What Is Truth?

Have you ever been in a discussion with someone that has said, "Well that’s your truth but not mine?” Having heard this several times, I have come to the conclusion that truth is a relative concept and does not have a place in "polite society." At least this is the way, I believe today’s world has come to understand what truth is, just a thing that people put their faith in. Truth does not necessarily have a basis in reality, it only comes from our own personal experience and bias. Making this argument is the easiest way to overcome reality. In other words, if I don’t like what you have to say but cannot back up my own opinion with anything but feelings, then I will just say that we can both have our own truths so that way I am never wrong. That is what tearing down truth is all about, having things our own way. If I can have my own truth when it comes to religion, then I never have to worry about overcoming temptation, repentance, or even hell—I can just will them away. The best way to defeat false doctrines is to shed some light on them, and the best way to do that is to go to the Bible.

In John 18:38, Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?” The simplest answer to Pilate’s question is, truth is, “That which corresponds to reality.” In Pilate’s case, the truth was standing right in front of him, but like many today, he was blinded to the truth. Christ said in John 14:6 that “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Christ is the truth, his actions, his message, his very being is the truth. In the first chapter of John we can see that the Word was in the beginning and that, “the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Christ is the word, and he says in John 17:17 “Sanctify them by Your truth . Your word is truth.” God’s word is the truth and all that we find in the Bible, God’s word, is the truth. If God’s word is the truth, and the truth is “that which corresponds to reality,” then that would make God’s word “that which corresponds to reality.” How can this be? I thought that faith religion and all that goes with it was just something that was made up to comfort the ignorant. If God’s word is truth and corresponds to all that is real, then we can apply it to every aspect of our lives. God is the truth, Christ is the truth, and the gospel plan of salvation is the truth. They are real. Really!

Paul said, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth....for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1 Tim. 2:3, 4, 7). Two things that we can see from these passages is that to be saved we have to know the truth and also that the truth is in Christ. So if we put two and two together, then we see that we have to come to Christ for our salvation. That the gospel plan of salvation is a definite truth is undeniable; that we must follow that truth in order to obtain salvation is equally undeniable. To make sure that we can know that what the Bible says is true and not something merely made by man, we can see what it says about itself. “However, when He, the Spirit of truth , has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come” (Jn. 16:13). Here Christ tells us that after he returns to heaven, we will not be alone to figure things out for ourselves. He will send us a helper. The Spirit has been given to us to “lead us into all truth.” Through the direction of the Holy Spirit, we have the complete revelation of God, the Bible. God did not leave man to figure out what was true; He made sure that we had it right from His mouth (2 Tim. 3:16).

Now that we know that there is a definite truth and that God has given us that truth, what are we going to do about it? See, that’s the funny thing. People understand that if we know that truth, then anything done against the truth is wrong, unrighteous, a lie. This is why we have people attacking those who speak the truth, whether in religion or in the secular world, and/or trying to redefine what truth is. Paul says in Second Corinthians 13:8 that he can do nothing against the truth. If we have the truth in front of us, we can either admit it or deny it, but either way, it does not change the fact that it is the truth. Those who are not afraid of the truth are recognizable because of their actions. “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God” (Jn. 3:21). The truth is an easy thing to know when it is right in front of us, especially when we take everything else out of the way and focus on what we know to be true. “And some among the multitude cried one thing and some another. So when he could not ascertain the truth because of the tumult, he commanded him to be taken into the barracks” (Acts 21:34 ). When trying to find out the truth as to who Paul was and why he was being beaten by a mob in Jerusalem, the commander of the garrison there first eliminated all that was disruptive to ascertaining the truth and then isolated what he knew could provide it. We can see this clearly, and even practice these same principles in our everyday lives, but many times, logic and right reasoning go out the window when it comes to religion. We can see who the best candidate for office is by listening to what he or she believes and what the opposition believes. We can determine which child got into the cookie jar by the crumbs on his face, but for some reason many, many people cannot see the truth about God when it is even evident in all creation. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20).

So then, do we know the truth? If so, are we following it? If not, why? What is so terrible about the truth that some would deny it? I cannot answer that for anyone but myself, but what do I know? If we are open-minded, if we are willing to put aside our own self-will, then I can say, “You shall know the truth , and the truth shall make you free.”