What does God say about truth?
How much does God value the truth? Zech 8:16-17, “These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truthto his neighbour; execute the judgment of truthand peace in your gates: And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord.” Apparently, God hates anything short of the truth. What more is there to say?
Apparently, there is much more to say, for today we are surrounded by lies being passed on to us as the truth. The confusion about what really is the truthis overwhelming. So, can man create a truth better than God’s? Is 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Seems pretty clear, man cannot create a truth better than the one God has already given us, Prov 14:8, “The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit.” Man is not smart enough, nor honest enough, to create a better truth, no matter how loud he screams, and any attempt to change the truthof God will end in tragedy, Prov 14:12, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” and Gal 1:8-9, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”
So, why then do we try to create our own truths? Ps 58:3, “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” We go astray because we are born selfish and never learn to reason with God, which would have freed us from the bondage of sin to the joy of salvation. Lying is just one of those bonds that lead us astray. The solution to this problem is simple, God asks us to reason with Him by studying His Word, daily, which allows us to use this new knowledge to move closer to Him and His truth; and away from sin, 2 Tim 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Rightly dividing the Word of Truth leads us to our spiritual nature and His Holy Spirit, whom the Father has sent to guide us, Jn 16:13, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” The Holy Spirit is not rewriting the truth; He is only guiding us to the truth.
God asks us to verify everything that is brought to us as truth, even when the person bringing it seems to be an expert, even when God Himself brings it to us, 1 Thes 5:21, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” It is interesting to note that God told us hundreds of years before it became a reality that today we would have a battle between what some present as science and God’s Word, 1 Tim 6:20-21, “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.” God has given us His truthto reason with, so that we might be able to discern the real truth,Acts 17:11, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” He calls us to reason, not to blind faith.
Eph 4:15, “But speaking the truthin love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:” There is no reason to become self-righteous when speaking the truthof Christ, it is not our truth, it is the truthand Jesus died to give it to us while we were still sinners, Rom 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God wants us to humbly give an answer based on the truth,1 Pet 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” and to always do it lovingly, Jam 3:17, “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercyand good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” Without hypocrisy means we live the truthof the Holy Spirit, which we so willingly share with others, Gal 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” This is important because people are watching what we do, to help them decide whether they should reason with God, or not, and too many have presented the truthwithout living it. These hypocrites have become stumbling blocks to many.
Jn 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Why does the truth rouse such hostility? Because people are afraid of what they do not understand and they have chosen to remain ignorant regarding God’s Word, 1 Cor 1:18, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
Jn 8:31-32, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Here then is the truththat will lead us to Jesus, 1 Cor 15:3-4, “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third dayaccording to the scriptures:” Once we believe He rose from the grave, the rest of the mystery of Christ comes into clear view, Rom 10:9, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
God’s feeling about the truth can be summed up in this verse, 3 Jn 1:4, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” and Peter and John tell us how to respond to those who try to change it, Acts 4:19, “ But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.” Amen!
Comments, opposing opinions and suggestions for future topics are all welcome at bill@reasoningwithgod.com.
