There has always been a search for truth. Every generation has probed this coveted mystery, hoping to answer questions that will ultimately explain who, what, when, where, why, and how. The search for truth attempts to settle our desire to reach the depths of understanding and wisdom. Solomon could not get enough of it but it took most of his life to realize how precious it is. We crave knowledge to become wise; we seek wisdom to answer questions; and we ask that we might obtain the truth.
Our addiction for truth has always prompted the need to know. The Ancient Greeks and Egyptians had gods for everything just to satisfy their hunger for truth. The Greeks desire to debate over what is truth and other questions, became the foundation of a scientific study known as philosophy. The word "philosophy" comes from the ancient Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophia), which literally means "love of wisdom."¹
For truth to exist there must be something that has proven itself to be. It is simply true because it is, otherwise it would not be genuine, and it would be untrue or false. You say you saw something on a table. When others look, there it is, thus your statement was true. Someone says you took the object off of the table and you did not, and you say, “I did not take it off of the table.” When you both look and it is there, your statement was true and theirs was false. Your statement was proven true because the object was actually there. The object had to “be” on the table to make your statement true.
This may seem a bit ambiguous, but I assure you it is not. People have a hard time believing in the truth of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, because they can’t see them at first. God is and he is always near us, yet people have a difficult time recognizing this as truth. Religious organizations and individuals have twisted the truth about the Holy Trinity so much through the centuries, people are not sure what is truth. Just as surely as an object is on a table proving it is real, the Holy Trinity is just as real. The problem is not the truth itself, it’s the presentation of truth, or how the truth is shown to “be”.
The Concept of Truth
Truth is most often used to mean in accord with fact or reality to a standard or ideal.² The fact or reality of something presents itself to “be”. Some truth is in the form of an idea or concept, but only because it has not been proven as fact yet. Once ideas or concepts are proven to be, they become truth known as facts. These truths may have always existed, but remained unknown or unproven until they were revealed as truth. The secrets of the universe have always been since God created them yet only in the last few centuries has man been able to uncover them. Look at medical discoveries. The last fifty years has uncovered more in the fight against disease and illness than in all of mankind's history. It's only been by supernatural revelation does anything become known. The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 3:3-5 that God made known to him the mystery of Christ by revelation, that which had been hidden in past ages. Truth, understanding, and wisdom comes from God (James 1:5), even to those who do not know him.
Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."
James 3:17 "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and of good works, without partiality and without hypocrisy."
1Corinthians 2:7 "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory. ."
Because all knowledge and wisdom comes from God, he makes things known to people and discoveries are made of thing that were already there, only hidden until God revealed it. Microscopic organisms have always existed, but until God revealed to Zacharias Janssen and other optical scientist like him in the late 1500’s, we were not able to see these organisms. Powerful sources of energy have always moved in the universe, but it was not until studies in atomic energy revealed to Albert Einstein and his colleagues before anyone was able to understand the formula that led to the invention of the atomic bomb. Sound waves were not understood until someone gained revelation that what we hear is a resolute of sound waves hitting our eardrum. Electronic current was not understood until men like Benjamin Franklin researched lightening and other ways to develop and conduct electricity. All of these are things that could not be seen by normal human sight nor understood by ideas or concepts though they existed long before they were made facts or truth. Mankind was not aware of them until knowledge about these truths were made possible by God.
God has always given man revelation of who he is and how he wants us to respond to him. This is the basic truth of the Bible: that mankind would know who God is and what are we to do in relationship to Him. This truth of God has been twisted so much under the purpose of “religion,” who God is and what he is about is not considered as truth, in most cases. Man has pressed their understanding of God into religion instead of relying upon revelation for truth. Religion is organized thoughts of what man thinks God is, being injected into human society. Having faith in God on the other hand, comes from being filled with God as you take on God's nature and allow his revelation to give you understanding. Religion says, "Listen to me and nothing else. Truth about God requires you to listen to God, his Word, and his Spirit. God desires for us to live full, victorious, abundant lives. He wants all people to use the power he gives us through the Holy Spirit in such a manner daily life experiences are controlled by us. Religion holds us back from the purpose God has for those who believe while God intends for us to take charge of our lives instead of being defeated and beat down all the time. The Apostle Paul taught these things as truths in the Scripture but churches have failed to teach them because these truths do not agree with religion. Peter comment about this very thing in 2nd Peter 6:15-16 when he said, ". . even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him has written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable twist, as they do also the other scriptures. . ."
