Pilate famously spoke that question when he had the Son of God on trial. You know, the One who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). That is, Pilate asked, "What is truth?" of the One who claimed to be truth. The question, though, has always been at issue. It was Satan's first attack: "Did God say ...?" (Gen 3:2). It is at the heart of God's wrath toward sinful Man (Rom 1:18). And, frankly, it is the fundamental question in everything we do. What is truth? The question has been on our minds since the beginning of time. Unfortunately, in the Fall, Adam "arranged" to have us blinded (2 Cor 4:4) and left us with deceptive hearts (Jer 17:9). Sin rots the brain (Rom 1:21-23), and we're in real trouble ... on this fundamental question. So we muddle about trying to figure things out. But ... as it turns out, it's not as hard as it seems.
Consider. We're Christians. And our Lord and Savior said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). It's an interesting claim, because Jesus doesn't say, "I'm truthful." He doesn't claim to have the truth. He claims to be the truth. And, as "the truth," He prays to the Father, "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth" (John 17:17). "Sanctify them in the truth." We are set apart by God by the truth. "Your word is truth." What does that mean? Well, every word that comes from the mouth of God is truth. No question. No falsehood. No error. Truth. Now, the Bible claims that "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim 3:16-17). So when Jesus referred to "Your word," it would mean every word He spoke (including Jesus (John 1:1)) as well as every word He "breathed out." So, we actually have a supernaturally conferred document that is God's word and is, therefore, truth.
Truth can be elusive. Lots of truth claims are contradictory and we have to muddle about finding out which is false and ... which corresponds to that which is real -- truth. But our job isn't as hard as it sounds at first. We have the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth (John 16:13). We have Jesus, the embodiment of truth. We have God's word, superintended and guarded by God for our enlightenment. If we can just pay attention to these sources of certain truth, I think we can go a long way to answering Pilates sarcastic but significant question, "What is truth?"
6 comments:
I've said for a while that how we regard Truth is one of the more significant issues facing the Church in recent years. Once we moved from "The Truth", to "My/your truth", Christians were faced with having to start from a position of defending the concept of The Truth as the starting place for so many conversations.
People have argued against Christianity in the basis that we are so divided over sometime we claim to be truth. But that argument fails to understand the effect of sin on our ability to comprehend His Word. It's not the Bible's fault for our division, but ours for wanting to hold onto our pet sins.
A favorite question of mine in conversation is, "Is that true?" Because we often assume we're working with truth when we don't even know if we are.
I was glad to see this important reminder today. While the question “what is truth?” might seem like philosophical banter, I am struck by how truly practical and essential it is to know the answer to this question!
As it happens, I have two books on my bookshelves related to “what is truth?”: In The Truth War: Fighting For Certainty in an Age of Deception, John MacArthur offers this biblical definition of truth: “that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory, and being of God…. truth is the self-expression of God.” And a book titled, “True For You, But Not For Me”: Deflating the Slogans That Leave Christians Speechless, by Paul Copan, is all about relativism vs. absolutism. (Part One of this book is titled, “Absolutely Relative”--how’s that for an oxymoron?!)
Thanks for the book recommendations.
Good, simple, question that cuts to the heart of so many matters.
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