When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth [John 16:13]. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free [John 8:32].
What is truth?
As Pilate asked Jesus [John 18:38], many people search for truth. But that quest is confusing and frustrating in all aspects of society. Corruption and deceit run rampant in government. Politicians say only what gets them reelected. Personal agendas scream at each other. Professors and teachers spew moral relativism. Apostate, so-called progressive preachers and teachers proclaim their preferential per-versions. Sadly, truth seems to have lost her voice.
Absolute Truth
Jesus said He is “the way, the truth and the life” [John 14:6]. He is not merely the source. He is—all, absolute, unchanging, and unchallenged—truth. As one of the divine Trinity, He said God’s Holy Spirit would arrive after His ascension. That Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, guides us. Additionally, we have God’s Word—that Jesus also declared as truth [John 17:17].
As a round-about confirmation, Jesus came to earth as the incarnate Word of God (John 1:1-2, 14). He is “God with us” [Matthew 1:23]. Therefore, Jesus as God and the Word of God is absolute truth. God’s Spirit alone guides into truth—apart from which, there is none. It is this Spirit whose truth brings freedom [John 8:32] and liberty [2 Corinthians 3:17]. Though His truthfulness is freeing, deceit enslaves.
Any doubters are welcome to research that all Biblical prophecy related to the past has been completely and accurately fulfilled. Jesus Himself fulfilled thirty-three separate prophesies on the day of His crucifixion.[1] There is no reason to doubt the fulfillment of future prophecy (especially as we see things unfolding!) or Christ’s claims to deity. The empty tomb also stands as a silent but truthful witness.
So, the source has been identified. However, simply knowing truth is not the same as owning it. There is a world of difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge.
Admission of Truth Is Not Ownership of Truth
Simply stating facts is not absorbing factual truth. Even a parrot can call out factual sounds. Just because someone says or admits something as truthful is not ownership of it. Ownership results in fruit [Matthew 7:20].
- After betraying Jesus, Judas Iscariot said “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood” [Matthew 27:3-4]. This is true, yet Judas didn’t act on it by asking God to forgive him.
- Before crucifying Jesus, Pilate confessed Jesus innocence three times: “I find no fault in Him” [John 18:38, 19:4, 19:6]. This is true, yet Pilate still handed Him over to be crucified.
- On several occasions, demons confessed who Christ was: “I know who You are—the Holy One of God” [Mark 1:24]; “You are the Son of God” [Mark 3:11]; “You are the Christ, Son of the living God” [Luke 4:41]. All these statements are true, yet were of no benefit to them.
- Demons actually believe in God and tremble at the thought [James 2:19]. Even belief in God isn’t ownership or personal action on that belief.
Religion Is Not Truth
Some think religion is truth. However, there is an eternal gap between religion and a personal relationship with Jesus. Too often, religion is just a fancy disguise for just another civic group. People gather, pay their dues, sing the songs, participate in meetings, get involved in their communities—yet remain spiritually unchanged. Sadly, many “religious leaders” are oblivious—often masquerading their preferential humanistic beliefs or moral relativism as God’s Word. Here’s a spiritual secret: God’s Word never conflicts with God’s Word.
There is also an eternal gap between knowledge of truthful facts and spiritual regeneration. I can quote verses, sing worship songs, raise my hands in praise, and bend my knees in prayer, yet not be spiritually regenerated. Until I have been “born from above” [John 3:3-8], I remain unregenerate and bound for eternity in hell. Knowing the veracity of Scripture, of Christ, of the end times, or even of Christ’s return is pointless unless I act on it and claim it as my own.
How do I do that? Thank you for asking.
By accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, I recognize myself a lost sinner and claim as my own His substitutionary sacrifice on Calvary. I own my sinful state [Romans 3:10, 23] and claim His righteousness as my own [2 Corinthians 5:21]. By God’s grace through personal faith in Jesus [Ephesians 2:8], I am saved, born again, born “from above,” indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
Upon being “born from above,” God’s Spirit resides within me and regenerates my spirit. When the Holy Spirit regenerates my flat-lined, fallen, sinful spirit, my eyes are opened to understand God’s truth.
Paul clarified, “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” [1 Corinthians 2:13-14]. Unless I have the Holy Spirit of God, I am unable, even incapable, of finding real, genuine, absolute truth.
Led by Truth Into All Truth
Taking God’s Word as truth, and Jesus as being “the truth,” when I accept Him as personal Lord and Savior, something supernatural happens. God lives inside me [John 14:23]. Paul explained, “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God?” [1 Corinthians 6:19].
With the Spirit of absolute truth living inside, He leads, illuminates, and enlightens me. This is something an unbeliever does not have. Without God’s illuminating and liberating Spirit, he may know about the truth but cannot fully comprehend it because he refuses to own it for himself. In that spiritual void, he wanders the enslaving darkness of deceit, man-made cults, self-serving humanism, and relative morality in company with Judas, Pilate, and the hosts of hell. They all know the truth; they just didn’t own it.
As a “born from above” child of God, I am free to know, accept, own, and proclaim God’s truth. My prayer is that you too will know and own The Truth and experience His liberating insight and freedom as a result.
[1] John Phillips, Exploring the Future: A Comprehensive Guide to Bible Prophecy, (Kregel, 2003), 15.
