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By Billy Holland

Columnist

Have you considered that most individuals are convinced that what they believe is true, and all who disagree with them are not as wise as they are? What is your personal view about this? May I ask, where did you discover your truth? Did God speak truth to you, or were you just persuaded by what someone else believes? If knowledge was passed on to you from those you respect, how do you know they received it from the Lord? To learn and discern spiritual wisdom, we must have spiritual ears to hear God. The Almighty is divine truth and has never erred; He is perfect as He instructs the truth seeker. Why are there so many ideas about God and the Bible? The dangerous snares of misinterpretation. While we know what God says is always perfect, the problem centers on the human’s misunderstanding of what God is saying.

In the natural realm we realize that if the teacher is wrong in their opinions, it is most likely the student will also be persuaded in the same direction. Historically and currently we can see this in the massive world of religion. So many teachers, with endless speculations concerning truth, brings us to a critical juncture in our subject. Is there one standard of absolute truth that God has established within the fabric of eternity, or is truth a personal acceptance that is relative to each individual? The first option is embraced by many Christians including myself, as it’s common to confess His truth but sadly we rarely demonstrate it. The second choice is called relativism which believes there is no such thing as absolute truth, and how it’s perfectly normal for everyone to believe whatever they are convinced is true to them. What are your thoughts about this?

Some people are like sponges as they love to soak up knowledge and wisdom. They read books and listen to teachers as they expand their perception of the natural and spiritual. Some might ask, “How can we trust what others teach? How can we know truth from error?” It’s our responsibility to study and gain wisdom while being close to God allows us to detect deception through the filter of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Some are convinced it’s healthy to be open-minded and to consider as many interpretations of truth as possible to have a broad spectrum of the meaning of life. However, being open to what everyone believes can increase the chance of confusion, and deception, and distort our discernment of absolute truth. Christians do not tolerate false ideas but are called to reject and expose them.

Whichever side we lean toward, everyone already has their own opinions about most everything. Whether our views are divine truth or not, Jesus knows the difference and wants us to understand why we believe our views and that our truth is not always His truth. Life is not just a guessing game of random ideas. Yes, Christians must be narrow-minded and guard their thoughts as they walk on the narrow path of holiness. The Bible says a little leaven negatively affects the entire loaf which is why false knowledge hinders our walk with God. There is no such thing as a safe dose of poison. Just because we trust a source does not protect us from being deceived. Knowing God is knowing His truth. As bank workers are trained to recognize counterfeits, so must we must know when Satan is disguising himself as an angel of light.

Let us examine the dialogue between Jesus and Pilate found in John chapter eighteen. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judaea who presided at the trial of Jesus and gave the order for His crucifixion. “You are a king, then! said Pilate. Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’ ‘What is truth? retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, I find no basis for a charge against him.” Within this context, Pilate asked the question about what is truth as a mocking gesture and obviously did not want to know the “true” truth. He refused to consider that divine absolute truth was standing right in front of him. Jesus said in John 17:17, “Sanctify them through your truth: Thy word is truth.”

Dr. Holland is a minister, author, and chaplain. Read more about the Christian life at billyhollandministries.com