First, let me define “truth.” Truth is the manifestation of reality. And God is truth (meaning reality). God is the ultimate reality and therefore every word that proceeds from His mouth is reality since it originates with Him. The Psalms state that God’s Word is pure, perfect, exact, without error, is life, is eternal, is outside of time and space, it creates, and it is Holy.
God “spoke”, and it was. His voice creates. His voice created life and all that is seen and unseen. So, God is the definition of truth/reality. Once we realize this, we will study His “voice” in the scriptures. Jesus Christ is reality manifest. He is truth in the flesh. His voice created, gave life, was without error, sharper than a two-edged sword, it was pure, exact, and eternal.
The Apostles, including Paul, were given “unique” authority to carry on Jesus’ word, or message, through the Spirit of “Truth” (the Holy Spirit). When Jesus, after His resurrection, at the end of the Book of John “breathed” on the Apostles, He was giving them authority to carry on His message. This is also true of what took place at the Apostle Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus. Jesus commissioned him to carry a message. So, these “specific” individuals were commissioned by Jesus with power and “authority” to carry on the message through the revelation of truth given by the Spirit of Truth. Okay? So, we see that the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation is “reality” or Truth. Since this is so, it is of utmost importance that we know it and hold to it. If we choose to divert from the revelation of God, and especially anything revealed after the New Covenant, we are fools. The Apostles speak repeatedly in the New Testament that correct doctrine is essential. Holding to the teachings from the Apostles, which began in Acts 2:42 saying, “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” was how the Body-of-Christ moved forward. Finally, elders (meaning pastors) were set up in every church, and instruction (meaning teaching) was given regularly, answering questions and teaching on every topic. So, the Christians of the first century viewed the Apostles’ teachings as “truth” (or reality). They viewed their words as being “from God.”
Once we have this foundation in place, the foundation for discerning what is true. THEN we can move forward to define other subjects. But since many Christians have moved away from a solid foundation for judging truth, they are incapable of discerning what “is” love, kindness, acceptance, tolerance, forgiveness, justice, mercy, humility, heaven, Holy, good, pride, hate, evil, or hell. The book of Proverbs says that they have become “fools” for abandoning the “right way.” And the Bible is clear that the “right way” is always defined by God. So you see our problem in Christianity presently? Once Christians strayed from the Bible as being their foundation for truth or reality, no matter how “small” a shift to the right or left of the straight way, they began to lose discernment. Using the analogy that I began above, suppose you are traveling a narrow straight road to a specific destination, and you turn slightly to the left without stepping back to the original path, where would you eventually end up? Mathematically you would end up away from your destination, either little or far, depending on how long the journey was. And since God’s Word is “exact” and “specific” we MUST follow His “voice” or truth in order to not get off track.
We, children of God, have the Spirit of Truth abiding within us. This Spirit will always point us to the ultimate reality (being God’s “voice” of Truth). But suppose we choose to ignore the Truth of His voice through disobedience either due to culture’s influence, family influence, selfish motives, pride, opinions of others, or most dangerous of all, “hidden” unconfessed sin in our hearts. That which we refuse to bring to the light of truth will catch up to us one way or another. Maybe it is unresolved anger, bitterness, or unforgiveness. Maybe it is ego and pride that rears its ugly head, but we quickly cover it up. There are many Christians who do not like, or agree with, certain verses in the New Testament. They refuse to acknowledge them, thinking they can ignore them. This only leads to one place, “self-deception.” And because of this, many Christians who “think” they are hearing the Holy Spirit on a daily basis, are really hearing their own emotions mixed with some truth. I am very passionate about the truth, and due to this fact, I examine the world through this lens. I examine Christians, including myself, through this lens. And many times I have been misunderstood because of this fact. I was so passionate about the truth that I wrote about it again! I have many blog posts about “truth.” Maybe you’ll read those too:)
Lastly, I want other Christians to acknowledge just HOW important this subject is today. Yet, I honestly struggle to find those who want the truth to such a degree that they are actually able or willing to step back and examine the things they themselves believe, their own biases, or what they were taught by someone they looked up to. I can honestly say it is freeing and yet scary to come to that place. It can become a “crisis” of sorts and cause deep pain to challenge ideas or beliefs we have long held! I personally know this! But I pray someday I will find more and more Christians who are “humble” enough (and truly, it takes great humility) to recognize their own beliefs as possibly “not true” or only “half true” according to scripture, and to come to the place of wanting nothing but “the truth.” I challenge you, my brother and sister, to question whether you want the “whole” TRUTH at “any” cost.
Aletheia: Truth in the Darkness 