The absolutes of God's Truth

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth”  2 Ti.2:15

Recently I heard a statement from what I recognized as a paraphrase from classic literature that caused me to stop and think. That statement was “when people stop believing it, truth ceases to be truth”.   Do we really consider truth to be that dependent upon human opinion? Does democratic majority or personal opinion establish right and wrong, good and evil? The biblical answer to these questions is a definate“NO”, for truth is independent of individual perspective or popular opinion. Truth is found in the Word of God. And although it should be the Christian that recognizes this biblical position, its authority does and will prevail over all of creation.

Truth is the absolute that the entire universe will be held accountable to.  From the great truth that there is a God, to the simple fact that every situation has a right and wrong, truth is that eternal authority determined by God that will remain standing when all the opinions and arguments of man fall apart.  Regardless of the reasonings of men or the assumptions of science, no argument that sets itself up against the truths established by God will endure the eternal tribunal that will decide the fate of each and every soul.  To these truths every single soul on earth will one day give an account.  In the meantime, those truths still prevail.

Jesus came to “bear witness to the truth”.  That truth involves the existence of God, the way of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, the promise of eternal life, and what scripture describes as “the way” of the Christian life.  That “way” involves what scripture describes as the Christian’s “walk”.  This “walk” is how the child of God is instructed to navigate this natural life. Under the Old Covenant, God gave Israel strict dietary, hygiene, and social behavior guidelines to show them that there are God given absolutes intended to guide their lives. Under the New Covenant, those same instructions continue, only now they are no longer words written on tablets of stone, but His words of guidance are written upon the heart of believers by the indwelling presence of the one who is “the word of God”, Jesus Christ.

In a present-day culture that schemes to deny the absolute truths written in the Word of God and made known through faith in Jesus Christ, truth is often treated as subjective rather than an absolute reality.   The divisions within the church regarding numerous doctrines and moral standards is evidence of this. Truth still decrees that there is one way to God, and one standard of right and wrong for those who call Him Lord.  Those who submit to the authority of His Word, not caving to the opinions and reasoning of the natural man, are those who will find themselves living within the divine favor that testifies of those who are the children of God.   This is what is meant by “rightly handling the word of truth”.  To “rightly handle the word of truth” is to recognize the absolute authority of God’s Word and to willingly submit to its authority.  Only those who both recognize and submit to that authority will receive the blessings and benefits that are contained within its many promises.