What is Truth?
“Therefore Pilate said to Him, ‘So You are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’ Pilate said to Him, ‘What is truth?”
I wonder how many of you that will read this, like me, have ached for Jesus to respond to this question from Pontius Pilate. I would love for Jesus to have responded to his question with a long and thorough discourse. Then, I wish I could have been there to see the look on Pilate’s face and what his response might have been. For the Son of God who is called, “Light” (John 1:7), and, “Truth” (John 14:6), to respond to this question in the face of someone of such power and influence would have been something to behold. It is not as though we do not already have a Bible filled with the words that surely make up what truth is, but there is something about the magnitude of that moment with Pilate, on the edge of crucifixion, that makes one long for what might have been said by Jesus.
With that said, I feel a daunting task in approaching this blog post, trying to correctly handle the, “Word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15) to explain truth. In the last blog post we looked at what I said might be the greatest attribute of the flesh to remove, which is idolatry. This week, we look at what may be the greatest attribute of Jesus Christ to put on, which is truth.
Jesus
There is a reason, as was mentioned a moment ago, Jesus is called “Truth”, as there is reason he is also called, “Light”. Truth and light have something in common. They reveal what is actual, what is real. They reveal reality. I am immediately reminded of my children’s experience sometimes at night and what I’m sure every one of us has experienced at some point as well. Often, they have been scared at night because they think they see something spooky in their room, such as a face or something that should not be there. Though, when the light is turned on, it reveals the truth, that what was deceivingly a face in the dark is actually just a pattern or form on a hanging sweatshirt. God tells us many things in and of this world are of the darkness because there in the dark their evil is concealed and deceitfully they become something they are not.
If you read The Mystery – Part 2, you might remember reading that Jesus is the word. From John 17:17, he says, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” In that statement, Jesus is talking about himself. He wants us to be sanctified in Him, the truth, and His word is truth. This statement is looking forward to something and in James 1:18 we read its fulfillment. “In the exercise of His will (God) He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” Jesus asked for it in John 17:17 and James said it has happened. So then, Jesus is the word and truth, and the word is truth. The word, if you do not remember, is the gospel of Jesus Christ and the word of God that we find filling up our Bibles.
Why am I stressing this point? Because in talking about putting on truth, speaking truth, walking in truth, loving truth, and believing truth, it is missing the mark if we look anywhere other than in God in Christ Jesus. Truth is not simply a moral. Truth is not only a philosophical topic or ideal. Truth beams from God like light from the sun. It is a part of His very nature and it does not come from anywhere else. God is uncreated and is the only one or thing that has forever been. Therefore, truth being a part of His nature, God has not discovered truth from anywhere. It emanates from every single thing He has ever thought, said, or did. It is impossible to discuss truth without looking directly at God in Christ Jesus.
Belief
With that said, volumes could be written on truth and its significance or application across innumerable areas of life. For this blog post, I want to point out in few words its application in three core areas of who we are as persons. The first is what we know and believe.
We could narrow what we know and believe to what we think, even. I say that because, usually, we believe certain things based on what we know about certain things, which leads, naturally, to how we think; how we think about all matters of life. I should make a note here: what I just said would be the case in a sinless world. Because of humanity’s bend towards non-truth, the world is constantly believing and thinking in a way that is completely contrary to what they know. Though, for the Christian, having the Holy Spirit for a renewed conscience and mind, we can with praise to God, believe and think in a way that conforms with what we know is true. For our sake, we know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. We know that God is true and has revealed truth.
What we believe sets the stage for every other facet of life. It is what our worldview or perspective ultimately boils down to. For the Christian, it begins here as well. In the story of the jailer who witnessed God’s miracle in setting Paul and Silas free from prison from Acts 16:22-34, it began with belief. After seeing the miracle, he asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They responded with, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Belief in the truth of Jesus Christ is the first step.
Speech
The next area of significance that truth has in our lives flows from belief. It is in what we speak. If we believe in our hearts the truth of Jesus Christ, our speech should be a fountain of truth pouring out from the mind and heart that thinks and believes. It is only natural. The only way in which this can work, truly, is if the heart believes truth, first. Someone can believe a lie and speak truly from what is a lie, but if it is a lie that the speech flows from, it does not matter if the person believes they are speaking the truth. They very well can be speaking consistently or truthfully with what is in their heart, what they believe is truth, but if it is a lie, if what they believe has deceived them, they unknowingly speak not the truth, but a lie.
Similarly, and this is the case for the Christian, if we believe the truth but do not speak according to the truth, we lie. Ephesians 4:25 says, “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.” This comes directly after the banner verse for this blog, Ephesians 4:24 which says, “And put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” If we are laying aside falsehood, all that this world has deceived us into believing, we should naturally do as Paul exhorts which is to speak truth with one another. The new self we put on is in the likeness of Jesus Christ, the one who is called truth! To speak lies not only in ignorance but especially consciously should make us squirm. It certainly grieves the Holy Spirit of God that we are made new from and is within us (Eph. 4:30).
Action
The last area I want to touch on is how we walk in truth. If we believe truth, that is foundational. From there comes what we speak and we could argue from what we think and speak, if they are in truth and we aim to be consistent with it, comes how we walk or how we act in according to the truth. James 3:13-14 says, “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.” Plainly, if our actions are from bitterness, jealousy, selfishness, or anything else contrary to love, we walk contrary to the truth, to Jesus Christ we profess to have put on.
Romans 13:12-14 is similar. It says, “The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” Here, in these verses we have as was mentioned at the beginning of this post, the reference to light. Jesus is called the light because in Him is truth and anything contrary to him and his nature is darkness. How we behave is either reminiscent of the truth or what is a lie.
Final Word
Belief and thinking leads to speaking which leads to action. If our lives do not show consistency in those three areas, if those three areas do not agree with each other in truth, we are not in truth. For the Christian it can be momentary. Part of the sanctification process, being made holy, taking off the old to put on the new, is learning what is good and true. In the beginning was God (Genesis 1:1) and nothing else. God is the sole possessor of truth. Everything else, every person, creation, belief, thought, word, or action has its existence because of God and either reflects the light of the truth or hides in a dark place in an attempt to hide from Him. In faith we must come out of those dark places in search of the light in every area of life because we no longer have anything to fear. Jesus Christ has removed all sin and guilt. We are made new in the likeness of God; righteous, holy, and in truth.
-Pastor Ben