Knowledge of the Truth
by Suzanne Benner
**Is there such a thing as absolute truth? Join the chat and ask the question. http://thelife.com/interactive/chat.html
“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3, 4)
Paul clearly states that God wants everyone to be saved. For that to happen, each person must know the truth.
Perhaps the phrase “come to a knowledge of the truth” raises more questions than answers in your mind.
Is truth simply what I believe or do I decide that truth is whatever works for me?
Is there such a thing as absolute truth?
If there is absolute truth, is it possible for me to know it?
As Christians, we believe that it is impossible to know truth apart from God and the Bible, which is God’s revelation to us, because only God – the Creator of the universe – understands reality as it actually is.
Thus the Bible is critical to our understanding of truth.
Questions about faith? Bring your doubts
Why would I need faith?: Find some answers
Paul goes on to say, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men – the testimony given in its proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:5, 6)
This is the central tenet of our faith.
Or as he says even more simply, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst” (1 Timothy 1:15).
*There is one God.
*There is one way to God.
*Jesus came to save sinners.
*We are all sinners.
This is the truth which we must know and believe in order to be saved from our sins and brought into relationship with Almighty God.
~Thank you, God of heaven and earth, for Your word which reveals You as truth. (God of truth – Isaiah 65:16, Spirit of truth – John 14:17, Jesus called Himself the truth – John 14:6) Only in You can I know truth and be saved. Reveal Your truth to my heart. Amen.
Questions: Why is truth sometimes hard to accept? Why is relative truth not truth at all?
About the Author: http://talk.thelife.com/experience/devotionalforwomen/authors/suzanne-benner/
Tags: absolute truth, faith, God, knowledge, reality, relationship, truth
10 Responses to “Knowledge of the Truth”
Leave a Reply
Start a Conversation
Media
What Do You Fear?
What do you fear, and why? Is it holding you back from realizing your full potential?
>Watch
- Contact
- |
- Advertising
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Link to Us
- |
- Media Releases
- |
- What we believe
“Why is truth sometimes hard to accept? Why is relative truth not truth at all?”
It is hard to accept for several reasons. Sometimes is because our limited minds have a hard time grasping it. Sometimes it is because we are afraid that it will be a bad experience to know it (only to find out later that is wasn’t as bad as we imagined it after all (preconceived notions). Sometimes it is because we don’t want to feel the pain that sometimes comes with knowing it.
Sometimes it is because we might be challenged with doing something we don’t want to do, or are afraid of doing, as a result of knowing the truth.
Sometimes it is because we haven’t been exposed to the truth enough to know it when we encounter it. Or because we have been taught to deny it. Sometimes it is because we are not ready to face the truth, or we lack the support we need to get through facing it. Sometimes it is because we have been hurt by someone’s else’s misuse of it. Sometimes we have been lied to or mislead so much that we don’t dare to believe in truth (as might have been the case with Pilate).
There are many reasons that the truth is hard to accept sometimes–some of which I probably haven’t addressed here. I guess that ultimately they all probably fall into two categories: fear or ignorance. What do you all think?
I spent some time going into an intellectual discussion about Absolute Truth vs. Relative Truth, but have decided not to include it because it would probably do more damage than good (i.e. confuse people or stir up controversy) and I didn’t want that. I was given a gem while I was writing, though, and I want to pass it on to all of you. It comes from the analogy of refining precious metals, separating dross (contaminants) from gold or silver.
While I was writing, I was thinking in terms of separating truth from untruth in statements that people make, and all of a sudden, the message changed topic, and turned around at pointed right at me!
Here’s what it is: From descriptions I have heard of refining gold or silver, these precious metals arrive at the refinery contaminated with, or mixed in with, non-precious substances. From what I understand, the dross (contaminants) that rises to the top has to be repeatedly skimmed off the top before a precious metal finally becomes pure (nothing but itself). As I wrote, I thought, “That sounds like a lot of work to me!”
But what struck me immediately after that thought was that no matter HOW contaminated the gold or silver is when it first arrives, it is no less precious because something else (not-gold, or not-silver) is mixed in with it. The Refiner knows this, and because He knows it, the work is worth it to Him!