There are many more truths in the Bible that most church organizations will not teach because they do not agree with their established religion. The truth of demonic powers and our ability to take control over them; truth how to become holy and perfect in Jesus Christ; truth that you do not have to remain sick or die from some disease; and truth how the power of our tongue and the words we speak can be a curse or a blessing; these and many more revelations we have from God, through his Word, are never taught in most mainstream churches, but they are truths being hidden under the shrewd blanket of religion.
Balancing Truth
Truth when it is first presented does not balance in our minds. This is why humans will receive a lie much easier than the truth. Jesus said in John 8:45, “Because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.” The things Jesus taught were hard for people to believe, especially since they were used to hearing the lies of religious leaders. It takes prove that something is true before we will trust it or we discard it as false. As I said in the second paragraph above, " For truth to exist there must be something that has proven itself to be." If a person who had been lame his entire life was all the sudden walking right in front of you, your first thoughts would be, “this cannot be true!” Yet Peter and John were arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin after the lame man was healed in front of the Temple (Acts 3:1-8). During their hearing in Acts Chapter 4, the account recorded in verse 14 says, “And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.” The Sanhedrin had proof in front of them, the man was healed, it was true, and they could not deny it.
Things in science do not balance as truth until someone believes in the truth enough to prove it is truth. From the moment their evidence shows it is truth, that truth is accepted. In Isaiah 40:22 the Bible teaches, “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth.” Christopher Columbus understood the world was round because he was taught it by revelation from God's word and by His Spirit. An entry he made in his Libro de las profecias (Book of Prophecies), explains how he knew the world was round:
It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel His hand upon me) the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me.
There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because he comforted me with rays of marvelous illumination from the Holy Scriptures, a strong and clear testimony from the 44 books of the Old Testament, from the four Gospels, and from the 23 Epistles of the blessed Apostles, encouraging me continually to press forward, and without ceasing for a moment they now encourage me to make haste.³
The logic people had in the late 1400’s was that the earth was flat because the naked eye could only see it that way. When Columbus presented the facts about the earth, people did not believe it because truth does not balance in our minds when it is first presented. Why people did not understand this before Columbus started teaching it is a wonder because the truth of earth was in the Scripture two millennia before Columbus was born.
Truth is not limited to what you understand. It is a power; it is force; it is ability; it is wisdom, knowledge, peace, goodness, love, and joy. Truth is not mean, hateful, hard or cold. It is the lie that has misled us that truth is mean, hateful, hard or cold. Truth is from God, but people refuse to live in truth and would rather believe the lies. Isaiah Chapter 45 shows us that God created, moves in nature, allows kingdoms, purposed kings as Cyrus, hides riches in secret places, forms us like clay, offers us salvation and sawyers by himself, and his words will not return void, because he is all truth. It is in this revelation we should establish our foundation that truth is not limited to our meager thoughts or simple concepts. Isaiah 55:8 teaches us that our thoughts are not God's thoughts nor our ways like his ways. This is why we must learn to trust the truths that are from God.
Truth Hurts, Or Does it?
People are not always willing to want truth because it requires them to acknowledge they do not know or understand the truth. Truth shows your error and requires you to change or accept something in order to exist in truth. When you understand that something is wrong or something is not what you always thought, the blunt truth of that could be difficult to accept. This is why people will say, "the truth hurts." Telling someone the truth about a thing can be hurtful to them but it is always good to have the truth. Though truth can hurt, knowing the truth gives you freedom to do something about that which is hurtful. You can change where you need to; you can help where something is in need of help; and you can make things better by understanding that things exists.
