Were It Not for Truth

Earlier this year, we wrote several blogs about the grace of God. We rely upon His grace every single day and because of this, there is a lot of emphasis on grace and rightfully so! However, did you know that we also rely upon TRUTH every day, too?

John 1:14 reminds us of the importance of balancing both truth and grace:

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

In John 8:31-32, Jesus emphasized the importance of truth to freedom and salvation:

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

We all depend upon the truth whether we acknowledge it or not. Ephesians 4:25 has always impacted me because of the very last phrase in this verse:

Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.

“We are members of one another” is talking to Christ-followers who depend upon each other and need each other and the tie that binds them together is their utter dependency upon the truth in the Word of Christ. It is a striking statement and when you think of it, we all depend upon absolute truth. Imagine if we all decided that red lights could mean anything to anyone because there is no truth. Then, when drivers approach a red light under this idea, there would be absolute chaos and pandemonium leading to many car wrecks, injuries, and deaths. Society in American culture depends upon red lights meaning “stop” and not any other self-determined truth.

In like manner, all human beings depend on God and His truth to exist. There are truths that are self-evident that might be denied by atheists and unbelievers but that is to their detriment both in this life and in the life eternal that is to come. Romans 1:18-25 gives us a dark picture of those who “suppress” (or hide under the table) the truth that God has made evident to human beings:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Not a pretty picture of someone who is denying and suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. Not a pleasant outcome to deny truth.

In days ahead, we’ll talk about the importance of truth and how it has impacted our lives with testimonies from young women at Vision of Hope. I hope it will encourage you to not only read your Bibles, but to live out the truths in your Bibles in faith in Almighty God.

-Pastor Mark Shaw (grateful for the truth and its illuminating power by the Holy Spirit)

Mark Shaw
Mark Shaw has 22 years of counseling experience working in a variety of settings including faith-based residential programs, dealing with issues surrounding “addictions” of all types, and supervising staff positions. His experience in the biblical counseling field began in 2001. He has written 14 published works including The Heart of Addiction; Relapse: Biblical Prevention Strategies; Divine Intervention: Hope and Help for Families of Addicts; Addiction-Proof Parenting; and Hope and Help for Self-Injurers/Cutters. He also co-authored a chapter in Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling (2013).