What is truth?

Are you just using Jesus?

What is Truth?

By Dr. Jim Marshall

  1. What is truth? Pilate asked Jesus “What is truth?” in John 18:38. He was the Roman leader the Jewish leaders brought Jesus to wanting to crucify Him. Matthew 27:18 says that Pilate knew the religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus because of envy. They were jealous of Jesus calling Himself the truth, (John 14:6), understanding the Bible, doing miracles, teaching with authority, as Jesus said, “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice,” (John 18:37b). So what is truth?
  2. Definition of truth. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines truth as “the body of real things, events, and actuality and the state of being the case as facts.” It also says truth is “a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true.” They list other ideas but this definition is a good foundation for it.
  3. The Bible is truth. This site has considered what the Bible says and found that it is the inspired Word of God as it states in 2 Timothy 3:16. How can one affirm biblical claims without being a Christian? By comparing the people, places, and events the Bible describes with artifacts, documents, and manuscripts from that time period. The British Museum and the Museum of the Bible have an abundance of archeological discoveries which can be used to determine if biblical claims are incorrect or not. In reflecting upon these scientific findings the Jewish archeologist Nelson Glueck said that, “To date, no archeological discovery has ever controverted a single properly understood biblical statement.” Although Glueck died in 1971 no recent discoveries have contradicted the Bible since as it is a historical document. Bringingtruth.com will go into this more with information about the archaeological discoveries in these and other Museums.
  4. Jesus Christ is the truth. This site is convinced that Jesus Christ is the truth that He says He is. According to lawyers.com, three witnesses provide sufficient evidence. The resurrection of Jesus was witnessed by Mary Magdalene in Mark 16:9, other women in Matthew 28:9, two disciples in Luke 24:12, to all the apostles in Luke 24:36, and “Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers” in 1 Corinthians 15:6. Jesus Christ is the truth that John 14:6 says He is.
  5. Humanity constantly wanders from the truth. Despite the Bible being true, the resurrection of Jesus, the Bible’s commandments, and a Great Commission to obey, God’s followers have consistently strayed away from biblical truth. Our falling away has cost us dearly, as God blesses those who keep His commandments, especially the Great Commission, and utilize His wisdom to apply things like the golden rule that says, “do to others what you would have them do to you.”
  6. Our era has strayed far away from the truth. The “Whatever became of Sin” article that is on this site tells about the depravity of American culture and Christian leaders’ not decrying these sins. We should not view the absence of hearing about sins as tacit approval to go further down this road but should instead consider it as an indictment of our lack of spiritual discipline.
  7. Deviating from biblical truth has consequences. God blessed America with the strongest economy and military coming out of World War II. However, instead of choosing to thank God for our great resources and using them wisely for the Great Commission, we have consumed virtually all our blessings on ourselves in increasingly selfish ways. As a result, the Lord has allowed our bountiful surpluses to change into the largest debts in the history of the world.
  8. Normalcy bias keeps people from noticing what is going on. The U.S. Dollar has been the world’s reserve currency and America has had the strongest military for decades and we have enjoyed great benefits from both. Since we are the only country that can print as much money as we want to pay for our debts our government and people have been able to accumulate enormous debts without paying for them. The Bible warns us about debts as Romans 13:8 says to “owe no one anything” and Proverbs 22:7 says “The borrower is the slave of the lender,”. Yet we have avoided the biblical consequences since we have been able to print more money. Estimates are that as a change is happening about 70% of people are unprepared since they assume things will stay the way they have been. America’s enemies lead a growing de-dollarization movement, but too many people will be caught off guard because we assume the status quo will continue.
  9. God has always judged sin. Americans may think that judgment could not happen here, but a study of history including both the Old and New Testaments reveals that sin will be judged. God is very patient in enduring disobedience since “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance,” (2 Peter 3:9). The Lord is sovereign and He alone knows how, when and what will happen. 1 Corinthians 13:12 observes that at best “We see through a glass darkly.”
  10. Restore the balance between love and truth. This site recognizes that “the greatest of these is love” as 1 Corinthians 13 says and this topic is further explored in “The greatest of these is love” article. This site is not minimizing the importance of love but instead seek to restore the balance between love and truth since Ephesians 4:15 tells us to be “Speaking the truth in love.” We are in an era where love, mercy, and grace have been emphasized for so long without equal amounts of truth, justice, and holiness, and this has made our culture is very far out of balance, including inside the church. Cheap grace is when people have heard about grace so much that it has effectively become a license to sin, and cheap grace is pervasive. America is in a situation where “everyone did what was right in his own eyes,” (Judges 21:25b) as Israel kept falling away from God. America’s sin keeps increasing. To restore balance, Christians need to value truth so highly that they seek it as if it was treasure & pearls; as Matthew 13:44-46 states.Conclusion. Bringingtruth.com wishes people well and advises us to draw closer Jesus Christ to prepare for the future. This site is not predicting the end of the world or anything like that since nobody knows when Jesus will return and too many false predictions have been made. We also have no idea how God will deal with our sins, but we are sure that the Lord will do so. America has strayed so far from the Lord that truth is in very short supply. This scarcity makes us very interested in following Matthew 7:7 “seek and you will find” approach to find the truth. This site wants Christians to become disciples who are “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so,” (Acts 17:11b) like the Berean Jews were. We have been out of balance towards love for so long that getting truth remotely close to a 50-50 balance with love may seem harsh.As Jesus wants us to “Walk in the light as He is in the light” like 1 John 1:7 says there is joy in finding out what the truth is. This site is focused on revealing truth to help us live according to God’s plans for us. Christians need to be willing to reorient our lives around biblical truth. It can be hard to find truth in this era that is filled with men suppressing the truth as Romans 1:18-32 describes. Please join us as we seek and uncover the truth of Scriptures in this time period.

