March 2006

Truth Christian Mind

Since the shallow utterance of Pilate, "What is truth?", nothing has distinguished the Christian as much as possession by truth.  This is my fourth in a series of thoughts from Blamires, The Christian Mind.  I hope you will bear with my few words to appreciate the vast treasure available to the believer.

Knowledge of the truth is so important, that Jesus said he personified it.  I am the way, the truth, and the life has ringing consequences through all history.  Truth is revealed and dependent upon God
John 1:14 (ESV)
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Lets look at the consequences of truth revealed by and dependent upon God.  First what does it mean Truth is revealed. This makes every difference in respect to the authority of the truth.  The very first implication is inherently humbling, because we couldnt figure it out ourselves.  Second, revealed truth was authenticated repeatedly by the power of God. Therefore it commands a unique and unqualified obedience. Gravity is an interesting comparison to illustrate my point. The effects of gravity are evident to all but the patently ignorant. You experience gravity pretty much equally across the surface of the earth. Gravity commands obedience. Only a fool is surprised by the consequence stepping  off a cliff unaided by a parachute or bungee cord. Truth represented by the Incarnation, Redemption, Resurrection, and Anticipated Return of Jesus has the same power of commanded obedience as gravity. Why, because truth is revealed and authenticated by God.

Truth is dependent upon God. Therefore it is independent of popular opinion. All our parents taught us that "everyone else is doing it" was a lame excuse. That is still true, yet often ignored within popular culture.   The Jewish religious leaders were constantly amazed by the forceful courage of Peter. How could an uneducated fisherman bamboozle the educated elite? The truth had set Peter free. Conversely, because truth is solely dependent upon God, one individual can turn the world upside down. Murdering a child is wrong.  The church of Jesus Christ can assert that fact because God said so. 

There is a seldom considered privilege of knowing the truth. We are expected to know it, believe it, act on it, tell others about, but we don't have to defend it. That's God's job. Does that sound odd? It's not. Remember, truth is of God. Paul said it best in First Corinthians
1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (ESV)
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
We can tell others of Jesus:  crucified, risen, and coming again and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.  It is a good thing to serve the Living God, Truth and Grace incarnate.

_{English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.}