When Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32), He wasn’t talking about just any old facts. And He certainly didn’t have some relativistic idea of an evolving kind of “truth” that supposedly changes from time to time and from place to place.
In contrast, today’s post-modern society is characterized by a refusal to acknowledge the concept of “absolute truth.” The irony is that no one has ever proven that there is no such thing as absolute truth: those who hold this view simply assume that it is so.
Please note, however, that denying the existence of absolute truth is a logical contradiction. When people say, “There is no such thing as absolute truth,” they are themselves making an absolute truth claim.
Let’s listen in on a brief conversation between Joe and Mary.
Joe: “There is no such thing as absolute truth.”
Mary: “Are you sure?”
Joe: “Yes I am.”
Mary: “How can you be so sure?”
Joe: “Because it’s true.”
Mary: “So . . . it’s absolutely true that there is no such thing as absolute truth?”
Joe: “Uh, yes, I mean, no - well, maybe.”
I’m sure you get the point. Postmodernists, in their denial of absolute truth, have come perilously close to cultural insanity. They assert with absolute certainty the notion that nothing is absolutely certain, thus sawing off the limb upon which they stand.
Sanity is restored by knowing the truth; or rather The Truth, with two capital T’s.
Among the many things Scripture says about The Truth, three stand out as being critically important to post-modern culture. First, there is the relationship of biblical love and The Truth, described in that great love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. Verse 6 says, “Love . . . rejoices in the truth.” Why? Because if you truly love someone, you don’t want that person to live in error, because living in error causes needless pain.
Second, Scripture tells us where to find The Truth. Ephesians 4:21 says, “The truth is in Jesus.” If you want to discover The Truth, develop a relationship with Jesus. All The Truth you need for life and salvation is found in the person of Jesus Christ.
Finally, Jesus Himself made an immense claim in John 14:6, when He declared, “I am the way, the truth and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through Me.” By declaring Himself to be identical with The Truth, and by claiming to be the only way to heaven, Jesus forced upon us a crucial decision: is what He said false, or is it true?
If it is false, then He was either a liar or a lunatic. If it was true, then He was, and remains to this day, the Lord of the universe, and the only hope you and the rest of humanity have for eternal life.
We’ll examine more on this subject next Friday, as we consider Christ’s exclusive claims.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment