What is truth?

 

All images courtesy of Unsplash

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; Isa. 65. 16. When Jesus said of Himself, 'I am . . . the truth,' John 14. 6, He was making a profound claim that He was God. 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.

Are you being deceived?

Photos courtesy than Unsplash 

None of us likes to be deceived, yet we may be subject to some kind of deception almost every day. Perhaps you have been deceived in the purchase of some commodity; for example, if the car you bought was ‘clocked’. That means the milometer (the device recording the number of miles the vehicle has travelled) had been turned back to give the impression that the distance travelled was a lot smaller than the true mileage. Along with this, the price was increased because supposedly you were buying ‘a very nice low mileage car’. Sometimes a soccer player is tackled and the tackler hardly touches him but he rolls around the turf so that the referee is deceived into awarding a ‘free kick’. Many people have been deceived by politicians who promised lots but delivered little.

We remember, when we were at school, the excuses we made because we did not have our homework done. We deceived the teacher. One of the worst deceptions was when we deceived our parents by lying to them about places we had been and the company we were with. As we look back over the past our cheeks blush and we feel most uncomfortable.

Surely if there is a God and He is a God of love He wouldn't punish us?

Never, I hear you say!

You may be asking ‘I thought God was love, so wouldn’t it be out of character for Him to punish us?’

Let’s look at what God tells us about ourselves and the wrong we do. Listen to His words in Ezekiel 33:11 – ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live’. God’s aim is not to punish us for our sin, He wants us to turn from sin and live!

Listen again to the word of God. ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life’. 

Think of this, God is angry with the wicked and that includes every one of us. Adam brought sin into the world so we are all sinners and continue to disobey Him. If we ignore His directions in the Bible, we will have hurt and sadness in our lives and eventually God’s judgment. God had warned that this would be the result of disobeying Him.

So would it be out of order if God was to punish us? Maybe you can now see that it would it be out of character for God not to punish us! However, the message of the Bible is that God sent His
Son to be the Saviour of the world, that the punishment which we deserve because of our sin was laid upon God’s Son, Jesus Christ. So we have a way to be freed from punishment and forgiven of our sin.

In fact, the truth is that only those who refuse to believe on the ‘name of the Son of God’ will face the eternal judgment of God for sin. 

This message is for you, so that you will be warned about God’s Day of Judgment which is coming, and so you will ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ’ and be saved. 

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.