We ask, “What is truth?” Pontius Pilate asked Jesus, ‘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?’” (John 18:33). Pilate’s answer was standing before him, yet he did not recognize The Truth.
According to the New Oxford American dictionary, truth is veracity, honesty, genuineness, validity, factuality, authenticity, accuracy, and correctness. Truth is not a definition or philosophy that neatly fits the world’s version, interpretation, and carnal distortion of truth, because the only truth is Jesus.
Jesus said of Himself, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6). He also said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Truth is everything. And Jesus is truth.
Quite simply, if we reject God’s truth, we not only reject Jesus, but we reject our very salvation. As much as many would like to believe that there are many paths to heaven. Jesus did not say, “I am a way, a truth, and a life. That would imply that there are many ways to heaven when it is clearly stated that there is only one way to God and that is through His Son, Jesus Christ.
When we surrendered our hearts to Jesus Christ, we received a new spirit and as we walk with Him and learn His ways, we are grandually transformed into His image. And because He is all truth, our level of understanding biblical truths is predicated on how much time we choose to invest in knowing Him as all truth, and then sharing His truth, and living His truth (Romans 8:29).
Over two-thousand years ago Jesus (Truth) was challenged and judged by the Pharisees who themselves did not know, share, or live the truth. For brevity’s sake, I will highlight just a few of the woes that Jesus pronounced over the Pharisees in Matthew 23. He admonished the Pharisees, who like Pilate, failed to know and recognize The Truth Who stood before them:
Jesus said, 15“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across the sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.” 16“Woe to you, blind guides…” 25“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” 27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.” 28 “So You also outwardly appear righteous to others , but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” 29“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!.” 33 “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?” These woes that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees were a declaration and a divine pronouncement of judgment from God.
Obviously, we do not want to be in a place of divine judgment as we stand one day before God. However, there are many who call themselves a Christian, but they are standing at the precipice of judgment because they do not take time to know Truth, to share truth, or to honestly live truth before a world that does not know or care to know The Truth.
Today’s truth is decided by social and cultural constructs that allow people to determine their own personal truth. What was once considered evil is now called good. And what was considered truth is now called a lie. Those who embrace Christ and His Word will know the truth and be able to filter out the many propagated lies that are heard and believed every day.
Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide (accept and act in accordance) in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:31-32). For the Word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in truth (Psalm 33:4). But those who say they have fellowship with Him, but walk in darkness, are liars and do not practice truth (I John 1:6).
Those who walk in darkness reject the Truth, because their eyes and hearts are set on themselves and this world. For we have been forewarned that “…in the last days, perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Unfortunately, we see this playing out before us as we watch an apostate world spinning out of control with a growing hatred for all things Christian.
The answer to the world’s problems is Jesus. There is not a scheme, talent, invention, or technology, that can save the world or make it a utopia as it originally was in the Garden of Eden. Why? Because just as in the days of Noah, this world, laden with unrepentant sin, has been on a countdown clock since Adam and Eve.
Mankind, as much as it tries, cannot save itself. So, Jesus came to earth and suffered rejection, mockery, hatred, beatings, and death to take back what the enemy had stolen… redemption, peace, and a home in eternity for those who believe that He is the Son of God. The requirements to receive these blessings are to repent of past and current sins and acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord of lords and King of kings (John 15:18-19).
Jesus became the propitiation for our sins and willingly took our place and suffered and died an undeserved death, so we could live life to the fullest and receive eternal life with God. There are many false narratives and untruths being spoken throughout the world, but here is one truth, which we can hold onto: When others fail us and the world around us is collapsing, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (I Corinthians 1:9). It is in His power that we receive the ability to know Truth, to share His truth, and to live His truth in a world of spiritual darkness.
PRAYER: FATHER, I thank you for sending Your Son, Jesus Christ to earth where He suffered ridicule, false accusations, shame, and an undeserved death. I repent of my sins, because I recognize that every day, I manage to sin whether it is with my words, my thoughts, or my deeds. I ask that You shine Your light of truth into my heart, so that I may know, share, and boldly live Your truth before a lost and dying world. In Jesus’ name, amen.