Tag: truth

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The Four Guides into Truth Must Agree

Truth is too important for us to neglect any of the guides God has provided.

guides into truth

For several months now, we have been digging into the idea that God leads us into essential truths about himself and salvation through four guides. They are (1) the Scriptures, (2) the Holy Spirit, (3) the church, and (4) prayer. If we follow these four guides with patience, faith, and wisdom, we can be assured of finding the truth—even if we are a new Christian! Through these four guides God will certainly lead us into the truth that assures us of eternal life.

Harmony

Just as a car needs all four wheels, you need all four guides working in harmony. Do not neglect or ignore any of them. Remember the Pharisees, who were radically religious yet profoundly wrong. Jesus corrected them: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” (John 5:39–40, ESV) They examined one of the four guides closely, yet they still went astray.

The Sadducees made the opposite error, failing to give adequate attention to Scripture. Jesus corrected them as well: “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?” (Mark 12:24, ESV)

So if we rely exclusively on one of these guides in contradiction with the others, or if we neglect, ignore, or reject one of the guides, we can stray into error.

Examples

For example, although objective Scripture is free of error, we might err when we interpret and apply it. False teachers usually appeal to the same Bible as orthodox Christians, but they misinterpret it. This is why we need the wider, historic church and the fruits of its two-thousand year history of interpreting the Bible together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Over that period the church has thoroughly wrestled through disagreements about the key doctrines necessary for salvation, corrected the errors of particular eras, groups, leaders, and locales, and long ago reached general consensus on the essentials.

Similarly, with regard to the Holy Spirit leading us into all truth through the Scriptures, we may have subjective thoughts and feelings that are not from the Holy Spirit. They may come from personal convictions shaped by our upbringing, for example. This is why we need the objective correction that comes from both Scripture and historic church doctrine.

For instance, some people have grown up in heretical religions such as the Mormons or the Jehovah’s Witnesses that do not believe Jesus Christ is the eternal, uncreated, divine Son of God. As a result, their consciences may affirm that what they learned in “church” and from parents is true, even though objective Scripture and the wider, historic church emphatically deny this false teaching. A Mormon might think that his Mormon-shaped conscience is the Holy Spirit leading him.

God is faithful to lead us out of an unhealthy religious group if we commit ourselves to follow the truth even if it contradicts our traditions. Psalm 25:5 gives an essential Scriptural prayer that God will surely answer: “Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation.” The Holy Spirit will answer that prayer over time by illumining Scripture as we read. If we are in an unsound group, over time we will see how the Bible contradicts their teaching in significant ways. The Holy Spirit will disturb our conscience over what we hear. We can trust God to lead us into truth and a church marked by sound teaching.

Through prayerful agreement between the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and the true church, God reliably guides everyone who is committed to the truth at all costs and seeks it with prayer, trust, and persistence.

Next week

God is reliable, but we are not. What can make us susceptible to error is the state of our soul. Exhibit A is the Pharisees. So next week we begin an examination of eight soul qualities that make us immune to false teaching.

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The Natural Mind Cannot Understand Spiritual Truths

To understand spiritual truths we need more than diligent study

Understand Spiritual Truths

In the previous posts we began looking at why prayer is important for learning truth about God, his Scriptures, and all the great questions of life. Here is the third surprising reason to pray for understanding.

3. The natural mind cannot understand spiritual truths.

After several years of ministry with his 12 disciples at his side, Jesus posed a question to them: “Who do people say I am?”

The disciples answered that people thought he was John the Baptist restored to life, or Elijah or Jeremiah or another of the prophets of old.

Then Jesus focused the question on the 12: “But who do you say that I am?”

“Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”

From our perspective, knowing the full story of Jesus, that might seem to have been an obvious answer. But Jesus did not think so. “And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.’”

