We have to push back against the idea that each person can create their own truth without causing turmoil for everyone around us.
We cannot turn on the news anymore without feeling the weight of a broken world. The burden is great in the search for truth it seems. Whether it is political or environmental we see people searching or defining truth for themselves. Often it is based on what they feel and see. The reality is that this type of truth is subjective to our circumstances and emotions.
Everywhere we turn it is confusing trying to discern what is actually true. We are not even taking into account the cost of having to defend what you believe to be true. We spiral deeper into confusion and devastation when we seek our own truth rather than the ultimate truth or authority.
As Christians, our ultimate and final authority on everything is God’s word.
The world will tell us that the truth we seek is the truth we make. Creating our own version of truth doesn’t make it right. If we don’t have something that is sure enough to stake our lives and values on, we will sink deep into a seesaw of changing “truth.”
We have to push back against the idea that each person can create their own truth without causing turmoil for everyone around us.
The Bible gifts us with the very thoughts of God. It is given directly to us with purpose. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says. “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.
Why We Can't Simply Believe in Our Own Truth
The purpose and origin of the Bible is clear.
In 2020, it seems that everything around us is based on emotion or circumstances. When our passion is driven by personal truth rather than God’s truth, we are witnessing the damage being done.
In the midst of viruses, protests, catastrophe, elections, and personal tragedies, we need more than superficial truth based on what we feel. Our feelings will fail us, our circumstances will always change. Viruses will fade, elections will go forward, and we will all face catastrophe. We need truth that doesn’t waiver when the world around us looks like it is falling apart.
God’s truth doesn’t change or waiver with the winds. It is steadfast, even if it isn’t always what we want to hear.
When we hold what we call “truth” up to the light of the ultimate authority in truth, ours will always crumble. Picking up our Bibles and hearing the truth makes everything else we hold on to so desperately look like a deflated life raft
But why should we trust that the Bible is true, and regard it as the ultimate and final authority on truth?
1. It Is Written with God’s Own Words
Throughout Scripture we see references to the words of God. The longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119, is a love song to the Scriptures. 2 Timothy 3:16, in the original greek language translates into a phrase that literally means “God breathed.” Every page, every word, is His heart poured out through the words of man. Each word is spoken and written with purpose.
We can know that the Bible is true because it is written with the very words of God.
How incredibly powerful it is to know that our Heavenly Father spoke words just for you and I. Nothing haphazardly put together, but for the purpose of revealing Himself to us, that we may know Him and love Him.
2. God Cannot Lie
We can trust the Bible is true because it is are the word of God. We can also trust that the Bible is true because we know that God cannot lie.
When God reveals Himself to us through His Word, He opens our eyes to the beauty and complexity of who He is. But one thing is sure, God cannot lie. It is not a part of His character. Titus 1:2 says, “in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began” [emphasis added].
In its simplicity, His Word is true because God is true.
3. God Does Not Change
Our culture says that God’s word cannot be true because it doesn’t fit into what makes us happy, or comfort us in living in our sinful state. The reality is that God doesn’t change, and in turn His Word doesn’t change, even if we do.
If God changes and bends to who we decide for Him to be then He is not God after all.
We don’t define God. He has defined Himself through His Word. His truth reveals His incredible character. It is He what reveals to us what we need to know about who we are and how we are to live.
4. The Bible Has Proven Itself to Be True
Maybe you need more scientific proof. Archeologists have proven biblical events have taken place, historical records have confirmed Scriptural accounts. The testimony of the Apostles sent them to their deaths standing on the truth of the cross.
There is great evidence in the truth of Scripture.
Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”
2 Samuel 22:31 “This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”
5. Trusting in God’s Word Takes Faith
At the end of the day it takes faith to trust in and live by God’s word. Just as Thomas refused to believe that Jesus rose from the dead and needed to see for Himself, so is the way we treat truth. Faith is bound up in what we cannot see, and trusting that God is ultimately right and truthful. We may not be able to explain what we read in the Bible in every way, but we can have faith and trust it will guide us in truth, because its author is true, and has proven His Word is true, and He will never change.
When we understand these things we will come to know a truth that we can stake our lives on. It is the truth that we can use to direct our choices and how we interact with those around us.
No matter our circumstance, emotions, or intellect, we can hold fast to one firm unchanging solid truth, and that is the very word of God.
Viruses, protests, governments, chaos, and catastrophe will pass away and be destroyed but the word of God will endure forever (Isaiah 40:8).
Photo Credit: © Priscilla du Preez/Unsplash
Michelle Rabon is helping women be disciples who make disciples. Michelle has her MDiv in Ministry to Women from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and is currently serving as Women’s Ministry Director in her local church. She is also the author of Holy Mess. When she is not writing or teaching, she enjoys reading, being close to the ocean, and drinking a lot of coffee. You can connect with Michelle at www.michellerabon.com
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