Can I Know the Truth?
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1 Peter 3:15
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
We have to have a defense for what we believe.
We have to have a defense for what we believe.
This automatically puts us in the defense/offense mindset!
I am not a football fan, but I know enough to know that when you’re on the field, you can’t grab the ball on a pass and start heading to the other team’s goal!
So we may ask, why be defensive about it?
A “defense” in this passage simply means that we need to give an answer. Phil. 1:17
Have you ever had to give an answer for why you believe what you believe? The apostle Paul did.
He was ready. In Philippians 1:17, he wrote, “I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.”
We have to not only know what we believe, but also why we believe it.
Is Establishing Truth Necessary?
Is Establishing Truth Necessary?
Some seem to have decided it is not. There seems to be a movement against a need to establish truth.
Often people will say “live by YOUR truth”, as if we can establish a subjective truth for each other, and let that be the end of it.
Even in the religious world, some say that establishing truth is appealing to the head, and not the heart.
The Bible tells us that we need truth.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
And,
Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
We are meant to love God with everything we are. This involves the head and the heart! It is the basis of faith.
We Cannot Establish Truth without God.
We Cannot Establish Truth without God.
Our ability to reason has limits without God.
By examining the universe we can reach the conclusion that God exists and that He is powerful (Romans 1:20).
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
The Scriptures remind us that we can only go so far with human reason without help. (Jeremiah 10:23; 1 Corinthians 1:21; Romans 1:22).
O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself;
It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
Professing to be wise, they became fools,
When a church stops believing that the Bible is the word of God, they will start believing that the words of men are the final authority.
We need to remain objective!
There are many reasons why we need God’s revelation, but one reason is that apart from God’s truth it is very difficult to remain objective.
Issues with man’s thinking without God:
Wishful thinking: Proverbs 16:25
There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
Personal prejudices: Psalm 19:13
“It may be that the atheist cannot find God for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman” (Dickson p. 57).
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.
Blind acceptance of human tradition as the ultimate authority Matthew 15:8-9
‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
Human ignorance
man is fallible and limited.
On Establishing Truth, the Bible says:
The truth can be known (John 8:32; Proverbs 23:23).
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Buy the truth, and do not sell it,
Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.
The truth can be equally known by all men (Ephesians 3:4; 1 Timothy 2:4).
by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ),
who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Man is a sinner, and even Christians are imperfect (1 John 1:8-10), yet man can still walk in the truth (3 John 4).
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
Objectively can be a reality if we love the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12); If we hold to God’s word, we are sanctified by its truth (John 17:17).
How Can We Use Reason to Establish Truth?
How Can We Use Reason to Establish Truth?
The Apostle Paul was able to do it. Acts 17:2-3; 18:4
Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.”
And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.
Also note Acts 24:25; 1 Thess 5:21; Heb 5:14.
Simply put, reason is using our minds to search for truth. Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
Evidence is the chief tool of reason to establish truth. Heb. 11:1; Romans 10:14,17
The Bible not only claims that the evidence for God’s existence is strong, clear and universal (Romans 1:20), the Bible itself is also evidence.
We look at Hebrews 11:1 and might conclude that faith is about what is “not seen”.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The NASB puts it this way: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”.
Note: This verse does not DEFINE faith so much as tell us what faith DOES.
Faith is simply defined as BELIEF. The context tells us WHAT or WHOM we have faith in.
The whole ch.11 tells us the great things that people of faith did in the past, people who believed God.
True, living faith accomplishes both assurance and conviction.
The word conviction could also be translated “proof or proving”.
Other passages equally point out that Christianity is not wishful thinking, but one becomes a Christian as a result of examining the evidence (Romans 10:14,17)
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
What about Science?
What about Science?
Science and the Bible often seek to answer the same basic questions.
“Where did we come from?”
“Are miracles possible?”
The faith of an atheist
While many atheists claim that they only deal in facts, this is not true. The atheist believes:
Life came from non-life.
Consciousness arose from innate matter.
Emotions came from that which has no emotion.
Personality came from the impersonal.
Intelligence came from the unintelligent.
Reasoning came from that which cannot reason.
The atheist cannot prove any of the tenets of his faith.
in fact, the evidence that is all around us in the universe says otherwise.
“Theodore Christlieb wrote: ‘The denial of the existence of God involves a perfectly monstrous hypothesis; it is, when looked at more closely, an unconscionable assumption. Before one can say that the world is without a God, he must first have become thoroughly conversant with the whole world. In other words, ‘it would be necessary for you to know everything before you could dogmatically affirm that there is no God, because if you did not know everything, the very thing which may have escaped your notice is God” (Dickson p. 56).
God says the atheist is a fool (Psalm 14:1).
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.
Faith is required for any worldview.
Philip Johnson has accurately observed, “One who claims to be a skeptic of one set of beliefs is actually a true believer in another set of beliefs”.
In fact, it takes far more faith to hold to atheism than to what the Bible says, for example:
The scientific evidence overwhelmingly confirms that the universe exploded into being out of nothing. Either someone created something out of nothing (Christianity) or no one created something out of nothing (atheism). Which view is more reasonable? Which view requires more faith?
The simplest life form contains the information equivalent of 1,000 encyclopedias. The Christian believes that only an all-powerful God can create a life form containing that amount of information. The atheist believes non-intelligent time and chance can do it.
Absolute Truth Does Exist.
Absolute Truth Does Exist.
Absolutes are a Common part of Life.
We see or interact with absolutes frequently. We encountered one absolute after another in school where there was only one right answer to a question or on a test.
To the simple question, “Is rape always wrong” most people would say, “yes”. There are absolutes in history, geography, math and so on.
All modern attacks on truth are self-defeating, for example:
“There is no absolute truth.” Are you absolutely sure?
“All truth is relative”. Is that a relative truth?
“If there is really no truth, then why try to learn anything? Why should any student listen to any professor? What is the point of going to school, much less paying for it?....The truth of the matter is this: False ideas about truth lead to false ideas about life. In many cases, these false ideas give apparent justification for what is really immoral behavior” (I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be An Atheist, Geisler and Turek, p. 40).
Believing in Absolutes is Humble. Jeremiah 10:23; Isaiah 55:8-9
Sadly, believing that absolute truth exists has been spun in recent times as being arrogant, but the exact opposite is true.
The humble person says, “I defer to God” for I am limited and fallible when it comes to my own understanding (Jeremiah 10:23; Isaiah 55:8-9 ).
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
No one believes that there is no absolute truth.
Yet nobody really believes this.
None of our teachers practiced this, for they marked as “wrong” various answers that we gave on tests.
Was it “true” for Stalin to kill so many innocent people?
There are people that claim that the earth is flat. Others believe that there are lizard people living underground. Does their belief in those things make them true? It is not even true for them!
Faith and Doubt
Faith and Doubt
Faith seeks answers. James 1:6; 1 Pet. 3:15; 1 Thess. 5:21-22
It is clear that God is not impressed by the person who cannot make a commitment and is continually doubting, moving in one direction and then in the other and back and forth (James 1:6).
Yet God does encourage the Christian to study, grow, learn and find answers (1 Peter 3:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22). Thus it is not unnatural or contradictory for faith to seek answers, and consider the following:
Anyone who starts to study the Bible honestly will admit that many of their “questions” and “doubts” are answered even before they obeyed the gospel.
Anyone who has continued to study and grow will only confirm that more and more “thorny issues” are resolved in the years that follow conversion. Not ALL, but a progression is clear.
It is equally easy to forget that the atheist has many doubts, but the difference is that his doubts increase as he advances in this unbelief. Since there is no objective truth in such a worldview, the atheist spirals further downward in ignorance and confirmation bias.
In doing your daily bible reading, keep a notebook handy, or whatever you use, to keep a list of “unanswered questions”; a list of doubts, dilemmas, issues that confront the unbeliever. Also, if you are a Christian, make a list of doubts that you no longer have to endure.
