Absolute Truth
Jn.18:37-38 - …Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?…
Jn.14:6 - Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
Eph.4:21 - If so be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus.
The phrase “absolute truth” means in fact something that is unwaveringly and infinitely true. Truth is the communicative medium of reality, in other words absolute truth is the unchangeable and immutable existence of God, His creation, and His laws. Absolute truth cannot be altered in any way, it stands eternal and unmolested by human hands and thoughts. Is there absolute truth or is all truth something like light refraction that can bend as it goes through the prism of culture and experience? Does truth remain constant or is it redacted by different generations and their sociological and intellectual environment? When Christ Himself said He would send the Holy Spirit and He would guide us into all truth, was Jesus speaking generally and are His words to be taken within a “guesswork” context or did He actually mean “all truth”?
As Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane he made this statement, “Thy Word is truth”. He was speaking with the Heavenly Father and the Word Incarnate confessed that God’s Word is truth. Let us consider just what the word “truth” means. If 2 + 2 = 4 is truth in North America but 2 + 2 = 5 in South America then each are only true as interpreted and understood by those who live in the distinct continents. That is why we say it is 5:00 PM in New York but 1:00 PM in California. Which is it, then? It is both because man has assigned those mathematical or time designations based upon geography, but neither are absolute because they are bound by man’s definition and parameters.
So much of what man has designated as truth has come from his cultural and educational experience which varies around the world and through the centuries. But that cannot be how we see and understand God’s Word which existed before the universe was ever created. God’s Word transcends all humanity and their severely limited experience and intellectual disseminations, no, God’s Word is eternally fixed. “Forever, O Lord, thy Word is settled in heaven”. Our experience, our intellect, our definitions, and our interpretations run the high risk of creating our own truth and assigning it as God’s which is one of the greatest sins of all.
We can never claim inerrant interpretations but we can and must always claim the existence of inerrant truths, absolute as interpreted by God’s Spirit. God’s Word has generously revealed Himself and His redemption to the world, and we must receive it as divine and absolute. But as we rightly divide the Word we also see that the teachings about Christ and His redemption are the foundation for any understanding about God. These truths, clearly and without error or dilution presented in written form, must be believed as foundational and revealed by Scripture and interpreted by themselves through the communicative power of God’s Spirit. The reason for so many different interpretations even concerning salvation has nothing to do with Biblical clarity and everything to do with man’s sinful heart and religious imaginations, otherwise known as lies. The Bible is clear concerning the salvation offered by the Heavenly Father through His Risen Son and the tortured versions put forth by man reveal a startling and breathtaking insight into the depth of our sinfulness, even to distorting the priceless redemption of our Creator.
Today some are questioning whether absolute truth can be known or even if it exists, and with that mercurial theology comes an uncertainty that provides a wonderful basis for discourse but no basis for truth. Emanating from such a premise comes a refreshing conversation that provides an elevated view of our opinions and that revels in our place at the dialogue table but rejects any impartial plumb line upon which opinions can be authenticated. If there is absolute truth but it cannot be known then it might as well not exist and in the end it then is irrelevant. As Solomon observed, “Let us eat drink and be merry” or another words “Let us just talk, talk, and be merry”.
Now there are things in Scripture that seem to be more hidden and require much study and deep humility in order to come to an accurate interpretation, and some of those issues are not integral to the core of redemption. But do not feel safe in tossing these around either as unimportant or without significant merit, no, all Scripture is important and when we dismiss one section as worthless we run the risk of having that view seep into the entirety of Scripture. This is what we see happening today on a massive scale. But when two believers who hold that all Scripture is absolute in its authority disagree on some portion that does not do damage to the gospel and Christ’s redemption then those two can challenge each other without accusation and on a platform of general agreement. This is the iron sharpens iron Biblical principle which we all need.
