God is Truth

Pilate is well-known for asking in a sarcastic manner, ‘What is truth?’ Given that he was speaking to Jesus, he also could have asked, ‘Who is truth?’ because he was speaking to the One who said he was the way, the truth and the life. Today people are just as sceptical as Pilate. We speak of personal truth, your own truth, which is another way of saying that there is no truth.

The word ‘truth’ has different meanings and the recognition of this is seen in courtrooms when people are asked to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Witnesses can see the same event but each of them can see it differently. Even in casual settings, I can say a true statement that is not the whole truth: if I say, ‘my car is red,’ I am telling the truth but not all the truth about my car.

Some truths are self-evident. I have to breathe in order to live. Other truths have to be revealed. Creation reveals that there is a divine Creator, but it does not say as much about him as the Bible does. The Bible tells us who God is and what he requires of us.

The writer to the Hebrews says that it is impossible for the Father to tell a lie (Heb. 6:18). Jesus, as we noted, described himself as the truth in John 14:6. And the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (John 14:7; 1 John 4:6). When it comes to thinking about God, we know that he is the true God as opposed to false gods, but that realisation may only be an awareness of his existence. The Thessalonians turned ‘to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come’ (1 Thess. 1:9-10). But not everyone imitates them. If we are not like them, we need to take more information about God into our minds, and the place where we discover that information is in the Bible. It is crucial to know what the truth is and to follow it. We cannot wear the Christian armour without first wearing the belt of truth.

The Bible stresses two ways in which God’s truth is revealed and that is in the veracity of what he says and in the faithfulness with which he acts. It also stresses that his word and his actions are never in conflict. He always acts according to his Word.

God and his Word

Many comments could be made about God’s Word, and I can only mention some here.

(a) The only truthful book in the world is the Bible. Even the best of other books have things wrong with them. Critics find fault with Bunyan’s description of Christian in the Pilgrim’s Progress because he was sent first to the Wicket Gate rather than to the cross. Matthew Henry’s commentary, which has helped millions, expresses opinions on some verses that will be disputed. The entire Bible is inerrant, breathed out by God, and accurate in what it contains.

(b) There are aspects of truth that God does not speak much about in his Word, although sometimes they are referred to. These include many aspects of science, history and geography. There are numerous examples. The Bible does not tell us how far away the stars are from us. It does not tell us where the land of Uz was, where Job and his friends lived and spoke about God’s ways. It does not say what happened to Noah’s ark. It does not tell us which political party to vote for.

(c) God existed before he gave us his Word. No doubt, this fact raises many questions. But an obvious question to ask is, ‘Why did he give us his Word?’ (I include within his Word here any divine revelation that he gave before the Scriptures were completed.) The answer to that question is that he chose to reveal some of his plans and some of his actions to us. And behind that answer is another one, which is that he wanted to reveal himself to us.

(d) Where have his plans come from? Does God make them up as he goes along? He does not. His plans are unchangeable because they were formulated in the eternal covenant of redemption. In that covenant, he foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, as our catechism tells us. Everything he does is according to that covenant and everything in the covenant is in line with his character.

So what does the Bible speak about accurately and truthfully? Many ways could be suggested, but here is what I say to myself about it.

Veracity of God’s Word

It tells me that God created the universe at the beginning. It tells me that on the sixth day of the first week he made the first pair of humans and later they sinned against him. It also tells me that Adam was the representative of other humans in a covenant way and when he fell they fell even although they had not yet been born. It tells me why there are problems in the world, all of which can be traced to sin.

The Bible tells me that God had pre-planned the remedy, which would involve his Son becoming human as a Jew, that he would live a perfect life, die an atoning death, rise from the dead, ascend to heaven, reign over everything, return to earth to judge all humans and angels, and create a new heavens and new earth in which the righteous will dwell, and a place of eternal punishment for the unrighteous. It does not say very much about life in that future world, whether in the place of bliss or the place of punishment.

The Bible tells me that God made a series of covenants through which further details of his plans were revealed. He told some things to Noah, other details to Abraham, then more to Moses, then more to David, and then through Jeremiah that a new covenant would be made. The word ‘new’ there suggests final. The details of the covenants build on one another. We live in the days of the last covenant, the new covenant in which God’s laws are written on our hearts and minds, and all of God’s people can know him, from the least to the greatest. And that happens because God is at work for me through Jesus and in me by the Holy Spirit.

The Bible tells me about how to live a godly life, both internally and externally. The information is conveyed by commandments (Sinai, the sermon on the mount, the epistles), examples (Bible characters) and experiences (the psalms). It has provided me with all I need for living such a life, including what to do when I sin.

The Bible tells me about the great features of salvation, which can be summarised as election, justification, adoption, sanctification and glorification. It tells me that he is forming a people for himself through those blessings, a people who been change from rebels into saints, and who will yet be presented as perfect in holiness. Those blessings all express God’s love, wisdom, mercy, power, patience, knowledge and goodness.

Faithfulness

The inevitable consequence is that the God who cannot lie will act according to what he has said. Here are some examples of his faithfulness. We will begin by referring to the faithfulness of God the Father. They examples are not given in an order of importance and all of them are essential

First, he is faithful when we are tempted (1 Cor. 10:13) by the devil in that he always provides a way of escape (sometimes the way of escape may be an obvious exit from the place, or it may be urgent prayer for divine help).

Second, God is faithful when he cleanses us when we fall (1 John 1:9); he can be faithful to cleanse because the work of Jesus on the cross is effective at all times.

Third, God is faithful in difficult periods (Lam. 3:22-26); the demolition of Jerusalem was a huge blow for God’s people, but it did not prevent him from continuing to show faithfulness to his people.

Fourth, God is faithful to hear our prayers (Ps. 143:1). We don’t deserve for any of our prayers to be answered. Any answer that we receive is an expression of divine grace. But God has promised to answer our prayers, sometimes far above what we can ask of imagine.

We can think of the faithfulness of Jesus. It is one of his titles – the faithful and true witness (Rev. 3:14), stated to the church in Laodicea. The word describes his work in heaven as the high priest who blesses his people (Heb. 2:17). Jesus is faithful in the way that he continues to build his church throughout the world. He will be faithful on the Day of Judgement when he rewards his servants with great displays of grace. The Bible tells us about his faithfulness to Peter before he fell and after he fell. Jesus is the faithful Shepherd, he is the truest Friend, he is One we can depend on wherever we are.

We can think of the faithfulness of the Holy Spirit. He brings to us the things of Christ and enables us to enjoy them, he restores us when we fall into sin, he opens up the scriptures to us in a manner that we have fellowship with God, he witnesses with us that we are the children of God and provides strong assurance that we are his forever, he enables us to use our divinely given gifts for his glory, and he enables us to be fruitful as described in Paul’s nine-fold list in Galatians 5.

Response

The last detail to observe is that faithfulness should be a feature of all Christians. We are called to godliness (to be like the faithful God), Christlikeness (the faithful Shepherd) and spirituality (the faithful Spirit). How do we show our faithfulness? By doing cheerfully from the heart and with a willing mind what he tells us. Paul describes believers as the faithful in Christ Jesus and exhorts them to be faithful unto death so that they will receive the crown of life. It will be a marvellous occasion to hear from Jesus, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.