In any study that I begin or any writing that I provide, I spend a few moments in prayer, asking God to open my mind to understand the importance of truth.  It seems that today some butcher the truth of God’s word, much like they would use a butter knife to slice a tomato. It is that “dull hearing” (reading) of God’s word that many twists and manipulate to fit their belief system. What happened to just believing that God’s word was breathed into individual men and that the Holy Spirit instructed them to write what we find in the best-selling book in all of history?

In today’s religious society, it seems the truth is left up to the interpretation of individuals or self-proclaimed leaders of some spiritual body that meets together.  It amazes me that so much is discussed regarding truth, yet little seems to be understood.  Let me be clear about this; TRUTH only comes through God’s word.  The Bible is God’s, not mine, not yours, not any author that seems to have greater enlightenment.  By that ownership, and just as it would be with today’s copyright laws, we do not have the right to change it or add to it.  But more importantly, we have been commanded by the great author Himself to NOT add to it or take from it.

 Revelation 22:18-19 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to Him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. (ESV.)

Listen, I understand the context of this scripture. In the last book of the Bible, it is placed here to warn those that use this beautiful book of victory as their playground to support their human-made theology. While no other book in the New Testament closes with such strong words, I believe they speak volumes about God’s attitude toward the entirety of scripture. Paul certainly made the same point in Galatians 1:6-9 when stating in a nutshell that any who distorted the gospel of Christ would be cursed. We could look to the Proverb writer in chapter 30: 5-6 and see similar words echoed there as well. It seems so many believe that it is acceptable to observe some form of biblical practice and that you may change it to appease the masses. God makes it clear that you are just as guilty if you add to it as the one who rejects the truth found between its covers. No one has a right to change any part of the written word which God has provided for man; you are not to add to it, or to take from it, or in any way to modify it.

The American Heritage College Dictionary defines truth like this: “Conformity to fact or actuality” … in other words, truth is the way it is… It is not open to interpretation. It is black and white. There is no gray. Modern society has a problem with the truth, and they have lost the handle on what it is, who defines it, and what its value is.  We are caught up in a problem over what is truth, and have we lost perspective on the objectivity of truth.  Truth is not a relative thing; something is true or not.  It is that simple; only when we introduce emotions, feelings, and personal spin on things that we cloud what is true.  Society has done this to the extreme by using the prevalent “what is true for me may not be true for you” attitude that we see in everything. Minds have become so clouded with politically correct thinking and ideas of tolerance for anything that it believes truth cannot be known because my truth is not your truth; so I ask, how can that be true?  God tells us what He thinks of this type of thinking when the prophet Isaiah writes these words:

Isaiah 5:20-21 “ Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! (ESV.)

When the word of God is rejected, all of our values are turned upside down. We see examples of this today when sinful lifestyles and activities are accepted. What has happened to the world that she turns a blind eye to a lifestyle of sinfulness? We scream as loud as possible at the horribleness of someone losing their life because of a drunk driver while ignoring the source of the problem. We live in a world of darkness bent on satisfying the lust of the flesh and denying the Great Creator. More than ever, we need to seek truth, not only find the truth but seek to understand it.

We need to be reminded that God’s word is true. John 17:17 Jesus says, “Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth.” In this prayer for His disciples, Jesus is praying for his followers; that the truth would be the force that would preserve their spirituality, the truth that is God’s word. Isn’t it interesting that it is not some supernatural, direct feeling we get that is the embodiment of our spirituality? God’s word is the truth that we are to immerse ourselves in to strengthen and preserve us. We need to remember that God defines the truth and declares what is right. In the book of Isaiah, we have this from chapter 45:19 “I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness; I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I, Jehovah, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.”  God created the heavens, the earth, and all that is in it, vs. 18, and it is He and He alone that speaks righteousness; His truth is righteousness.  We need to be reminded there is value to the truth; Proverbs 23:23 says: “buy the truth and sell it not…” clearly, the truth is valuable, but the question is why? The words written in the Bible have the power to set us free from the bondage of sin. John 8:32 Christ proclaims, “you shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” We are sanctified by the truth, set apart from the world by the truth.

At this point, you may be asking, “ why the refresher on the truth?” Events, things that have taken place in the body of Christ that dilute the death and resurrection of our Savior. Men and women seek any forum to unfold the blind ignorance of their delusional version of the truth. But more importantly, because I need a refresher. I, the one who is writing this post, need to be reminded of the author of truth and the only one that can lay claim to it; our Grand Creator; Jehovah, God, The Father of all righteousness and truth.