But when theology has no absolute either in its basis or interpretation then it is a discussion, nothing more and much less. Now interpretation is not an earth science, it is a reward of grace by God’s Spirit which must be received by faith, the clear teaching of Scripture, and against the test of proven men of God especially those who have been without question used of God. After two thousand years of church history, both Christ honoring and Christ forsaking, there is no new redemptive interpretation, only new error. New obedience, new desire, new awakening, new repentance, new devotion, new sacrifice, yes and amen, but no new interpretation, especially those generated by a small group of individuals claiming some private interpretation. As the old preacher proclaimed, “If it’s new it ain’t true!” and he was correct.
So all absolute truth concerning God and His dealings with mankind is revealed in the written revelation of Scripture. All orthodox believers spotted people like Joseph Smith and Mary Baker Eddy as false prophets just based upon their extra-biblical written revelations. Those falsehoods and their purveyors are easy to recognize. But it is sometimes much more difficult to spot those who offer no extra-biblical writings as Scripture, but with deft and silent craftiness make their aberrant interpretations just as authoritative as if they had claimed to find ten new books of Scripture. It doesn’t necessitate presenting new writings as Scripture, the same effect can be promoted when the interpretations that are taught dismantle and alter the clear teachings of the same Scriptures. These interpretations become a medium by which new “scripture” can be taught to listeners who believe they are being taught the Bible when in reality they are being taught the machinations of some man who disguises his foundation as Biblical. Some of them are every bit as deceptive as the Book of Mormon but are presented as God’s Word and not new revelation, when in reality they are not God's Word and they are new revelation but presented as interpretive insight. This clandestine process is happening with great vigor and enthusiasm today and is called “Bible study”. It is impossible to accurately and with any certainty ascertain the hearts and motives of those who teach such things, but it is evident they are deceived themselves and are broadcasting that poisonous seed throughout the church.
Some would say that issues like eschatology (for example), the study of the last days, are not important and we all can believe what we want since the Scriptures are not clear. But even when discussing these things we cannot exhibit Scriptural laziness and allow the clear teachings of Scripture to be changed. Some are teaching that Christ’s second coming is through the believer, or that there is no physical reign of Christ on earth, or many other teachings that undermine more than eschatology. The chronology of Christ’s return is fair game, but the truth and essence of that return is not open for interpretation. I address this issue of prophecy so as to alert us that every section of Scripture must be taken with sacredness and seriousness even when it is difficult to understand. In short, the difficulty rests with us and not with Scripture.
Another facet of denying the existence or at least the interpretive ability to understand absolute truth is the teaching of Scripture that Jesus Himself in the incarnation was and is the divine revelation of absolute truth. So when we reject absolute truth we also by implication, and in many quarters open admission, assume that we can not fully understand who Jesus was and what His mission was on earth to any degree of agreeable accuracy. That my friends is about as dangerous as it gets and that view has led to liberalism, cults, and now a generous dialogue that has no defining center and either claims a general uncertainty about what was once understood as certain, or at least embraces that viewpoint as legitimate.
There is absolute spiritual and theological truth and it is revealed in the Scripture. Is it any wonder that so much is interpreted with complete disregard of that premise when we have left the Word and the prayer closet simultaneously, and the church like a wild ass has sniffed the modern air and its newness and has jumped the tested theological fences to follow those who are piping a new and pleasant tune. People who believe the Scriptures can be interpreted with accuracy and present absolutes are now viewed as legalistic Pharisees who are stuck sitting on the ancient landmarks while the new teachers are pointing to a different and more enlightened way. I fear for them and their followers.
Let us recommit ourselves to God’s unchangeable truth and the written revelation of His Word. To be sure we ourselves need an awakening, but while we wait upon the Lord we must do sentry duty against the deception which is already upon us. Birnam Woods has already come to Dunsidane and the hidden treachery with it. But do not fear, no man born of Adam will gain the victory, only the virgin born Son of the Living God will prevail.
Guird up your loins, the Lion comes quickly and with much warning…
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