What Are the Sources of TRUTH (Reality)?
Christ said that “the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). The Greek word for ‘truth’ is alétheia (ah-LAY-thee-ah), which means “the way it really is,” aka reality. Since the devil is “the father of lies” and is temporarily the “god of this world” (John 8:44 & 2 Corinthians 4:4), it’s going to take truth to set us free in a world where lies abound. Naturally the more truth we appropriate the freer we’ll be.
But what are our sources of truth? In the passage above (John 8:31-32) Christ said that his word was a source of truth and, by extension, the Holy Scriptures in general, which is substantiated by passages like 2 Timothy 3:15-17 and 1 Corinthians 4:6. The Messiah said God’s word is truth (John 17:17), which could be described as chronicled (written) truth, but the Lord also said HE was truth (John 14:6), which is living truth.
As such, believers can receive truth from the written word of God as well as via the living word of God thru the spirit of truth within us (John 16:13). This reveals that we need to:
- Become students of the WRITTEN word while…
- Cultivating a relationship with the LIVING word (John 1:1-4).
Being a student of the written word involves (1) reading & studying of the Scriptures (1 John 2:27) balanced out by (2) receiving from the “ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:1-4) thru anointed fivefold ministers. In both cases striving to rightly divide the Scriptures is paramount (2 Timothy 2:15).
For insights on receiving from both the written Word and the living Word, see this 19-minute video:
Of course another source of truth is God’s creation, that is, the Earth & Universe and all living things (Psalm 19:1-4 & Romans 1:19-20). By unbiasedly studying the creation we acquire truth, which is the basis of the genuine sciences, as opposed to the faulty pseudo-science advocated by LIEberals (I’m talking about the ones who claim with a straight face that there are scores of genders and that biological men can legitimately compete in female sports by simply “identifying” as a woman). Through the study of the Earth & Universe and all living things we learn the truths of geography, geology, astronomy, biology, physiology, zoology, entomology and so on.
Related Topics:
Hermeneutics—Proper Bible Interpretation
What Does “Do Not Go Beyond What is Written” Mean in 1 Corinthians 4:6?
Berean Spirit — What is it? How Do You Cultivate It?
What’s the Diff between “Milk” and “Solid Food” (or “Meat”)?
If Believers have an Anointing to Teach Themselves, Why do They Need Teachers? (1 John 2:27)
What’s the Difference between TEACHING and PREACHING?
Who Wrote the New Testament Books? Who Authorized them as Scripture Canon?
Your Belief Window — the Lens through which You See Life (video)
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