Objective Truth

John's second letter is quick and to the point and that point is truth. Just a little over 300 words, the word truth is found 5 times in the first 3 sentences. Adding the times John talks about doctrine or the commandments of God, we can see John's heart for truth. He writes about knowing the truth, and walking in the truth, but he says we need to live by the truth and disassociate ourselves with those who deny the truth.  With such particular and life-altering applications (John himself was exiled for truth) we can straightway see that truth must be definable and it must be objective.

In times past, many would say truth about God is ultimately unknowable. Now, many people think they have their own truth. Who's to say I’m right and your wrong? Quite frankly, the definable and objective truth is who tells us we are wrong. Truth isn’t defined by your feelings. Truth isn’t defined by your heart. Webster’s Dictionary says truth is, “the body of real things, events, and facts; the state of being the case.” Some things we all still agree is truth. Water is wet and 100 is more than 99. But I wouldn’t be surprised if even mathematical axioms will begin to be called into question, especially if I can be called a bigot for daring to say gender is objectively definable. Objective truth,  means truth is not influenced by feelings, just the facts. In a world that denies objective truth, our feelings become the final arbiter. A rational, logical human being, when confronted with facts that are contrary to the way we feel or think, should, at the very least, pause and consider why new information is contrary to the way we feel. Instead, we get emotional and call people bigots, haters, and try to silence their voice.

Even in the realm of spiritual things, you don’t get to decide what is truth. There are a lot of religious assemblies who meet to worship every Sunday. Sadly, not every organization preaches the same gospel. We can’t all be walking in the truth if we disagree. If you have two contrary gospels, they can’t both be right. It matter very little how many people believe a particular doctrine, or how passionately someone believes it. The only thing that matters is, “is it true?” As a Christian, the truth is not found within me, it’s found outside of me, in the Bible. The truth isn’t in a mystical feeling, because my feelings might be different than yours, and if so, who is right? Truth, very often, is contrary to my feelings and contrary to what I feel is the right thing. The truth is revealed to us by God,  in the 66 books of the Bible, by rightly dividing that word of truth. The Bible has a meaning and to know truth, we must know what the Bible actually says and means; living with  joy  and confidence in the certainty of objective truth.