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People of the Truth…

Is truth personal or absolute? Is truth relative? As a student of theology and apologetics and, more importantly, as a teacher of the Bible, I believe wholeheartedly in absolute, propositional truth.

If we use the phrase “my truth” to mean “my personal experience,” then this phrase is rather benign. However, if we use “my truth” to mean that our personal beliefs are relative and are just as valid as anyone else’s (with regard to any truth claim), then we’ve missed the point with regard to truth. Relative truth is becoming all-too common. According to a recent Barna study 64% of millennials believe that religious view are basically different versions of the same spiritual message. This trend is problematic because Christianity claims that truth is propositional and absolute.

None of us holds a view of personal or relative truth when it comes to the fields of science or mathematics. Here are some examples. Gravity is absolute. It is no more true for me in the USA, than it is for those living in Asia. It is absolutely true as a scientific law. Mathematics are absolute. 2+2=4, and it always will be 4. Furthermore, the decimal points in our bank account balances are absolute. At least we expect them to be. They are not relative or arbitrary. A diagnosis for a disease is also absolute. When a biopsy comes back as cancer, what we feel or think about the result is irrelevant. The doctor’s feelings are irrelevant as well. It is an absolute.

Even if a postmodern world wants to argue for truth as relative and personal, we operate in a world of absolute truths.

Why then would we treat religious, philosophical, or moral truths as anything less than absolute? There is no short answer to this question as hundreds of years of philosophical and religious debate during the Enlightenment and through to the philosophies of Modernism and Post-Modernism have supplied answers.

One of the major debates regarding religious truth comes when a religion makes propositional statements like: “All men are sinners” or “Jesus was resurrected from the dead.” As propositions, they are important theologically. They are also factual claims. The Bible defines sin. If we commit sins as the Bible claims, then we are sinners. So according to the biblical definition, all men are sinners. This is a propositional truth whether or not one accepts the Bible as true or not. One might disagree with the Bible and deny it as God’s revelation, but that person cannot deny that according to the Bible, the proposition that all men are sinners is valid. The same holds true with the second proposition above, “Jesus was resurrected from the dead.” This proposition was preached by the early church and is the foundational claim of Christianity. Remove the resurrection, and you know longer have Christianity. But while many may not believe that Christ was resurrected, there is no denying that the Bible teaches Christ was resurrected. This proposition is then left to be defended or disregarded based on the evidence.

The challenge faced by those who make religious truths relative is the competing truth claims between those religious systems.

  • Islam denies the deity of Christ.
  • Christianity claims that Christ is God.
  • Atheism denies God altogether.
  • Hinduism claims that Jesus is one god among many.

These are mutually exclusive truth claims. If these truths are merely personal or relative, then they no longer effectively represent their religious system. Not only are relative truth claims within religious doctrine incompatible with their religious system, but they also become meaningless.

One reason for the popularity of relative truth or personal truth is that it dismisses the competing propositional truth claims of religious or philosophical systems. Another reason for the popularity of relative truth is that it personalizes truth. It makes truth individual and accessible.

Ironically, Christian truth has always been accessible because while it is propositional, it is also relational. Jesus claimed to be the very embodiment of truth.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

For Christians, truth is propositional and absolute, but it is also relational and knowable in a personal sense. Jesus is not just a historical figure, but he is God in human flesh. He is knowable. He is the truth.

As Christians, the biblical view of truth as propositional, absolute, and relational has several important implications.

  • Christians need not fear any truth (scientific, rational, historical, etc.). God embodies truth, and therefore, all truth is God’s truth. There is nothing true that ultimately contradicts a Biblical worldview. In all my studies, there are many theories that contradict biblical truth (see above on conflicting religious truth claims), but there are no verified facts that undercut biblical truth claims.
  • Christians should clearly proclaim the propositional truths of Scripture. We need to understand the culture of relativism and personal truth in which we live. And because truth is viewed so differently, our Christian message will often be rejected. But that never means we must stop proclaiming it. Paul taught that the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to all who believe” (Romans 1:16).
  • Christians should be cautious when speaking, posting, or declaring something to be true that is either speculative or a conspiracy theory. When we become evangelists for what is false, merely temporal, or what is a conspiracy theory, we undercut the power of our voice for truth. My friend and editor at the Biblical Recorder Seth Brown offers a very helpful analysis on this subject with regard to the Q-Anon Conspiracy Theories.

The bottom line is this. Because Christianity is founded upon the very embodiment of truth–Jesus Christ–we must be people who embrace and proclaim the truth to others.

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Making Sense of our Salvation

Regarding salvation in Christ, Do we choose God? or Does God choose us? Yes.

Let me clarify my purpose in this blogpost. I’m writing this post to help my congregation and readers better understand their salvation in Biblical terms, and to revel in the wonder and glory of a holy God who would willingly send his Son to die in order to save us.

Here’s a key verse in this conversation:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 1:5

Before we write off this verse as specific to Jeremiah, note how Paul describes salvation in rather similar terminology for all of us as followers of Jesus.

29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Romans 8:29-30

Several phrases correlate: knew and foreknew, consecrated and predestined/conformed, and appointed/called. The implications are striking.

As a pastor and professor (but mainly as a Christian), it is my duty to be Biblical. God defines the terms and gets to set the parameters for our theology. I recognize there will be theological dissension on some points. But where Scripture is clear, I must be clear. So what do we do with these verses that highlight God’s foreknowledge, election, and predestination related to our salvation? We believe them.

But what about verses that highlight whoever would come to Christ can be saved? (see John 3:16 or Romans 10:13). We believe them as well.

The real question is whether or not these verses and others we could draw from indicate inconsistency in Scripture regarding salvation. In other words, are these passages in tension? Another way of asking the question would be: “How do you reconcile God’s sovereignty with man’s responsibility?” Charles Spurgeon, 19th century Baptist pastor answered: “You never have to reconcile friends.” The point is that biblically, God’s sovereignty and our responsibility are not in tension.

God predestines and elects. If he did not do so, none would be saved. That is clear from Jeremiah 1:5, Romans 8:29-30, and other passages as well. Predestination and election reflect God’s sovereignty. They remind us that God takes the initiative in our salvation. Furthermore, God sent Jesus to die on the cross (his initiative). God sent the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draw us to himself (his initiative). The Bible declares clearly that our salvation derives first and foremost from God.

God invites and redeems. Salvation is an offer from God to sinners. This offer comes through the Holy Spirit and the communicated gospel.

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Romans 10:13 -15

What is our part in salvation then? Our part in salvation is that we come as as sinners. We bring nothing good that deserves salvation. Rather, we bring ourselves in need of salvation. To receive salvation is to repent of our sin and believe on the Lord Jesus (Acts 2:38; Romans 10:9-10). Salvation then is a gift to be received, not a wage to be earned (Romans 6:23).

These biblical reminders about our salvation encourage several responses from us as believers:

  • We should be grateful that God initiated our salvation. God’s sovereign work in our salvation encourages us to praise and thank him. It leads us to worship.
  • We should be Biblical in our understanding of salvation. Through the centuries, there has been significant tension regarding the order of salvation, divine sovereignty, human responsibility, Pelagianism, semi-Pelagianism, Arminianism, and Calvinism. This blogpost will not solve those tensions. (We may explore some of those tensions in future posts). However, if we will affirm what the Bible affirms, we will certainly not be found in error regarding our theology of salvation.
  • We should communicate the gospel regularly. The only way someone will receive salvation is to hear and respond to the gospel of Christ. Believer, it is your responsibility and mine to share the good news of salvation regularly.

Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash