Truth?

You and I live in an age that seems to have lost nearly all regard for simple, honest. uncolored truth!

I can remember a few years back one of the well known country and western singers recorded a song entitled: "What Is Truth?" And then there was the television program, "To Tell The Truth". Here in our state of New Mexico, we have the little town named: "Truth or Consequences."  (We won't talk about the "consequences" part this time.)

Truth is very important, it should be straightforward, candid and unbiased; we should look to the main source where ultimate, absolute truth may be found. That source is the Holy Bible.  But we live in an age that doesn't seem to place much value on sincerity, trust and credibility.
 

The Ninth commandment, the one against lying, is largely ignored.  At the root of the problem is the carnal human desire to get as much as possible for self, to win at any cost.  When the only goal is to get, honesty becomes expendable.  Thus truth is a relative term in most people's mind today, not an eternal value to be cherished and practiced.

Different churches even have their own versions of exactly what the "truth" is. They can't seem to agree on what can be known about God or Jesus Christ or about what Christ's Gospel message was.

Notice when Jesus was on trial for His life, he was asked by Pilate, "what is truth?" (John 18:38).  But he had already given the answer to this question a few hours earlier to His true followers while praying to God the Father:  "I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world ... Sanctify them by your truth.  Your word is truth." (John 17:14-17)  There it is, the source of absolute truth, is God's word.  In personal form, God's word is Jesus Christ (John 1:1-3, and verse 14).  In written form, God's Word is the Bible.

Telling the truth to the whole world is the commission given to God's Church (Matt. 24:14, 28: 19-20).  We tell the truth about world conditions, we preach the same message that Christ preached.  That message was about the Kingdom of God and the coming of a different world.  We know that it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18).  And one of Jesus Christ's name is "Faithful and True" (Rev. 19: 11).  "Behold, you desirest truth in the inward parts ..." (Psalm 51 :6).

The time is coming when everyone will value the truth and tell the absolute truth all the time.  That will occur when the glorified Christ has restored God's government to this earth.  In the meantime, those of us who desire to serve God need to redouble our efforts to always tell the truth in every aspect of our daily lives.  Everything we say, do and think should reflect the truth.  The example we set should be the true way of God.

Don't lie.  Don't even shade the truth, even to save face or when harm may come to you for being honest.  When you say something, it should be the pure truth.  "The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips." (Malachi 2:6).

The book of Colossians shines a lot of light on this subject:  "Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created Him: ... And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." (Colossians 3:9-10 and verse 17 ).

*****************