ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE TRUTH?

Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Please notice with me some thoughts about this statement.

First, Jesus said we can know the truth. Many today think truth is relative. They believe that truth changes based on time, circumstances, personal feeling, and interpretation. A popular idea promoted by man for many years is that there is no absolute truth. Truth is based on your personal experiences and current circumstances. What is true for you may or may not be true for someone else. If that is the case, then we cannot know the truth. But Jesus says we can. Therefore, there must be a standard of truth. Jesus tells us what that standard is. John 17:17 - “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” God’s word, the Bible is truth. Although the last words of Scripture were written almost 2000 years ago, it is as true today, and as relevant, as the day it was written. Jesus leaves no doubt. We can know the truth.

Second, the truth will make you free. Paul writes in Romans 6:17-18, “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” Sin enslaves us to Satan and he is a cruel taskmaster. His only purpose is to see us assigned the same fate as him, eternal torment in hell. Jesus, however, loves us and wants us to be free from such a hateful master. The truth, God’s word will indeed set us free when we know it and obey it. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Third, some people are afraid of the truth. They believe what they believe and are comfortable. Any examination of what they believe scares them. Any scrutiny of their understanding of truth is a personal insult. Many simply shut down the process; they will not allow any examination of what they believe to be truth.

Some points of truth may be painful. Truth may cause us to examine our lives and realize we have come up short. However, the truth is still the truth. Running from it, hiding from it, denying it, or trying to change it does not alter the fact that it is still the truth. A person may suffer a broken leg in an accident. Denying it, refusing to be treated, does not change the truth that the leg is broken. Failure to accept the truth, instead of relieving the pain, will only make the pain and suffering worse.

Some deny the truth because they do not want to change their lifestyle. John 3:19-20 - “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.20 “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” Some people are living in sin and rather than changing their lifestyle to comply with what is right, they deny the truth. Man has tried this through the centuries, but is simply does not work. The truth is still the truth.

“Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding” (Proverbs 23:23).
--Lamar