Truth

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” ‭‭ Exodus‬ ‭20:16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth.” ‭‭ I Kings‬ ‭17:24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. ‭‭ Psalms‬ ‭25:5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

For the word of the Lord is right, And all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. ‭‭ Psalms‬ ‭33:4-5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. ‭‭ Psalms‬ ‭86:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. ‭‭ Psalms‬ ‭100:5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way.  ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119:37‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

You are near, O Lord, And all Your commandments are truth.  ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119:151‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. ‭‭ Psalms‬ ‭145:18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment. Proverbs‬ ‭12‬:‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in those who tell the truth.  Proverbs 12:22 NLT

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ‭‭ John‬ ‭1:17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” ‭‭ John‬ ‭4:24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Jesus said to the people who believed in Him, “You are truly My disciples if you remain faithful to My teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 NLT

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  John 8:44 NIV

“But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?” ‭‭ John‬ ‭8:45-46‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known Me, you would know who My Father is. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him!”  John 14:6,7 NLT

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. ‭‭John‬ ‭14:16-17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”  ‭‭John‬ ‭16:12-13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. ‭‭ John‬ ‭17:17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.” ‭‭John‬ ‭18:37-38‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭13:4-6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1:13-14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:14-16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. ‭‭I Timothy‬ ‭3:15‬ ‭NKJV

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. ‭‭II Timothy‬ ‭2:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. ‭‭James‬ ‭1:18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. I John‬ ‭1:8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. ‭‭ I John‬ ‭3:18-19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception. ‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:4-6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us who live in truth and love. 2 John 1:3 NLT

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Devotionals

Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way. Psalms 119:37. Comments by Julie Ackerman Link. Not far from where my husband and I live is a farm with a lot of horses. During certain seasons, some of the horses have masks over their eyes. For a long time I felt sorry for the horses who weren’t allowed to see. But then I learned that my assumption about the masks was wrong. The masks are made of mesh, so horses can see through them. But flies, which cause eye disease, can’t get through them. The masks don’t keep the horses from seeing; they keep them from going blind! Non-Christians often make conclusions about the Bible similar to the one I made about the mask. They think of it as something God puts over our eyes to keep us from seeing all the fun we could be having. They feel sorry for Christians because they think the Lord keeps us from enjoying life. What I didn’t know about the horse mask, they don’t know about the Bible. It doesn’t keep us from seeing all that is good; it keeps us from being infected by lies that cause spiritual blindness. The Bible doesn’t keep us from enjoying life; it makes true enjoyment possible. The Bible doesn’t keep us from knowing truth; it prevents us from believing lies.  When we see the world through the filter of the Word, we learn the truth about both.  

You are near, O LORD, and all Your commandments are truth. Psalms 119:151. Comments by David Jeremiah. The zoo in Luohe, in the Chinese province of Henan, was closed temporarily one summer because zookeepers tried to pull the wool over patrons’ eyes. It happened when the resident lion was removed for breeding purposes and workers substituted a Tibetan mastiff, which is a large, hairy breed of dog resembling the king of the jungle. But when the lion barked, the cat was out of the bag. The world lies to us all the time, and the devil is always offering substitutes for the truth. Our culture is now predicated on the concept of relativity — that there is no absolute truth, that everything is relative, that all standards are flexible and changeable, and the truth is whatever we want it to be. We must get back to the Word of God, which is the absolute truth for our age and every age. God’s revealed Word has sustained us through the old year; it will carry us through the new. It is clear and unchanging; and we can say with the psalmist: You are near, O LORD, and all Your commandments are truth.  

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.  John 8:32. Comments by David Jeremiah. One of the most famous figures in the development of the digital world is Andrew Grove, the Hungarian-born former CEO of Intel Corporation. Besides being a brilliant visionary and manager, he was also a stickler for quality when it came to Intel’s products. Grove is often remembered for telling his employees, “The devil is in the details.” Andrew Grove didn’t invent that saying, but applying it to the micro-detailed world of computer chips is understandable. A world in which details matter even more is the world of spiritual truth. And sadly, the devil — the real devil — often confuses the details for the unknowing. If Jesus said that the truth will make us free, then anything that is not the truth cannot make us free. And it doesn’t matter by how much we miss the truth — by an inch or a mile, a miss is still a miss. Jesus also said that God’s Word is truth (John 17:17). Therefore anyone who wants to know God’s truth has to make a study of Scripture his or her focus (2 Timothy 2:15). Since so many people profess to have “the truth” today, make sure what you believe is what the late theologian Francis Schaeffer called the true truth — the truth that comes from God and is found in His Word.  

Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? John 8:46. Comments by David McCasland, Our Daily Bread. During the 2012 US presidential campaign, television coverage of speeches and debates often included “fact checking” by analysts who compared the candidates’ statements with their actual records. Were they telling the truth or manipulating the facts to their advantage? The apostle John recorded a debate between Jesus and a group of people who believed He was making false claims about Himself. Jesus told them, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). They told Him that they had never been in bondage to anyone and asked, “How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” (v.33). As the debate continued, Jesus kept saying that He was telling them the truth (vv.34,40,45-46,51). Some believed Him, but others remained angry at Him and unconvinced. In a sense, that debate goes on today. Those who oppose Jesus seek to discredit His statements and twist them into lies. Jesus says, “I am telling you the truth,” and promises that He will give us a freedom we can find nowhere else. The Bible record of Jesus’ life is worth “fact checking” as we determine who we will follow. All of us have a choice to make. God’s truth stands any test. 

But, speaking the truth in love, [we] may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ. Ephesians 4:15. Comments by David Jeremiah. Author and radio humorist Garrison Keillor is known for his take on facing reality: “Sometimes you have to look reality in the eye and deny it!” He was being funny, of course, but we laugh because we know we are tempted to do just that. Ever since the Garden of Eden, people have preferred making up alternative versions of reality instead of dealing with the truth. It was Jesus who said, “The truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). He was talking about serious issues concerning salvation and His own identity, but the principle extends to all areas of life. Only when we know the actual truth — not a version of the truth, but the true truth — can we then respond in a real way. Knowing the truth may require forgiveness or reconciliation or restitution, but it is those acts that repair the past, bring healing in the present, and make the future possible. It is impossible to build a strong house on a foundation of denial or lies. Revealing the truth, especially when it has been intentionally concealed, can be hard, if not painful. But it is how we grow up; it is how we are set free. If revealing the truth is painful, concealing it is even more so.

Shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life. Philippians 2:15-16. Comments by Jennifer Benson Schuldt. As I waited to make a right-hand turn at a busy intersection, an ambulance appeared over the crest of a hill, speeding in my direction. Someone behind me honked, urging me into the crossroads. I knew the ambulance would be unlikely to stop and that it could have been disastrous to make my turn. So I kept my foot on the brake pedal and stayed put. Spiritually speaking, we need to “stay put” and remain faithful to God despite pressure from others. King Solomon had to learn this the hard way. He began his reign by asking God for wisdom (1 Kings 3:9), and his prayer at the dedication of the temple revealed his loyalty (1 Kings 8:23,61). But he did not remain committed. He married many foreign women who eventually influenced him to worship other gods. By the end of his life, his “heart was not loyal to the Lord” (1 Kings 11:1-6; Nehemiah 13:26). Today, just as in ancient times, people may prompt us to shift our loyalty away from God and His truth. Yet with God’s help we can hold fast to the word of life (Philippians 2:16). If you feel pressured to enter a dangerous intersection of beliefs, study God’s Word, put on His armor (Ephesians 6:10-18), and ask the Holy Spirit for help (1 Corinthians 2:10-12). Then stand fast with your fellow believers in Christ. To avoid being pulled into error, keep a firm grip on the truth.  

But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. ‭‭I Timothy‬ ‭3:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬. Comments by Mike Fabarez. Absolute Truth: Truth is always true. Even so, it is amazing how many people seem to think it’s up for grabs. While we can reasonably reach an impasse as to which restaurant has “the best” Mexican food, when it comes to what you had for lunch yesterday there is a right and wrong answer. That’s the thing about “truth”. It’s not true unless it has a correspondence to reality. I may want to believe that I have a million dollars in my checking account and I owe nothing on my credit card, but the bank and MasterCard are always good at evaluating my beliefs against the objectivity of reality. Truth claims about God, Jesus and the afterlife are no different. Either there is a God or there isn’t. Either Jesus is able to take the debt of my sin away or he can’t. I will either cease to exist when I die or face my Maker on the other side. The reality of these truth claims is what matters, not my feelings about them. And that sends me down a different path than most prefer to travel. I must expend my efforts exploring the evidence, not my preferences. I have to investigate facts, not my feelings. It is our job to be truth-seekers not opinion-formulators. I trust that we will be up for the challenge of always seeking to know what’s true, not popular. And as a result I pray that the church will once again be known as the “pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).  

