What is truth
What is truth? This is the question that Pontius Pilate asked Jesus as he walked away not waiting for an answer. As I write this my heart and mind are troubled as many churches and Christian institutions begin to question the truth of the Bible. There seems to be a view point that is gaining acceptance with the idea that the historical accuracy of some of the events in the Bible can be questioned. The Bible still has good ideas we can learn from but we must understand it is a flawed book.
The problem with this viewpoint is who gets to decide what is true and not true? If the account of Jonah in the belly of a giant fish is deemed to be untrue then what about the resurrection of Christ? It is impossible to pick and choose what is true in scripture and what is not true because all of God's Word is true. In John 14:6 Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” The Bible is the revelation of God's plan of salvation for mankind and as such must be accepted as truth for salvation to take place.
The problem today is that people want to pretend that truth is what each person wants it to be. No one wants to be held to a higher standard because then they would be accountable for failing to meet that standard. By creating our own truth we can pretend we are not accountable for failing to meet God's standards because we can simply say I do not believe it. Ravi Zacharias in his book “Why Jesus” explains what is happening to the idea of truth in today's society. “From the news, to the weather, to entertainment, we are sold feelings, not truth.. . . you can create your own universe out of desire; that when you empty your mind and focus on the thing you want, the distance between you and desire disappears, your brain cells rejuvenate, and you become open to all possibilities. The truth is that if you repeat this kind of self inducement often enough, you begin not only to believe it, but to smile in pity on those who do not.”
So many people today are being guided by this idea of truth to justify all sorts of behavior and lifestyles that are contrary to how God expects us to live. By creating our own truth we can ignore scripture when it says such things as: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Romans 3:11,12 or “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came only by Christ Jesus” Romans 3:23,24. What is truth? The truth is the whole Word of God with its revelation of Jesus Christ as the only source of true righteousness and eternal life for all people who believe in him. What is truth? The truth is Jesus Christ and the salvation offered to all who will take it.
