God’s Honest Truth

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. … For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” [Jhn 1:14, 17 ESV]

“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” [Jhn 17:17 NIV]

“Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” [Jhn 8:31-32 NIV]

“Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world–to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” [Jhn 18:37-38 ESV]

Have you ever asked this yourself? What IS truth? We live in a society nowadays, especially here in the United States, where “fake news” is a buzzword and people’s mouths are filled with words that are chosen to sell us a product or persuade us to act. They spin a story. They spin the truth. According to TechTarget.com, the definition of the word “spin” is as follows:

“Spin, in the context of public relations (PR), marketing and journalism, is the selective assembly of fact and the shaping of nuance to support a particular view of a story. Spin is considered one form of propaganda. To spin something is to communicate it in a way that changes the way people are likely to perceive it. As such, spin is intentionally misleading and can, in fact, give the opposite impression to what would naturally occur. Outright lies cannot be considered spin. However, inconvenient but relevant truths are often omitted in the process and less relevant but true details emphasized.”

The original phrase comes from the idiom, “spin a yarn,” which meant to tell a tall tale embellished by many half truths with pertinent facts edited out. There are professional spin-doctors out there getting paid to mop up after well-known peops who do the wrong thing or need to bolster their public persona. For example, NBC News covered the latest White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, where President Biden, addressing real concerns about his running for re-election at his age, joked about it, claiming to be good friends with Jimmy Madison. Meanwhile, comedian Roy Wood, Jr. continued that theme, adding the idea that an 80-year-old man seeking another four years of work over retirement is admirable. Back over at Fox News, we have an article on Trump spinning stories, contrary to actual facts, about how bad a state Florida is as a tactic to discredit Governor DeSantis. Suffice it to say there is enough spin on our news these days to rival the spin cycle on your washing machine and to cause any Truth-O-Meter to register “tilt!”

So, what is truth, just as this Roman governor asked two millennia ago, and where can we turn to find it? First, the origin of truth must be eternal, coming from One who is eternal, omniscient, and always honest without exception. Consider, too, that there must be a means to communicate truth, so that we benefit from its purpose. Over and over, the Bible shows itself to be that means, and its Author that One who eternally exists, knows all, and never lies.

In his first letter to Timothy, Paul writes regarding God’s eternal nature: “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus…he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” [1Ti 6:13; 15-16 ESV]

In regard to God’s omniscience, the Lord says: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” [Isa 55:9 ESV] His omniscience transcends time and knows the future: “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God. And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, let them show these to them. Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.'” [Isa 44:6-8 NKJV]

Paul writes to Titus, reminding him of the sure promise of eternal life to us because God cannot lie: “in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time…” [Tit 1:2 NIV] And again in Hebrews, Paul says, “So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.” [Heb 6:17-18 ESV]

God always speaks truth in line with His holy nature. We find this throughout the Bible, from the creation account, to the fall of man in original sin, to Israel’s failures and waywardness in worship of their Sovereign God, to hard prophecies of God’s judgement, to the human heart’s deceit and wickedness, to our own spiritual estrangement from God due to sin, to our inability to save ourselves, to the fulfillment of Messianic prophecies concerning Jesus Christ, to His immutable wisdom, to our gracious redemption through faith in Him, to our promise of eternal life, and to the prophetic word reserved for the end times–in all of these things and more, God speaks truth. It has been said that no man could have written the Bible with their own mental acuity and human perspective because it does not present man in glowing terms–it is just too truthful.

Jesus also always spoke the truth. Our scripture quoted at the beginning shows that He spoke the truth even when standing before Pilate and about to be judged and crucified. He spoke the truth even to the crowds when they wanted to follow him, but not wholeheartedly, showing He had no interest in seeking popularity among the people: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” [Mat 10:37-39 ESV] Jesus spoke the truth even when the Pharisees asked Him if he was the Messiah, knowing they would condemn Him: “And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” [Mat 26:63-66 ESV]

Throughout scripture, we see that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit speak the truth at all times: Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” [Jhn 8:28-29 NIV] The Bible says that Jesus is the exact representation of God’s being, and therefore His character is the same as His Father’s: “…I am the LORD, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right.” [Isa 45:18-19 NIV; see Heb 1:3] Not only is truth the characteristic of the Father and the Son, but also the Holy Spirit: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” [Jhn 14:16-17 ESV] Our awesome God is the Author of all truth!

To compare, our humanistic outlook on life and knack for talking ourselves up can be seen in many best sellers. A survey of popular books today reveals titles like:

• Stop Overthinking, Master Your Emotions & Start Taking Action: The Ultimate Guide to Stop Unproductive Thoughts, Beat Negativity and Unlock Your Unlimited Potential by Taking Decisive Action
• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
• Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World
• The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness
• Never Finished: Unshackle Your Mind and Win the War Within

These self-help books all have the theme that we can fix many of our problems on our own, that man has unlimited potential if we just somehow tap into our the power of our minds, or that we can find true happiness truncated from God. This is in direct opposition to the Word of God: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” [Jer 17:9 NKJV] Also, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” [Pro 14:12 ESV]

So, who is lying? We’ve already established that God cannot lie, since doing so would make Him imperfect and unrighteous, and who would want to worship a fallible and fickle God? Yet, humans will worship such gods, not only pagan gods, but the god of self. There is no such thing as an atheist in this sense–they answer to no one other themselves, taking on the role of God, ultimately idolizing and obeying their own thoughts, wisdom, habits, sense of right and wrong, and behavior. Their critique of themselves, therefore, is utterly slanted! Since the Christian God only speaks truth, and He relays that truth through His Word, the Bible, all other man-centered philosophies are lies. Paul says it best: “…Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar.” [Rom 3:4(a) NKJV] And: “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.” [Pro 30:5-6 ESV]

Now, we can ask, where and how did falsehood originate? It started in the Garden of Eden when Satan asked Eve if what God had said was really true:

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” [Gen 3:1-5 ESV]

Just as he did in Eden, Satan still asks, “Did God actually say?” The devil was God’s first detractor and the original spin doctor. Jesus Himself told the Pharisees who wanted to kill Him: “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” [Jhn 8:44 NIV] The devil is fluent in falsehood and frequently traffics in half truths to trip humanity up. For example, it is popular in our day to say, “all paths lead to God.” Yet, Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” [Jhn 14:6 NIV] The apostle Peter reiterates this in the book of Acts: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Act 4:12 NIV]

Can we spot some of the other ways these scriptures are violated? How about the teaching of the Catholic church that Mary is Mediatrix, Co-Redemptrix, and Advocate, that she is “Queen of Heaven?” While the official Catholic explanation of these titles tries to assert that Mary is not above or even equal to Christ and His death on the cross at Calvary, but merely “cooperates” with Jesus in His saving work, all these titles elevate Mary to the point that many Catholics feel more comfortable relating to her than our only blessed and most merciful Lord and Savior. The idea that we need Mary to intercede for us and get God to grant us graces is unbiblical: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died–more than that, who was raised–who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” [Rom 8:31-34 ESV]

How about the ecumenical push today for worldwide Christian unity? Is it biblical? Most assuredly not, since Jesus Himself warned, “For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” [Mat 24:24 ESV] Paul told the Corinthians, “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” [2Co 11:3-4 ESV] And he also told the Galatians, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel–not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” [Gal 1:6-8 ESV] It is quite clear from these verses that we are not to work or worship with everyone and every organization that labels itself Christian, because that term is widely misapplied these days to people who may throw the name of Jesus around a lot but whose doctrines, when compared to God’s revealed truth in the Bible, amount to heresy.

There is also a growing popularity in the concept that there will be a worldwide revival in the end times. What does our Lord and Savior say, the One who only speaks truth? Jesus taught His followers:

“As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” [Mat 24:3-14 ESV]

Under divine inspiration, Paul wrote: “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” [2Ti 3:1-5 ESV] Those who look for and proclaim an end times worldwide revival are either speaking truth or are deceived and lying. Which is it? We’ve established that the Lord is the Author of truth. Dare we mere humans contradict the succinct words of God?

So, these are a just a few of the falsehoods in circulation at this time, and my plea to the born again, bona fide child of God is to pray for discernment to be able to differentiate between what God’s Word says and what man’s words say. The Holy Spirit guided Jesus’ disciples in the way of truth: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” [Jhn 16:13 ESV] He enabled them to, under divine inspiration, write the books and letters we now know as the New Testament: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” [2Ti 3:14-17 ESV] We can all take comfort in the Lord’s perfect integrity. Amen.

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