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?<\/p>\n
John 1:14 reminds us of the importance of balancing both truth and grace:<\/p>\n
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.<\/strong><\/p>\n In John 8:31-32, Jesus emphasized the importance of truth to freedom and salvation:<\/p>\n So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, \u201cIf you continue in My word, then<\/i> you are truly disciples of Mine;<\/span><\/span> 32\u00a0<\/sup>and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.\u201d<\/span><\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n 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:<\/p>\n Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one<\/span> of you<\/i> with his neighbor<\/span>, for we are members of one another.<\/strong><\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n 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:<\/p>\n For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,<\/span>19\u00a0<\/sup>because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.<\/span> <\/strong>20\u00a0<\/sup>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<\/strong>.<\/span>21\u00a0<\/sup>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.<\/span> 22\u00a0<\/sup>Professing to be wise, they became fools,<\/span> 23\u00a0<\/sup>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\u00a0<\/span>crawling creatures.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n