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception. ‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:4-6‬ ‭NLT‬‬. Comments by Mike Fabarez. As many faithful defenders of the Christian faith have pointed out, the truths we speak of as Christians, are claims we assert to be “true truth”. We do not presume to be proffering religious preferences or personal values. We are boldly claiming that our statements regarding God, life, death, heaven, and hell are realities – “real realities”. Of course, that only pertains to those statements that accurately reiterate, reflect or replicate the statements we find in God’s word. “God’s word” – that is a big claim. But it’s one that we Christians allege can be backed up by the evidence we find on the pages of the Bible. It is no ordinary book. Actually, there is not another book like it. It was penned over a 1,500-year span and is generously punctuated by precise depictions of future events given years, decades, and in some cases even millennia before they happened. The Bible bears the marks of being a book that was ultimately “breathed out” by the only one who could have so specially “declared the end from the beginning” (2 Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 46:8-11). So if God himself was the governing force behind the production of this information, then we can and should be much more confident when we present biblical truths to our confused, conflicted and desperately needy society.

Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us who live in truth and love. 2 John 1:3 NLT. Comments by anonymous author. John was there when Jesus did His miracles, so he is able to testify to the truth, that Jesus is the Son of God, and died for our sins, and came back to life.  He uses the word truth 5 times in the first 4 verses of 2 John.  Grace, mercy & peace WILL be with us if we remain in truth & love.

Comments by Mike Fabarez. The Bible is full of severe and hard realities. Its propositions aren’t fuzzy or soft; they’re strong, stern and unambiguous. Its heroes aren’t hailed for being sensitive and emotional; they’re lauded for being principled, unyielding, zealous warriors who unapologetically stand up for what is right. Its assessments and judgments do not oscillate based on feelings, sentiments, syndromes or disorders. The strategies of today’s defense attorneys, which sway acquiescent juries would never have worked for Israel’s ruling elders, the New Testament’s apostles, Church history’s councils, and they certainly will not work at the forthcoming Great White Throne Judgment. Like many other things that we’d prefer to be more malleable, but by nature cannot be, the truth is what it is and God’s revealed instructions are not up for negotiation. Yes, there is grace for sinners, but God’s mercy and grace are dispensed according to his clearly prescribed terms. The Bible is replete with warnings about the futility of gambling on the hope that what God has inscribed is transient, provincial, or mere suggestion. So don’t allow our culture’s relativistic droning impair your sobriety or diminish your respect for the absolute truthfulness of God’s truth.

Comments by Mike Fabarez. Hard Truth: We all work to make our lives as comfortable and pain-free as possible. We buy all sorts of appliances and gadgets to make hard jobs easy, and seek out any available remedy to alleviate our bodily aches and pains. And this makes perfect sense. Only a masochist would willingly accept pain that could easily be eradicated. But we dare not take this natural inclination into our study of God’s word. Our theology must never be shaped by a desire to eliminate hard truths and downplay painful passages. Remembering that we are fallen people awaiting our future glorification, we must gladly hold on to uncomfortable doctrines and prickly principles that grate against our human sensibilities. We can expect that the assortment of God-breathed truths speaking clearly about our perfectly just and infinitely holy Creator will not all sit well in our minds this side of heaven. So instead of reaching for a commonly heard rationalization designed to quickly take the edge off of a text that hurts, remember that God’s word is perfect and we are not. Remember that we must not allow its truth to be shaped by our thinking, but that instead we are called to conform our thinking to the truth of God’s word. 

Comments by Mike Fabarez. Just before one of the strongest statements regarding the uniqueness and sufficiency of Scripture, the Bible warns us that as time marches on “evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse” (2 Timothy 3:13). The threat of “evil people” opposing the truth has certainly been harmful, but at least they are easy for Christians to spot. Unfortunately, it is the “imposters” that often cause the most harm because their injury to the people of God is rarely realized until a great deal of damage has already been done. These “imposters” we are told are “deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13). Their deception is effective because they don’t blatantly attack the truth of Scripture head on, but instead they undermine the Scripture’s authority by advocating a rival source of authority. Sometimes it is the norms of our culture that are exalted to co-regent status. Other times it is the tradition of the church. Often it is the authority given to the impressions and impulses of the human heart. But no matter what it is we must remember Satan’s insidious strategy, that whenever impostors campaign for two sources of authority, the Bible always loses. They may say it won’t, but God has warned that when these deceived deceivers set up anything to be on par with Scripture, the Bible ends up being ignored. So, as our spiritual forefathers have rightly insisted upon, when it comes to hearing God’s authoritative voice of truth it must continue to be Sola Scriptura – the Scripture alone. 