Notice that Jesus did not credit Peter with prescience for figuring this out. He said the Father had “revealed” the truth to him. (Matthew 16:13–17, ESV)

1 Corinthians 2

That word revealed is important. The apostle Paul explains why we need God to reveal spiritual truths to us: “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Unaided by the Holy Spirit, you cannot adequately understand spiritual truths about God, his ways, his salvation, and his righteousness—understand them, that is, in the sense that you believe them and respond accordingly.

Therefore you should ask him for such understanding. “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2).

Next week we look at the fourth reason why prayer is an essential guide into truth.

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Six Surprising Reasons to Pray as You Pursue Truth

If you do not pray to understand truth, your hands are tied behind your back, your eyes are closed, and you are hard of hearing. And then there are the serious obstacles.

Pray to Understand Truth

In previous posts we learned that God leads even the newest believer into truth through three divine guides: the inerrant Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, and the church. Today we add one more crucial guide into truth, which I did not identify earlier and which will bring us to four guides into truth. This fourth guide is prayer. These four guides, used in harmony, enable even the newest believer to know the truth with confidence.

What do you do when you do not understand a Bible verse, or a biblical doctrine? Is your first reaction to reach for a book that might explain it to you? Do you google the question? Do you ask someone such as a pastor or Bible scholar about it?

Or is your first reaction to pause and pray that God would give you understanding into that Scripture or doctrine? And if the question is significant enough to you, do you write out your question in your prayer journal?

What you do reveals what you truly believe about the role of prayer in understanding truth. It reveals what you believe in your heart of hearts about whether God will answer your prayers for understanding into theological truths.

Prayer is the fourth guide into truth, along with the Scripture, the Holy Spirit, and the church.

Psalm 25

Psalm 25:4–5 says, “Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.” (ESV)

Here David prays that God would lead him into the truth. What is theology? What is doctrine? It is truth about God and his ways; it is truth about spiritual things. You can and should ask God to be your teacher. No one can teach you about God better than God himself.

Of course he will typically teach you through others, but by being careful to ask him to lead you into theological truths you ensure he is in charge of the entire process. If you pray, he will bring the teachers, videos, books, and teachings to you that answer your prayer.

Six reasons why prayer is an essential guide into truth

1. God teaches the humble.

Psalm 25:9 says, “He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.”

Prayer is an act of humility and dependence. Therefore we can conclude he leads and teaches those who pray for understanding.

Next week we look at the second reason why prayer is an essential guide into truth.

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We Are Tested by Truth and Error

How we respond to truth and error reveals crucial things about us.

truth and error

Have you ever wondered why God allows false teachers and heresies to exist in the world?

Deuteronomy 13:1–4 says:

“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.” (ESV, Italics added)

Purposeful Tests

Here Moses identified the purpose of this trial: false prophets test whether people love the Lord with all their heart and soul. In the sphere of medical care, every test monitors certain things. A thermometer measures body temperature. An electrocardiogram reveals electrical activity in the heart. A sphygmomanometer tests blood pressure. In the spiritual sphere, false prophets test a person’s love for God. People who truly love God will not be deceived—or at least not permanently deceived—and will certainly pass the test.

False teachers serve the same function as Satan, demons, temptation, the fallen world, and any opportunity to sin. They reveal who someone is in the secret place of the heart.

Moral beings

God must know the heart because he is a perfectly fair and righteous judge. He is a moral being who created mankind in his image as moral beings. A moral being can distinguish between right and wrong and is responsible to do what is right. Because God is a good moral being and the sole creator and ruler of the universe, he must hold moral beings accountable for their choices. God resembles a human judge who must uncover the truth about a defendant in order to render fair judgment. Good judges want to know everything they can in order to do what is right: to exonerate the innocent or condemn the guilty. In order to judge us fairly, and in order for all moral beings—mankind, good angels, and fallen angels—to witness the judgment and realize that God’s decision about each person is fair, what people truly are must be shown indisputably. What is beyond dispute are a person’s deeds.

The criterion of final judgment

Therefore the Bible says this about the Final Judgment:

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.” (Rev. 20:11–13, ESV, italics added)

Twice this says God will judge people according to their deeds. He does that because deeds display the truth. He allows false teachers to test us because how we respond to false teachers is a deed that reveals the truth about us. How we respond to lies reveals whether we love truth, and whether we love truth reveals whether we love the God of all truth.

Assurance

Those who truly love God need not fear the test from false teaching. No one who sincerely loves God and humbly seeks truth from him will be deceived. Jesus said, “False christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect” (Mat. 24:24, italics added). The words, “if possible,” mean it is not possible for false teachers to deceive the elect, who truly love and believe God.

God promises this. The New Testament Book of Jude, which warns about the test from false teachers, assures us that God “is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” (1:24). We must trust God to keep us in the truth. Jesus assures us, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:27–29).

Paul assures us, “He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:8). And, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6). You can be completely confident that God has the ability to bring you successfully through a test from false teaching and that he does not leave you to find truth on your own.

So who does fail this test?

Continued next week.

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Waiting on God, Grounded in Truth

We can wait on God when we are grounded in truth.

waiting on God, grounded in truth

In the previous post we began looking at five things that enabled Abraham to wait on God in the dark, based on Romans 4:18–21:

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Rom. 4:18–21, NIV)

In this post we examine points 2 and 3.

2. Abraham faced reality

Romans 4 says about Abraham that “without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.”

Abraham was able to wait because he faced the facts about his current reality. He was not living in false denial, but rather was living by the truth, which is the only place of strength. He knew that in the natural he and Sarah were too old to conceive a child, but he faced that fact in a way that did not weaken his faith. He faced the facts without letting them change his understanding of God.

He knew the rules of the natural world do not have the final say. He was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” God created the world, and he upholds the rules of the natural world and can override them at will. The sovereign God can recreate as easily as he can create.

This too is the truth and therefore the only place of strength. Without strength that comes from the complete truth, you cannot wait on the Lord as long as necessary.

3. Abraham believed God’s promise

Abraham could wait because “he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God.” Abraham’s faith rested specifically on God’s promise, not only on general truths about his nature. God’s Word has unique, spiritual power to create and sustain hope and faith. “Faith comes from hearing” (Rom. 10:17). God’s promise is not just an idea, a string of words, a natural tool of communication. Rather his promises have a spiritual nature. Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). The Holy Spirit uses God’s words to create hope and faith. His promises feed faith as food feeds the body.

But for that to happen we must not quench the Spirit’s work by responding to God’s promise with unbelief. In that case we would “waver through unbelief” and find it even harder to wait for the Lord. Abraham did not allow thoughts of unbelief to linger in his mind. He rejected such thoughts when they came.

In the next post we look at the final two lessons from Abraham about how to wait on God in the dark.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Rejoicing in the Truth

I took a short break from writing the blog over the holidays. Be inspired by this message titled “Rejoicing in the Truth.”

In the middle of the love chapter of the New Testament—1 Corinthians 13—there is an important statement about truth. 1 Corinthians 13:6 says, “[Love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” (ESV)

“Rejoicing in the Truth,” by Craig Brian Larson, delivered December 27, 2020
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You and Truth: Getting Help from the Spirit of Truth

There is good news for anyone who sincerely wants to know and follow the truth. You are not on your own trying to understand Jesus and the Bible. You are not left to your own intelligence and reasoning powers. Finding the truth is not like signing up for an advanced math class in college that may leave you feeling as though you are in over your head, as though you have jumped into the deep end, and now you may drown. No, when you choose to follow Jesus and the Bible, God gives you another helper, the third person of the Trinity, who is the Holy Spirit.

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You and Truth, pt. 1

By Craig Brian Larson

When truth goes, all is lost. When you lose truth, you lose meaning and purpose, you lose right and wrong, you lose confidence, you lose hope, you lose the light.

But Jesus said, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37)

Here is how you can be sure you have the truth about what matters most in life.