Truth and Freedom

True Truth Sets Us Free

John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews who believed in Him, “If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed. 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Many people today define freedom as being able to do whatever you feel like doing.

A biblical definition of freedom is being able to be all that God intended for you to be.

It is a great freedom to feel fulfilled in life, and to be able to do all that is possible for you to do and to become.

Freedom Begins with Belief

“Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him…” That phrase indicates a deep commitment of heart to Jesus.

True belief can only come from evidence. You will never find freedom until you examine the evidence that Jesus is Who He claims to be. Don’t reject Jesus because some atheistic professor sneers at Jesus in a classroom, or because some cult distorts Him and presents a supposedly historic figure that has no basis in fact.

John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing,
ye might have life through His name.

What is Truth?

John 8:32b “and the truth shall make you free.”

In an age when the very idea of truth is being scorned and attacked (even within the church), Solomon’s wise advice has never been more timely: “Buy the truth, and do not sell it.” Proverbs 23:23

The Bible says that God and truth are inseparable. That is why God incarnate, Jesus Christ, is called The Truth. John 14:6

It is no surprise when someone who does not believe in God rejects His truth (His Word: Christ, Scripture) as well. If a person cannot tolerate the thought of God, there is simply no comfortable place for the concept of truth in that person’s worldview, either.

Many in the academic and philosophical realms no longer believe in truth as a sure and knowable reality. Contemporary aversion to truth is simply a natural expression of fallen humanity’s innate hostility toward God. Romans 8:7

Some self-styled evangelicals today are openly questioning whether such a thing as truth even exists. Others suppose that even if truth does exist, we cannot be sure concerning what it is, so it cannot really matter much.

Church leaders are especially responsible for setting an example. Jeremiah 3:15 And I will give you pastors (shepherds) according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

What and Where is Truth Today?

Where does this concept of truth come from, and why is it so basic to all human thought?

Truth is the way things really are. Abandon a biblical definition of truth, and unrighteousness is the inescapable result. Romans1:28

Human philosophers have sought for thousands of years to explain truth and account for human knowledge apart from God. Ancient Greek philosophers simply assumed the validity of truth and human knowledge without attempting to account for how we know what we know. For some two thousand years, nearly all philosophers set forth number of naturalistic explanations for what and how we know what we know.

Truth and the dawn of the so-called Enlightenment

The goal of human philosophy used to be truth without God. Today’s philosophies are open to the notion of God without truth, or, personal “spirituality” in which everyone is “free to create his or her own god.” Personal gods pose no threat to sinful self-will, because they suit each sinner’s personal preferences anyway, and they make no demands on anyone else.

The modern mind says science determines truth and discounts the idea of the supernatural. It looks for scientific and rationalistic explanations for everything. Those presuppositions gave birth to Darwinism, which in turn spawned a string of humanistic ideas and worldviews.

Postmodernism in general is marked by a tendency to dismiss the possibility of any sure and settled knowledge of the truth. It suggests that if objective truth exists, it cannot be known objectively or with any degree of certainty.

Truth In Church Today

Liberalism, and the new Emerging Church movement, expresses a high level of discomfort with any hint of certainty about what the Bible means, even on something as basic as the gospel. Refusing to acknowledge and defend the revealed truth of God is a particularly stubborn and pernicious kind of unbelief.

Jesus said, If we continue in His Word, True Truth, we will be free. We can be free from the bondage of sin and from ourselves.

Real freedom is found not in making up truth as we go, but in knowing God, our Creator, and discovering His Truth and the true joy and freedom He gives us.

Let’s hold to The Truth: God’s Word.