understanding the value & power of truth
James
There is an intrinsic value in spiritual truth. The Lord Jesus Christ
Himself said that there is a truth that, when known, can actually set a
person free. Free from what? Well, to start with, free from a
meaningless, loveless, and empty life.
There is also a malignant power in some of the false beliefs that people
cling to. Stop and think about it -- why do some people always seem to
embrace foolish ideas (such as the latest fads in circulation) while others
are more open to spiritual and even material reality? Why are some lives
chained by thinking that is self destructive, pointless and empty? The
Bible says that some ideas are actually inspired by demons -- in order to
destroy and maim those who follow them.
Take a good look at the generation we live in. People in our society are
giving themselves over to all kinds of useless thinking. Some reject
everything God says. They chase after things that can only bring
unhappiness, broken hearts, violence and death. They pursue empty religious
thinking, empty relationships, empty philosophies of life, and empty ideas
of survival as a people. Why? Because they have embrace lies from hell
itself. They have chosen to believe and practice deceptions that can only
destroy.
Whatever is not true is not real. Contrary to some Eastern dogmas, we
cannot bend reality to fit our ideas. No matter how hard you believe a lie,
it remains a lie. Merely thinking that something is true cannot make it
true. But when we are willing to face reality and deal with it, then we
become students of truth. Science was supposed to be like that, but today
it has become another religion to millions. They've made the mistake of
believing that if human minds accept a thing as proven, then it must be
true. But staking our lives -- and all of eternity -- on the knowledge and
ideas of mere men can prove a deadly choice.
There is spiritual power in God's truth. It is the power of life itself --
the very power of eternal life.
There are lots of religions and religious ideas. They do not lead anyone to
eternal life -- or even to real and lasting happiness in this life. A life
without meaning and truth cannot be whole or fulfilled. Even ideas about
Jesus Christ can become mere religion. When people embrace a system of
ideas, rites, and methods instead of the living God, then they've accepted a
religion in the place of a living relationship with the One being in the
universe who can really save us.
Genuine Christian faith a spiritual thing. Only God Himself can save any of
us. And only His truth sets anyone free.
Jesus said to those who were thinking about following Him, "You shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32).
The root of the problem is sin.
The Bible shows us that human nature is twisted, fallen, ruined by sin.
Whoever simply follows human nature ends up dead, and then dead again (the
second death, spoken of in Revelation 20).
The Bible says: "There's a pathway in life that seems right to a person, but
in the end it's the way of death." (Proverbs 14:12, and again in Prov
16:25)
And in the New Testament: "But the natural man does not receive the things
of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)
Again, the Scripture says:
But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the
ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if
they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human
heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him" -- these
things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches
everything, even the depths of God. (1 Cor 2:7-10)
Unbelievers often accuse Christians of simply embracing the ideas of other
Christians. In other words, we're said to be simply following Christian
leaders, popular Christian writers, and teachers in the church. Of course,
the greatest evil, in the eyes of unbelievers, is to "blindly" follow the
Bible. (But it seems just fine to them to follow the ideas of this world --
no matter where those ideas come from.)
It's a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Secular philosophers, and other unbelievers most certainly have second-hand
ideas. Every comment made against the Christian faith comes, in part, from
other sources. Critics of the church often proudly agree with and embrace
ideas that were first written down centuries ago.
Truth is valuable, not because it's unique to some recent thinker or
observer or seeker, but because it is the truth. The Bibles makes it clear
(as does the Holy Spirit within every follower of Jesus Christ) that God
Himself must reveal the eternal truth that saves us. It isn't going to be
figured out or dreamed up by human beings.
There is a first-hand knowledge of God that is available to all human
beings, but only to those who are born-again by the Spirit of God through
faith in Jesus Christ. God's Spirit reveals His truth to us. He shows us
who Jesus Christ is, who we are, and what we must do to be saved.
"Saved from what?" you may ask. Well, to start with, we need to be saved
from our own selves. The self-delusions that cripple our souls, that excuse
sin, that justify evil -- these things kill us and our children. And then
there is eternity to consider. We need to be saved from the eternal
consequences of our failure, in this life, to glorify God. We need a new
life, a new perspective, a new heart and mind.
We must be born again:
Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God."
Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a
second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water
and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of
the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not
marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' (John 3:3-7)
Until we are born of God's Spirit into God's family, by faith in Jesus
Christ, we'll never be able to think right thoughts of God or of Jesus
Himself. The truth will not make sense to us. We'll continue to have the
darkened frame of mind common to this lost world. We'll keep having the
same mind-set that is found at any moment on TV, in Hollywood movies, and in
all the common literature and thoughts of this world.
And we will continue to be alienated from God, just as the Scripture says.
The Bible says that the unbelieving people of the world are all in the same
boat: "...in the futility of their mind, having their understanding
darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance
that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past
feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness
with greediness." (Ephesians 4:17-19)
And again:
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to
various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy,
despicable, hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness
of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of
righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the
water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out
on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified
by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
The saying is sure. (Titus 3:3-7)
My advice?
Don't rely on the World Wide Web for your relationship with God. You need
the living Jesus Christ revealed in the Bible. You need the truth of God's
Word. You need the same living relationship with the Lord that God offers
all people everywhere.
Only Jesus Christ is Lord. And if He is truly Lord, then we must pay
careful attention to what He says.
Jesus said:
"You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of
this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in
your sins unless you believe that I am He." (John 8:23,24)
The Bible says :
Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the
wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them
return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he
will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the
LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:6-9)
The Bible says:
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see
whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the
world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does
not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist,
of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the
world.
Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one
who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the
world; therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to
them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not
from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and
the spirit of error. (1 John 4:1-6)
The apostle Paul writes about God's Spirit:
"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The
things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed
them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the
deep things of God." (1 Corinthians 2:9,10)
"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is
from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by
God....But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:12, 14)
"God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and
of love and of self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7)
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For
you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received
the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit
Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if
children, then heirs -- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed
we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:14-18)
You can see, then, that we don't need more so-called "new and fresh" ideas.
What we really need is the simple truth, and a genuine understanding of
ageless realities. We recognize such truth and we begin to understand such
realities by the power and Presence of the Spirit of God.
What's the truth about the world? What's the truth about God? What is the
truth about sin, about the sinful condition of humankind? What about
Jesus? Did He really die for my sins, for your sins? What does it mean to
be born again?
How do I know if I have eternal life? If I do have eternal life by faith
in Jesus Christ, then how should I be living here and now, in this world?
The world has had it's own ideas about all these things from the earliest
times. And so also God has been revealing His truth about all of this and
much, much more. Whoever knows the Lord has the same convictions about life
and sin and good and evil. And whoever rejects Jesus Christ also rejects
what God says about life and death and eternity.
Both ways of thinking go way back. True Christian believers today will
pretty well agree with the true followers of Jesus Christ in centuries past.
And whoever hates God will have much in common with unbelievers of long ago.
Terminology may come and go, but the ideas and desires behind the ideas do
not change. Followers of Jesus Christ still follow Jesus, and those who
reject God still follow the basic desires of all flesh.
I guess the only question that people might want to ask themselves is:
"Which side of the fence am I on?"
The answer is not so hard to uncover. Do you agree with the Bible, or do
you take your stand with all those religions, philosophies and unbelievers
who reject Jesus Christ? You either follow Jesus or you don't.
As for me, I take my stand with Jesus Christ. He is my Lord, my Savior, my
Shepherd, and my Life. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one gets
to the Father except by Him. (John 14:6)
Jim