We should never be afraid of the truth. When you are afraid of something it controls you and holds you in bondage. Being afraid of truth keeps you from accepting truth. It makes you respond in ways that keep you and many others from understanding something that could be good. Jesus told the disciples that if they abide in his word they would know the truth and "the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). When you live in truth it does not hold you in bondage, it allows you to know, learn, grow, it frees you from ignorance and lack.
It can be difficult to hear that you have cancer, but it is better for you to know so you can do something about it. It could hurt you more by not knowing. You are always better off knowing the truth about a thing so you can work with it. Too often adults won't tell children things hoping to protect them, but most of the time the child is capable of adapting to the information. Holding back truth has never been the best thing to do. Not telling your children about your past is never the answer. You are not protecting them because they can find out one day and they will be more hurt thinking you did not think they were able to handle the information. The most used words that leave you with regret is, "Why didn't you tell me?"
Maybe it is not the truth that is the problem but we need to learn compassion and how to love people better. Sharing something with love and compassion can take the hurt away and allow peace and comfort to take over. Teaching people to deal with information causes all of us to be stronger and better people.
Recognizing Truth
The problem with truth is it takes something more than our own life experiences to help us recognize truth. Someone that is always making wrong decisions in life keeps making wrong decisions until they see beyond their own mindset and lifestyle choices. Making wrong decisions will result in difficult times in life. To become a person making good decisions this person must accept the truth about good decisions which they are not use to doing. When we are bombarded with difficulties in life, it is only good decisions that will overcome the difficulties. Things your parents and grandparents did that is right was based upon truths they learned from their life choices. If you reject those truths you will be making wrong choices. This is how good societies break down and become less than desirable places to live in. Recognizing the truth behind making good decisions is what maintains good choices. But it all comes down to truth. The lie leaves you empty, hurting and without ability to do good and right. If we want to "be" the things that are good and right we must recognize truth of a matter and live in that truth.
“To be or not to be?” This famous question is the opening phrase of a soliloquy in the "Nunnery Scene" of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. In the speech, a despondent or feigning Prince Hamlet contemplates death and suicide. The question is really trying to accept the truth that he should not commit suicide. This is why he asked himself, "to be or not be" and followed with the sequitur statement, "that is the question."
If a person can recognizes truth and is willing to receive it, they are becoming what is good and right. Truth really will make you free (John 8:32). You must be able to recognize truth and receive it, then you will be truly free. Truth frees you from being controlled, wrongly influenced, defeated, unable, and lied about. If something is not true, you do not have to participate in it nor do you have to allow it to influence anything about you. Living in truth gives confidence in what is right and what is real. Only truth is real, anything else is not acceptable. You do not have to be affected by something being said about you unless it is true. If it is true, and it is something that is wrong, adjust and change by learning to not do the wrong. If it is not true, crucify yourself to it and live above the lie (Galatians 2:20).
Another problem with truth is people too often speak things that are not truth as if it is a paradox. A paradox being a statement that contradicts itself and yet might be true. People will use something stated that is not based upon truth but tradition, to make it sound truthful. So often quotes are made from Job 1:21, "the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away", to explain why things are taken away by disaster or death. The truth of this verse is God did not cause Job to loose property and family to the disasters that overtook him, Satan did. It has been falsely taught is that God takes things away. Job spoke this being without truth. It was not God that took all the things from Job, it was Satan. But this verse is always used to justify the lie that God will take things away from us if we sin. Truth is, Satan is the one who steals, kills, and destroys (John 10:10).
Because truth does not balance in your mind when you first hear it, people will believe the lie before they will accept the truth. They will also tell a lie not always knowing it is not truth. This is why people will use scripture from things said in tradition more than truth.
Example: Deuteronomy 19:21 teaches "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Under the covenant of the Law of Moses it was truth. This is still being taught in some cutlers today though we live under a new covenant. Jesus came fulfilling the harshness of the Mosaic Law when he was teaching in Matthew 7:12 saying, "Therefore, whatsoever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." This is a very simple example, but actually shows my point: people will confuse the Word by following a misquote or accept some tradition concept being said before receiving real truth. Peter spoke about this in 2nd Peter 3:16 when he said, ". . .which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures." This is why there is so much confusion in the Body of Christ. If you will let the Word of God and the Holy Spirit guide you in all truth, you will know what truth is.