There are unshakable features of objective truth.
Truth is timeless.
If something is true, it is true for all people, in all places, at all times.
Truth is unchanging even through our beliefs about truth may change.
When mankind began to believe that the earth was round instead of flat, the truth about the earth did not change, only human belief changed.
Beliefs cannot change a fact, no matter how sincerely they are held.
Truth is not changed by the attitude of the one professing it.
An arrogant person does not make the truth he professes to be false, but neither does a humble person make the error he professes to be true.
Contrary beliefs are possible, but contrary truths are not possible.
We can believe everything is true, but we cannot make everything true.
Truth is not dependent upon our feelings or preferences.
Something is true whether we like it nor not.
We Cannot Avoid Truth. John 18:38; Matt. 27:18
Even though truth is under attack, there is really no way that a person can avoid dealing with truth.
Pilate, asked Jesus, “What is truth” (John 18:38)—and yet knew a number of things for certain:
He knew that Jesus was innocent (19:4).
He knew that Jesus was claiming to be the king of the Jews (19:15).
He knew that the Jewish authorities were envious of Jesus’ power and influence and that is why were they seeking to get rid of Him (Matthew 27:18).
What do I mean when I say that truth is unavoidable?
When someone says, “There are no absolutes. And that’s just your interpretation”, ask them, “Is it absolutely true that it is my interpretation and is it absolutely true that you are saying that it is absolutely wrong?” Truth is unavoidable.
When someone says, “There are no absolutes. What is true for you is not true for me”, ask them, “Is it absolutely true that your truth is truth for you?” Truth is inescapable.
Be Watchful.
When you encounter people who seek to undermine your confidence in absolute or objective truth, be watchful, for you will observe that:
They make themselves exceptions to their own rules.
For example, the historian or author who claims that we are just products of our environment certainly does not speak as if he believes he is a mere helpless products, but instead often has an attitude of having arisen above cultural influences with the rare and unique ability to see the truth far more clearly than the "less gifted" around him.
People say that so many people disagree about the Bible, that therefore a clear meaning cannot exist.
Yet they make an exception for the book they are writing. They expect people to properly interpret their book and are offended if anyone would dare to misquote them.
People who claim that morality is situational, make an exception for themselves when they are wronged. The moral relativist who says that it is none of their business how others live—quickly finds a moral absolute when someone keys their car, kidnaps their child, or cleans out their savings account.
Men who claim that everything is relative, seek to persuade everyone else that their own perspective, however, is not relative, but is indeed the truth.
People who say they don’t judge others, frequently judge those who are making the moral judgments that God expects us to make.
People who say that it doesn’t matter how you believe, just as long as you are sincere, often neither appreciate nor accept the Christian who sincerelybelieves that Jesus is the only way, or that hell exists.
People who say, “Question Authority” mean “Question all authority except the authority I just asserted when I stated "Question Authority".
Can/Should we question the faith of others? 1 John 4:1; Revelation 2:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22; Matthew 7:15
The claim that one should not question someone’s religious belief is in itself a religious belief that questions the faith of those who are called upon by examine all beliefs (1 John 4:1).
The prohibition against questioning the faith of others is an absolute moral position. Why shouldn’t we question religious beliefs?
The Bible commands Christians to question religious beliefs (1 John 4:1; Revelation 2:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22; Matthew 7:15).
The prohibition against “judging” is false because it fails to meet its own standard: ‘you ought not to judge’ is itself a judgment.
So the real issue is not judging, but making the right judgments.
Conclusion
“Christians are not supposed to ‘just have faith’. Christians are commanded to give answers to those who ask (1 Peter 3:15), and to demolish arguments against the Christian faith (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Since God is reasonable (Isaiah 1:18) and wants us to use our reason, Christians don’t get brownie points for being stupid. In fact, using our reason is part of the greatest commandment which, according to Jesus, is to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ (Matthew 22:37)” (I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be An Atheist, Norman L. Geisler, Frank Turek, p. 29).