What does the Bible say about the nature of truth?
Sep 16th, 2012 / Salt and Light
Consider how I love Your precepts; revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness. The entirety of Your Word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. (Psalm 119:159–160—NKJV)
Do you remember your frustration when you were given the wrong instructions? For those of us who are “do-it-yourselfers,” it is almost inevitable that we will buy a kit someday only to find that somewhere along the assembly process the directions give false direction. Tab “k” does not have matching slot “4.” Not only are the instructions lacking clarity, but they are also not complete. The project comes to a screeching halt while you take a stab at getting beyond the error. Your trust was not rewarded with the truth.
The very nature of truth is at the root of the doctrine of inspiration of the Scriptures. The Bible is an instruction manual as well as the one source of revelation of the true God (Jeremiah 10:10). Our passage above is one of the proof texts for the verbal (every word) and plenary (everything about the word) inspiration of the Bible. It is refreshing to have one guaranteed thing for all your life that will never lie, mislead, shade, equivocate, redefine, morph, be disproven, nuance, or fail you. In this world of politics, “correctness,” murky morals, selfish ethics, and divided loyalties, truth is often the object of hate and ridicule. The striking lack of men who love, protect, communicate, and defend truth (wherever it is found) is one of the supreme tragedies of our time. The lack of men who love truth has led people to question if there is a perfect God. C.H. Spurgeon said, “It is the surest proof of man’s natural enmity against God that he dares to impute falsehood to One who is truth itself.”
Jesus Christ stated in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the father but by Me.” He has sent His Spirit to indwell every genuine believer and, through the Bible, He will lead believers into all truth (John 14:15–17, 16:13). It is this instrumentality of the Spirit that causes a believer to bow to the demand of God that truth be honored in the deepest recess of his heart (Psalm 51:6), for those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). The church, the local assembly of the saints, and manifestation of the body of Christ, is to be the Pillar and Ground of Truth (1 Timothy 3:15). God is always true to fact and cannot lie (Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18), therefore His people must adhere to the same.
The Greek word aletheia means true in the sense of real, ideal, and genuine. It is the reality underlying the words used to describe it. It is closely related to the concepts of faithfulness and loyalty. The very nature of our Creator defines all we know, in concept, about truth in all its shining superiority to any substitute. There are certain qualities of truth wherever it may be found. Every lover of truth will admit/agree:
First, what truth is not—Truth is not created. It is not invented. It is not changing, for it is not changeable. Truth cannot be made to “go away.” Truth never grows old or out of date. It is never owned and therefore cannot be subject to whim and moldable. It is not an exclusive property and commodity but is meant to be shared. Truth cannot be kept within boundaries, and beyond which it does not apply. It cannot be suspended. Truth has no expiration date.
Second, what truth is—Truth exists. It is constant. It must be discovered by men but it is revealed by God; yet it is common and applicable to all men. Truth is current. Truth is the only antidote to error, for there is no other solution. Truth is only made dangerous when it is mixed with error.
Finally, what truth must be—Truth must be collected throughout life or there will be no maturing. It is to be remembered and therefore must be communicated. Truth must be yielded to or disaster will set in. Truth must be applied to error if error is to be corrected.
The revealed Name of Jesus in Revelation 19:11 is “Faithful and True.” Anything that does not fit the description of truth is a lie. The only solution to a lie is to flood it with the truth. Trust and obey.