Part 1 of “What is Truth?” was not sufficient to adequately cover this topic; therefore, we need to dig deeper into this very important subject matter. There will be a part 3 as well.
We ended part 1 by stating “to be kept from the evil in the world is to know the Truth.” This was based on Jesus’ statement in John 17:15, in the context of John 17:9-19. While that is true, there are clearly other aspects of truth we want to look at in this blog post and the next. Keep in mind, however, that the center and core of all truth, in any area or subject matter revolves around and stems from God’s Word.
Jesus made that very clear in John 17:17 in His high priestly prayer to the Father by defining for us what truth is.
“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth.”
That is very clear. As we pointed out in part 1 of this blog series, Jesus Himself is The Truth personified, as well as The Word of God. (John 1:1, 14)
Foundation
The basis of any sound argument or position must begin with a factual premise, followed by another factual premise until arriving at a conclusion, based on those premises.
So, when it comes to the much debated subject of TRUTH, as it pertains to God, we should obviously start with the question, does God even exist? (We touched on that very briefly in part 1.)
To those of us who most certainly believe He does, that is our basic premise. However, that does not necessarily get us to who this God is, i.e., the Christian God as declared in the Holy Bible or some other “god.”
We can and do strongly argue it is indeed very provable, that based on the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the Christian God is the real and only true God. (See the video teachings on the resurrection.)
Just to touch on the question of the existence of God briefly, we submit the following: (From the book “The Evolution of a Creationist” by Dr. Jobe Martin, with permission.)
“To accept the ‘Big Bang’ (i.e., evolution) theory, a person must assume the existence of matter and energy to be eternal. By this we discover that everyone on earth believes in something eternal by faith. It is either faith in eternal matter and energy or faith in eternal God.”
It has now been widely accepted in the scientific community that the universe had a beginning. That was not always the case. But as more and more research and advanced technology has developed, most credible scientist believe this. There is much more that can be said about this, but that is not the purpose of this blog. We will perhaps do a blog post or video on that subject at another time.
The point here is that there is very good, strong, overwhelming evidence for the existence of God. And, that God being the Christian God as declared in the Bible. That is our foundation, the premise of our position from which we base our conclusion(s).
Related: There is no creator God? Really?
Truth Confusers or Seekers?
There are many examples in the Bible that states when someone is a seeker of God and by extension, truth, that they will find Him. We shared in part 1 from Jeremiah 29:13, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
Those Words from God came through the prophet Jeremiah to the children of Israel who had been taken away captive into Babylon for their sins of idolatry and rebellion against God approximately 600 B.C.
Most scriptures usually have one interpretation but can have multiple applications. There are numerous other scriptures that informs us that in seeking we will find. (E.g., Matthew 7:7, Luke 11:10 and others). Actually, we do not have to even seek that hard because it is not as though God is hiding somewhere in oblivion. In Acts 17:27 we find this record of what the Apostle Paul stated to the Athenians when he was visiting there.
“so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;“
That is only a portion of what he fully stated in Acts 17:22-31, which we will likely cover in part 3.
The point is, in answering the question regarding what is Truth, we need to also ask if a person is sincerely (with all their heart) seeking the truth.
This may seem like an unnecessary question, but it clearly is not.
According to scripture, there are those who are not truth seekers. In fact, not only are they not truth seekers, but they also attempt to hold back and restrain the truth.
In Romans 1:18-19 we find, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.”
How has He shown it to them? If we read on in verses 20-21, we will see that He has shown it through His creation and people’s conscience.
An example from scripture of how some people are not seeking the truth in a matter can be found in the account of the Pharisees and Herodians sending a delegation to ask Jesus whether it was lawful or not to pay taxes to Caesar. (Matthew 22:15-21; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:20-26). We find there that they initially try to flatter Jesus by 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.” (Matt. 22:16)
They then ask Him, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not.” (v.17)
Jesus clearly understanding their motive was not to seek the truth, perceived their wickedness and called them “hypocrites.” (v.18)
These people were clearly not seeking the truth in this matter but were merely conniving in an attempt to trap Jesus.
We clearly see the very same thing in our world today, especially with the advent of the internet and even before that. Many attempt to come against the reality of God because of the evil we see in the world but also by questioning the veracity of His Word.
Now while there is room for legitimate questions many of us may have, some of which we will not likely have the answer to on “this side” of life, though we will one day. It seems whatever the question(s) there may be, they are not good, sound reason(s) to discount the very existence of God when we can clearly look at creation which is proof of His existence.
Everything designed, had a designer, everything made, had a maker, etc. We will likely cover more on this in part 3 of this blog series, Jesus is the Truth.
Why is it important?
We will just briefly touch on this question here but will expound on it more in part 3 of this blog series.
Why is this even important, or why does it even matter if we know what truth is or not?
You could argue that to some it does not matter at all. Those would obviously not be truth seekers. To them, it’s the Spanish phrase, que será, será – what will be, will be. They are not on a truth quest, but on a happiness quest. Don’t misunderstand what I am stating here. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be happy in life. God wants us to be happy (John 10:10), but our definition of “happiness” and God’s definition are not always aligned.
However, there are those who sincerely want to know the truth as it pertains to God, life, our existence, and purpose for being here, etc.
In John 8:32 it is recorded that Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall MAKE (emphasis mine) you free.”
We will delve further into this statement in part 3, but it is interesting to note that in the context of what we call chapter 8 (there were no chapter or verse divisions in the original writings), Jesus was having one a several confrontations He had with the Pharisees and scribes.
Note their response in verse 33 to what Jesus said, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?
What is interesting about that comment is the whole nation of Israel was in bondage to the Romans at that time. They in essence were slaves but refused to acknowledge it.
How important is it for a person to be free? Well, it appears Jesus is equating knowing the truth to being free. We will continue along this line of why knowing the truth is so important in part 3.
