible account of Christ, the Bible is the touchstone to which all truth
claims should be brought and by which all other truth must finally be measured.
Truth also means nothing apart from
God. Truth cannot be adequately explained, recognized, understood, or defined
without God as the source. Since He alone is eternal and self-existent and He
alone is the Creator of all else, He is the fountain of all truth.
There are serious moral implications
whenever someone tries to dissociate truth from the knowledge of God. Abandon a
biblical definition of truth, and unrighteousness is the inescapable result. We
see it happening before our eyes in every corner of contemporary society. What
we see today is a fulfillment of what Romans chapter 1 says always happens when
a society denies and suppresses the essential connection between God and truth.
Truth is not subjective, it is not a
consensual cultural construct, and it is not an invalid, outdated, irrelevant
concept. Truth is the self-expression of God. Truth is thus theological; it is
the reality God has created and defined, and over which He rules. Truth is
therefore a moral issue for every human being.
How each person responds to the truth
God has revealed is an issue of eternal significance. To reject and rebel
against Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God, results in darkness, folly, sin,
judgment, and the never-ending wrath of God. To accept and submit to Jesus
Christ is experience the forgiveness and blessing of God, to know with
certainty, and to find life everlasting.
Written by a Guest Blogger for Seek the Truth Bible Media Podcasts
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