Why Seek Truth?

By Jim Marshall

  1. God is truth. The Bible makes it clear that God is true. Deuteronomy 32:4 and Psalm 31:5 say He is a “God of truth,” while Psalm 57:3 tells us that God sends His truth, and Psalm 71:22 states “thy truth” of God. Isaiah 65:16 twice calls Him “The God of truth” and Isaiah 25:1 tells us that God’s counsels are “faithfulness and truth.” Romans mentions the “truth of God” in verses 1:25, 3:7, and 15:8. Matthew 22:16, Mark 12:14 while 2 Timothy 2:15 calls God’s Word “The Word of truth,” and Colossians 1:6 says, “God in truth.” Exodus 34:6 tells us that God has an abundance of truth. Without going into a comprehensive list, these handful of verses show that God is truth.
  2. Truth is lacking in the world as Isaiah 59:15 notes. Contemporary American Christianity has wandered so far from biblical truth that it is almost indistinguishable from the world. I recently saw that a “Christian church” was hosting a “family friendly drag-queen hour.” Christian leaders need to denounce this, but as with so many recent events, their silence is virtually deafening.
  3. The devil is the father of lies. The devil is a serpent in the Garden of Eden who deceives Adam & Eve after creation in Genesis 3. John 8:44 states that, “The devil… does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out his own character, for he is a liar, and the father of lies,” and Revelation 12:9 says that he is “the deceiver of the whole world.”
  4. Human beings constantly wander from the truth. The hymn Come, Thou Fount of every blessing says “Prone to wander, Lord…prone to leave the God I love:” describes our situation before God. Jeremiah 17:9-10 states that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick, who can understand it? I the Lord search heart…” and Romans 3:23 tells us that “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Satan deceives us through our sin nature.
  5. Wandering from truth leads to death. Falling for the devil’s lies results in death as Romans 6:23 asserts “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus…” Satan’s goal is to lead as many people as possible away from that salvation that Jesus offers. Jesus clearly says “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” in John 14:6. Satan works to keep people from receiving Jesus Christ as savior.
  6. God’s Word warns people about leaving the truth and ending up in hell. Although stating this does not make people “feel good,” which is more loving? A) to pretend that there are no warnings about the process of sin leading to death or B) to tell people the truth to try to keep as many from eternal separation from God in hell as possible? This site seeks to proclaim the truth in love and loves humanity enough to tell them the truth about the dangers of going to hell.
  7. 1 Peter 5:8 says the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Although the Bible tells us to “fear not” in many places, it is prudent to fear if there is a roaring lion nearby. We should not fear Satan if we are wholeheartedly following Jesus Christ, but we need to be aware of the enemy’s deceit so we do not fall back into sin. Job 1:6-12 gives insight into this as it tells about our enemy wanting to destroy us. Satan asked the Lord to cause Job troubles in order to get him to curse God and the Lord gave him permission to do so. We need to “draw near to God” as James 4:7-8 describes so we stay in the truth and avoid falling into sin.

