Does Truth Change?

Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven. (Psalm 119:89)

Today’s big question: does truth change?

Throughout history, humanity has regularly changed opinions on what they think is “truth.” The Reformation was an event in history that was sparked by Prof. Martin Luther in his search for the truth. Luther found that many of the teachings of the Roman church were not true. But, as we will see, this does not mean that truth changed. There have been many times in history where men gathered together, even during the Reformation, to determine truth and come up with some kind of statement of faith.

The teachings of the church in Luther’s day had departed from the truth of Scripture, which is why Luther went to Scripture to determine truth. God’s Word is truth, and His Word states that “Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.” (Psalm 119:89). In other words, God’s Word is eternal; therefore, the truth that is revealed to us through His Word is eternal. The church got it wrong in Luther’s time because they were listening to man’s word and traditions rather than God’s Word. Though, we may not agree with all of Luther’s interpretations of Scripture, he realized this great error of the church in not recognizing God’s Word as the authority—he brought the focus away from man’s opinions and back on to God’s Word.

Unfortunately, compromise on God’s truth still exists. Many people—including churches today—believe that God used evolution, which is a compromise on God’s truth. There needs to be another “reformation” in order to bring us all back to the authority of God’s Word rather than trying to fit man’s ideas into God’s Word. And man’s ideas are constantly changing. For example, the atheist’s explanation for the world was very different a decade ago as compared to today.1

Why are people trying to fit man’s constantly changing ideas into God’s unchanging Word? The answer is simple: they are trusting man as the ultimate authority rather than God. Perhaps John’s words would apply here, “They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:43).

We need to remember that God’s Word is the unchanging truth, and it is the authority—not man. If God’s truth changed in His Word, then we could not say that His Word is inerrant (i.e., free of errors), and therefore, we would not be able to trust it. Like Luther, let us shout to the world that the unchanging truth is in Scripture alone, and bring about a reformation back to the authority of the Word of God!

Today’s big idea: God’s inerrant Word is the unchanging truth.

What to pray: thank God that He (like His Word) never changes, and that you can always rely on Him.