How far will one go to find truth?
Ponce Deleon traveled the oceans of the earth looking for what he believed to be truth that there was a fountain of youth.
King Richard the Lion Hearted chased all over Europe and the Middle East hoping to find the mystical chalice that Jesus drank out of.
Einstein discovered the process that later was developed into a bomb used to killed and destroyed lives and people, in his search for truth of energy.
King Solomon of Israel traveled, collected, and owned so much in his quest for truth and wisdom yet it influenced him to turn away from God.
How far will a person go for the quest of truth? To the endless vastness of space; to the deepest depths of the sea; to the undiscovered probes of the mind; to the deepest levels of sin; and to the purest highest of the thrown of God. This is how far people will go to find truth.
People have developed sophisticated strategies of study in search for truth: Philosophy, psychology, archaeology, physical science, theology, and many others:
Science is truth about knowledge concerning the universe.
Philosophy is truth about human character.
Psychology is truth about mental behavior.
Archaeology is truth about the past.
Physical Science is truth about physics and chemistry in nature.
Theology is truth about God.
The condition of one’s heart is what causes individuals to accept real truth (Ecclesiastes 7:3-4, 10:2; Proverb 17:22; Romans 2:2,7-8). The more a person will allow God to take over their heart, the more truth a person will chose to accept. It is by the heart an individual is moved. It is by the heart a person is touched. It is by the heart you will believe. This is why the Bible says in Romans 10:9-10 that "believe in your heart" that God has raised Jesus from the dead and in the "heart one believes" unto righteousness. It is in the heart you condition yourself to believe the Word of God and the testimony we get by the Spirit of God (John 16:12-15), to know all truth.
Here is Truth!
God is the only true God. . . He is the beginning of all truth. . .He is the giver of all that is truth (Isaiah 43:10). This is not a religious concept, this is truth.
People have had other gods even before the days of Noah; but these gods have never done anything for anyone because they are not real. Yet God has been heard by many and even those who have not heard him, knows he is alive and true. Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses knew all the things God had done for Moses and Israel (Exodus 18:1).
When God showed himself on Sinai it was always with thunder, lightning, storm clouds, fire, and smoke like a furnace (Exodus 19:16,18). This is because he is the only true living God. He is alive and makes noise. He is the only God and any other is not truth. He is the only God that is alive but most people on the earth do not believe this as truth. When you combine this with the gospel of Jesus Christ, there is even less who believe the truth.
The follow report from 2005 shows 67% of world religions as not believing in Christianity:
There are much more people that will not receive the truth about God than those who will.
The Apostle Paul spend much time teaching people to not fall away from the "truth of the gospel" as it was delivered to him by revelation (Galatians 1:11-12). He was concerned that the Galatians had stopped obeying the truth of the gospel (Galatians 3:1). It got so bad that Paul was looked at as an enemy to those in Galatia because he had told them the truth (Galatians 4:16).
We must stay true to truth.
When so much of the world is refusing to follow truth, real truth, we must stay true to the truth of the Word, the truth about God, and the truth of the Gospel. We must not give way to a perverted gospel that takes emphasis away from of the works of the Spirit. For centuries denominations have accepted the lie that we do not need baptism of the Holy Spirit. These same groups teach we do not need the gifts of the spirit and that all the works of Jesus stopped with the deaths of the Apostles. This is not truth, but it is what most Christians want to endorse. We must be open and not ashamed of the gospel (Romans 1:16), the entire gospel, not just the parts we like.
We must always remember truth is not a choice, it is fact. Truth is not being taught in most parts of the world, but the power of the Holy Spirit is what powers truth. We who endorse God's truth are his tools that places truth in front of people, and then the Spirit of God will confirm it is real. The more we share the more truth is generated throughout the earth. We are surely a privileged people as Christians to have this opportunity, so we must share truth, be truth, and continue to seek truth.
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¹ φιλοσοφία. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek-English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
² Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, truth, 2005.
³ William J. Federer, America’s God and Country, (Fame Publishing, Inc., Coppell, TX., 1994), p. 113.