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Quotes

“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.’ – John Quincy Adams

“All that is true, by whomsoever it has been said has its origin in the Spirit.’ – Thomas Aquinas

“Where I found truth, there found I my God, who is the truth itself.” – Augustine

“A thing is not necessarily true because badly uttered, nor false because spoken magnificently.” – Augustine

“Failure is a school in which the truth always grows strong.” – Henry Ward Beecher

“Where truth goes, I will go, and where truth is I will be, and nothing but death shall divide me and the truth.” – Thomas Brooks

“Truth is mighty and will prevail.” – Thomas Brooks

“If I am afraid to speak the truth lest I lose affection, or lest the one concerned should say, “You do not understand”, or because I fear to lose my reputation for kindness; if I put my own good name before the other’s highest good, then I know nothing of Calvary love.’ – Amy Carmichael

“The man who thinks he can know the Word of God by mere intellectual study is greatly deceived. Spiritual truth is spiritually discerned.” – Samuel Chadwick

“You cannot live your life other than walking in the truth. Your means are as important as your ends.” – Chuck Colson

“If I speak what is false, I must answer for it; if truth, it will answer for me.” – Thomas Fuller

“Many people say the Bible is a myth, but they’re myth-taken, myth-guided, and myth-erable.”  – Vance Havner

“The Bible is the repository of God’s eternal, non-negotiable truths …. The Bible is God’s perfect and complete message to humankind.”  – Robert Jeffress in Outrageous Truth

“A lover of Jesus and of the truth can lift himself above himself in spirit.” – Thomas a Kempis

“O send Thy Spirit, Lord, now unto me That He may touch my eyes and make me see; Show me the truth concealed within Thy Word, And in Thy Book revealed I see Thee, Lord.”  – Mary Lathbury, Break Thou The Bread of Life

“Peace if possible, but truth at any rate.” – Martin Luther

“Love and truth must be maintained in perfect balance. Truth is never to be abandoned in the name of love. But love is not to be deposed in the name of truth… Truth without love has no decency; it’s just brutality. On the other hand, love without truth has no character; it’s just hypocrisy.” – John MacArthur

“Truth has no degrees or shades. A half truth is a whole lie, and a white lie is really black.” – John MacArthur

“When a truth is unfolded by God it most naturally becomes a power in man, who then finds himself able to believe.” – Watchman Nee

“Knowing the truth concerning the deep workings of the evil spirit helps the individual not only to overcome sins but to eliminate unnecessary afflictions as well.” – Watchman Nee

“To secure one’s freedom the Christian must experience God’s light which is God’s truth.” – Watchman Nee

“The believer at minimum can declare by his will that he wants the truth, that he wants to know and obey the truth. By prayer and by choice of will he ought to resist every satanic lie, whatever form it may take a thought, an imagination or an argument.” – Watchman Nee

“Nothing gives rest but the sincere search for truth.” – Blaise Pascal

“We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart.” – Blaise Pascal

“Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.” – Blaise Pascal

“He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him alright.” – Blaise Pascal

“When thou art obliged to speak, be sure to speak the truth; for equivocation is half-way to lying, and lying is the whole way to hell.” – William Penn

“Truth always carries with it confrontation. Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation nevertheless. If our reflex action is always accommodation regardless of the centrality of the truth involved, there is something wrong.” – Francis Schaeffer

“We must stress that the basis for our faith is neither experience nor emotion but the truth as God has given it in verbalized, prepositional form in the Scripture and which we first of all apprehend with our minds.” – Francis Schaeffer

“The truth of Scripture demolishes speculation.”  – R. C. Sproul

“If you want the truth to go round the world you must hire an express train to pull it; but if you want a lie to go round the world it will fly; it is as light as a feather, and a breath will carry it.” – Charles Spurgeon

“Yet, surely, there must be some who will fling aside the (cowardly) love of peace, and speak out for our Lord, and for His truth. A craven spirit is upon man, and their tongues are paralyzed. Oh, for an outburst of true faith and holy zeal.” – Charles Spurgeon

“A sacred regard to the authority of God ought to lead us to reject an error, however old, sanctioned by whatever authority, or however generally practiced.” – Charles Spurgeon

“We are either in the process of resisting God’s truth or in the process of being shaped and molded by his truth.” – Charles Stanley

“Jesus Christ Himself is the final exegesis of all truth. He is all that we need to know about God, and He is all that we need to know about man.” – Major Ian Thomas

“‘Let God be true but every man a liar’ is the language of true faith.” – A. W. Tozer

“For not only does sound reason direct us to refuse the guidance of those who do or teach anything wrong, but it is by all means vital for the lover of truth, regardless of the threat of death, to choose to do and say what is right even before saving his own life.” – A. W. Tozer

“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” – Mark Twain

“Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy.” – Warren Wiersbe

“The great unity which true science seeks is found only by beginning with our knowledge of God, and coming down from Him along the stream of causation to every fact and event that affects us.” – Assorted Authors

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