Truth + Fable = Lies

The God of Truth

The Creator of the universe is the “God of truth” (Deuteronomy 32:4), and He is “not a man, that He should lie” (Numbers 23:19). The author of Hebrews said that it is “impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18), and Paul taught the same in Titus 1:2. Because God cannot lie, God’s Word—the Bible—is true (2 Timothy 3:16–17).

Jesus is God, and He declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and John stated that Jesus is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Jesus told Pilate that He came to “bear witness to the truth” and that everyone “who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37).

The Deniers of Truth

We live in a world where even the concept of truth is mocked in favor of self-contradicting truth claims, such as, “There are no absolutes!” and “All truth is relative!” Man prides himself on his supposed wisdom to the point of convincing himself that intelligence came from non-intelligence, information from non-information, and life from non-life.

This vain thinking arises whenever men suppress the truth of God. Although “they knew God,” they do not glorify Him as God, and they become fools (Romans 1:21–22). Because men exchange “the truth of God for the lie” (Romans 1:25) and do not like to retain God in their thinking, good is viewed as evil, and evil is praised as good (Romans 1:28–32; Isaiah 5:20). Yet the Lord catches the wise in their own craftiness and knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile (1 Corinthians 3:19–20).

In The Relevance of Genesis, part of the Foundations DVD series, Ken Ham explains why standing on biblical authority requires us to teach the truth about sin and death as revealed in Genesis.

The Proclaimers of Truth

Followers of Christ have been called out of this world and its fruitless thinking. Instead of conforming to this world and its wicked ways, we are to be transformed into imitators of Christ (Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 11:1). We must be people who speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). And since God’s Word is truth (John 17:17), we must proclaim His Word before an unbelieving world of scoffers. Paul told Timothy to preach the Word both “in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2).

God’s Word is certainly “out of season” today. Speaking the truth in love requires us to say offensive things that will often anger unbelievers. Although the message we deliver is offensive, we must deliver it in a manner that is not (Colossians 4:2–6). They must hear that their sin will be judged by the holy Creator and Judge, and that they can only be saved from eternal punishment if they repent of their sin and trust in Jesus Christ alone; He is the One who died in our place and conquered death by His Resurrection.

Speaking the truth in love isn’t always easy. This world loves darkness rather than light (John 3:19), and those who are blinded to the truth love their sin too much. They will call us bigots, homophobes, racists, sexists, child abusers, and more. We must not be intimidated. Rather, we need to fulfill our calling to share the good news, knowing that we will be hated just as Jesus was (John 15:18).

The solution is not to retreat from a sin-loving culture, nor is it found in compromising with worldly thinking. The answer is to stand boldly upon the authority of the Word of God and, in the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, lovingly engage individuals and expose the lies of our culture by teaching the truth—God’s Word. As our Lord despised the shame of the Cross for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2), each of us must be willing to follow Him and “become a fool” in the world’s eyes so that we “may become wise” (1 Corinthians 3:18–19).