Christian Truth
QUESTION: Christian truth - How do I tell truth from lies?ANSWER:How does an individual seeking answers to life's questions tell Christian truth from lies? Far from contemporary beliefs, truth is an absolute. There is truth and there is error, more commonly known as lies. One cannot define truth in any relative terms which downgrades the concept of truth to merely one man's opinion. No! Truth is a standard based on an absolute and solid foundation. That foundation is the Word of God. Jesus prayed for this very matter before His false arrest and mock trial. John 17:17 recounts: "Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth." This was Jesus' declaration to the Father. By this, we may understand that the Word of God is truth.
How can one discern a lie from Christian truth? One must make a diligent, daily study of God's Word, prayerfully committing it to his heart. Psalm 119:11 states, "I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You." When we meditate daily on God's Word, we will sin less against God and succumb to fewer lies. Standing upon the firm foundation, we will be able to weed out the truth from the lies. This is the only safe position in a world fraught with so many dissenting voices, diverse doctrines, and abject falsehood.
The Psalmist declared that the Christian truth found in God's Word is not only a safe place but a place of blessing: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers" (Psalm 1:1-3). It is not sufficient to simply read the Word of God but through meditation, we must make its truths a part of us, enabling all that we hear to be filtered through and measured by Godly concepts.
How does one believe the Christian truths found in the Word of God? These are spiritual principals accepted by faith. We accept and believe that the Word of God is the truth, a sword sharper than any other able to divide soul from spirit, intellect from godly truth (Hebrews 4:12). The battle to discern truth from lies is the age-old battle of good vs. evil, light vs. darkness, the Kingdom of God vs. the kingdom of the enemy. In the end, that the enemy will be defeated by the sword that comes from the mouth of Him whose name is Faithful and True. Revelation 19:11a; 21a reads, "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth. . ."
The Christian truth is the truth of God, through Jesus Christ the Living Word. This truth is our weapon against lies and falsehood. Through it we can discern and decipher truth from lies within and without. Hebrews 4:12 goes on to prove this point: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