Where is Truth? Part 1

By Dr .Jim Marshall

  1. The Bible is truth. This article builds on the “What is truth?” and “Why seek truth?” articles by asking where to find the true Word of God that has been obscured by sin and cultural habits.
  2. Can biblical truth be easily found in our culture? American culture is a maze of lies and deception since Ephesians 2:2 makes it clear the devil is the prince of the power of the air. When Adam and Eve sinned and ate the apple it gave the devil influence over culture. As a result the world is permeated with lies, hatred, war, disease, illnesses, sins, and death. American education has gone so far from gospel truth. Social media, the press, Hollywood, etc. have a void of truth.
  3. Is culture really lacking truth? Yes. When I attended the University of Michigan I noticed that the professors, the textbooks, and my family did not have truth nor were interested in finding it. As I thought the theory of evolution was a fact and this belief caused me to feel so empty as if I was in a maze, that I began to search for truth. I foolishly believed any possibility could be true except for God and felt like I tried virtually every alternative, including some very stupid ones that almost led to my death. At the end of my searching, I was forced to face the reality that God was the truth that I had looked for all along and He was the only way out of the maze I was in.
  4. Humble background. I longed for truth as an atheist from a broken family who felt so empty inside and blamed himself for my parents bitter divorce. It was very humbling for an atheist to admit Jesus was Lord. Yet He saved me and caused me to grow with Bible study, church, and prayer. I learned about missions, discipleship, and the persecuted church and have matured since. The Lord is looking for people who are humble enough before Him to rejuvenate His church.
  5. Taboo topic. In a recent article on 40 million Americans no longer going to church the authors implied that they knew the reason why this was happening but would not say it. I have observed that so many Christian leaders are unwilling to discuss why the American church is declining for decades. Too many of us do not speak candidly about this, but a problem can never be resolved if the cause is never stated, no matter if we share in the blame. How does God feel about his church declining in the United States? Does God want us to keep this taboo and allow the church to die?
  6. I wish the church well. Jesus Christ has forgiven me so much, which causes me to love Him, His Father, the Holy Spirit, His Church, and all people everywhere. My love for God and His church should not need stating. Yet in the years I have prayed and reflected on addressing this issue (including my doctoral research) I have found too many who instantly become defensive.
  7. Circling the wagons. At the slightest question of how our churches and institutions are doing, too many in authority bristle and “circle the wagons.” I take no joy to break this taboo, but God wants the truth to no longer be obstructed. The truth needs to be stated to begin the process of resolving this problem. Someone has to break this taboo to change the course of this decline, even if discussing what is going on in Christianity may make many of us feel uncomfortable as we may need to consider if we are not part of the problem. What if the numbers of believers we’re protecting are decreasing so fast there may soon be none left to circle? Do we have to wait until an autopsy is being done on the American church to be able to speak the truth freely?