That is how God sees US. He knows how dirty we are coming in, AND He knows how absolutely precious we are at the same time. He knows that when all the work is done, we are going to be no less precious, but purely precious, and that is what makes it worth it for HIm.
One last thing, on the Absolute Truth and Relative Truth thing: People often make statements that contain some truth and some untruth. Prov 14:15 (The Message) says, “The gullible believe anything they’re told; the prudent sift and weigh every word.” This is in order to determine if there is any truth in it. If truth is found, that is what we are to value. The rest is to be cast out and not relied on.
It isn’t always easy to know what is true and what isn’t, but that is what we have the Bible, good and knowledgable Christian friends, and prayer and meditation with God for.
Thats better than I WOULD have submitted!
Thanks, ladies–Love ya!
i believe and accept the absolute truth that Jesus died on the cross to redeem us from sin and that when we receive him, we are saved. the bible is the source of absolute truth. it also contains God’s promises to us. the words in the bible are our guarantee that God loves us and he will always be true to his promises to mankind.
yes God wants everyone to be saved but we have to make the choice for ourself He will not force us
sharon
Amen, sisters! We must stay on guard for the evil one’s counterfeit truth, which is fed liberally to unsuspecting, unsaved souls around the globe! We, as believers, need to be well-read of our Bibles, so that we can discern Truth from lies. There is no such thing as ‘relative truth,’ which is similar to ‘kind of pregnant!’ And, as Jesus said, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” there is little room for interpretative license! John 1:1 states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:14 declares, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” Therefore, since Jesus was the Word, and He is the Truth, then we can conclude that the Word is the Truth! 2 Timothy 3:16 states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” As much of the New Testament was written by the apostle Paul, Peter assures us of Paul’s trustworthiness in his writings by stating, “He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. (the time of Jesus’ return) His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:16) So, it is clear that Scripture is often mis-interpreted and distorted for the benefit of self-interest.
Thank you so much for such a wonderful insight. I would just like to add that Jesus not only came to die for our sins, but is the only way to God. No other way will do. The bible tells us that there is no salvation in any other, neither is there any other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. (See Acts 4:12). God bless you.
Thank God for the truth of God that we have and it is indeed the truth that we know that sets us free. Thank you God for giving me the priviledge to come to the knowledge of the truth, without which my life would have been meaningless!!
…and the truth sets us free!..
Great Devotional !
Romel it is so good to hear you are back on the site.
I believe that the enemy tries to steal our truth daily by telling us lies about ourselves, others and our God. We have to have the truth in us so that we can come against untruth. We must hide the word in our hearts by memorizing scripture so that when the enemy comes against us we can check it with our spirit.
Holy Spirit lead us today into what you would want us to believe and show us your way, in Jesus name Amen
Relative truth I guess is how we view right and wrong for us ( as individuals). Thinking that some action is not a big deal (a little lie)could actually let Satan in the back door and he can begin to blind you to the truth, without you realizing it. So it is important to stay alert!
Don’t get lazy, capture everything thought and hold it up to the teachers’ answer key (the Bible).
Thanks Suzanne for the great devotional. You said:
“~Thank you, God of heaven and earth, for Your word which reveals You as truth. (God of truth – Isaiah 65:16, Spirit of truth – John 14:17, Jesus called Himself the truth – John 14:6) Only in You can I know truth and be saved. Reveal Your truth to my heart. Amen.”
Yes, it is absolutely vital for us to take GOD’s word as truth in our lives if we want to be established in the saving faith of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. HE is the WAY, the TRUTH, the only WAY to see the face of our loving heavenly FATHER and dwell in heaven with the Holy Trinity when the times come. I could hardly wait to meet all of you there in thatblessed Reunion in the glorious wedding of the Lamb to the Bride. Wait! That is us marrying JESUS CHRIST. JESUS CHRIST Finally uniting with HIS CHURCH and presenting us to our SUGAR DADDY. I could hardly wait.
GOD bless you all! I missed everybody.
Have a SON-filled day everyone.
Romel H