We are looking at a two-part devotion titled, The Problem With Absolute Truth. In part 1 we learned Jesus is the absolute truth (John 14:6), and God's Word is absolute truth (Ps. 119:160), and we also learned Jesus Christ is the Word.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-2, 14 (NKJV)
We looked at Jesus' declaration of what it means to be His disciple (follower). And we were given an amazing promise when he stated, "If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (See John 8:31-32).
Despite this, there are many people who are saying, God's Word is outdated, and is no longer relevant to our current ways of living in this generation - they are saying we need to find a new way to get people to come to God and be saved. This too is a lie. Jesus told us He is the truth, and He is the only way to God.
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6 (NKJV)
Psalm 100:5 tells us the truth about God's Word when it says, "His truth endures to all generations, so it will never be obsolete."
Q: So why are people refusing Jesus as the only way to God, and denying His Word to be the absolute truth?
A: Accountability! People are being tempted by the enemy to deny both Jesus and His written Word because it holds them accountable to their way of living and because it gives them detailed consequences for the choices they will make (See John 3:19-21).
We can see a prevalent trend in our current world where people are denying God's Word as truth. Some will accept it, but they will either take Scriptures out of the proper context with which they were written, or worse yet, they will distort the meaning of the Scriptures to fit their interpretation or lifestyle. This is done so they can continue to live in sin without the accountability of God's truth.
There is a song by a group called Depeche Mode titled, "Your own personal Jesus", released back in 1989. The song was actually written by Martin Gore, who said it was about "being a Jesus for somebody else, somebody to give you hope and care."
I think many people can wrongly look to false religions or even another person for their hope, when the Bible clearly teaches us the absolute truth that our Hope is to be found in Jesus.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 1 Peter 1:3-7 (NKJV)
And I would caution anyone from trying to make Him his or her own personal Jesus when it changes Him from being the true Jesus of the Bible. This can happen when we deny the absolute truth of who the Bible says Jesus is, and we decide freely to apply relative truth. We make Jesus in our image, and conform Him to our false beliefs about what is right or wrong.
We can see this happening in our current cultural acceptance of sinful activities such as adultery, fornication and homosexuality. The Bible clearly teaches God abhors these things (1 Cor. 6:9-10), and yet, we see it becoming more politically incorrect to speak against them as being wrong. Relative truth says these things are okay, and should be permissible because they are now widely acceptable individual preferences. In other words, many in society feel these things are okay; therefore it must be true. This is not truth; and anyone who says so is a liar by definition of the Bible (1 John 2:4; 1 Cor 6:9; Rom. 1:20-32; 12:9).
Hear me in this, this writing isn't about gay bashing, or singling out those who are unfaithful in the marriage covenant as being somehow more grievous in their sin than someone who lies, or cheats on their taxes - It is about deciding whether or not we will accept God's Word as absolute truth, and whether we are willing to abide in it.
Hey Christian, I want to encourage you today. Don't let the enemy tempt you with a subtle lie to think something is okay or not by what a society or culture is doing or is saying is acceptable. Our life should be lived expressly on the words of God's commands, encouragements, exhortations, and promises contained within His Scripture in our Bibles. Anything contrary to this is a lie and will lead to death (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).
STUDY QUESTION: What does Jesus say about the truth in John 14:6? What can we learn from this same Scripture about our coming into the presence of God, or our being saved?
PERSONAL INVENTORY: Have you accepted Jesus as Truth? Have you accepted His Word as absolute truth?
APPLICATION: Read God's Word, and make it your hearts desire to apply it to your life, and to abide in its teaching.
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