What is Truth?

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

Matthew 7:7–8 (ESV)

Are you old enough to remember Y2K? Y2K is code for “the year 2000.” It usually refers to a shortcut in computer programming used everywhere that was expected to wreak havoc as the calendar moved from New Year’s Eve 1999 to New Year’s Day 2000. The world believed the date change would crash computer systems, wreck infrastructures, bring down the banking systems, and drive power plants offline. Ya’ll, people were freaking out—like genuinely, freaking out. While the expectations of catastrophe were real, the reality was much ado about nothing.

But for me, Y2K triggered questions about life, about death, and about reality. Why do I exist? Is it as simple as “You live, you die, and that’s it?” I now believe God used Y2K to stir the pot of my life in such a way as to cause me to crack open His Word - the Bible, which I did a few days after New Year’s Day 2000.

As I moved through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount into Matthew Chapter 7, I arrived at this perplexing “door-knocking” metaphor in Verses 7 and 8. Was this Jesus guy saying that I can ask for a new house, claim it, “open the door,” and Ed’s new house will magically appear? I’m not the most intelligent peanut in the bushel, but I didn’t think that was a true and accurate application of Jesus’ words.

I was doggedly looking for truth. Tenaciously trying to appease my intellect with objective truth. Well, what is truth anyway? Several years later I heard RC Sproul define truth as that which conforms to reality. He went on to say,

“It’s a very simply idea. In our day and age, it’s an idea that is under attack every moment, because this concept of truth says truth is that which is real. Truth is therefore objective. What is really out there is not dependent upon how I feel about it or even how I perceive it, because I am not the author of truth; I am not the one who creates reality. I encounter reality. I meet reality, and I have to respond to things that are really out there apart from me. And the pursuit of science and the pursuit of truth is the pursuit of discovering the ‘real,’ rather than the imaginary or the fictional.”[1]

I could never have articulated it like Sproul does, but this is precisely what I initially searched for, without even knowing it. Truth is reality. Objective truth does exist. “A” cannot equal “-A” at the same time in the same place. And yes, the previous sentence sounds all #philisophical-lee.  The point is this: God either is or He is not. He either exists or He doesn’t exist. Jesus either ran out of the tomb alive, or He did not run out of the tomb alive. It’s either true or untrue. Truth is not subjective. It is oxymoronic to say, “Well, _______ may be true for you, but it’s not true for me.” _______ is either true (conforms to reality) or it’s not.

So, Jesus says, “Seek and you will find. Knock [and] it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7). In applying this to my sitz im leben[2] I understood that it is truth that is behind the door. In other words, anyone honestly searching for truth will find it. This principle radically changed me. I was fully convinced that, at the end of this journey, I would end up on the “true” side of the debate. And I did, but we’ll save that for a few weeks from now.

In a world that is filled with moral relativism, Jesus declared, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). He said, “I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37). He is full of truth (John 1:14). The ”Spirit of truth” bears witness about Jesus (John 15:26) and guides you and I into all truth (John 16:13).

In the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus asks the Father to sanctify us in the truth (John 17:17, 19). If we remain faithful to His word, we will know the truth, and the truth will set us free (John 8:31–32). This involves more than just “accepting” His words. Allow them to transform your heart and mind (Romans 12:2).

The truth (Jesus) will set you free! Are you free today? I have no idea what struggle you are going through today or the one you may be headed into tomorrow. But I do know the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life—the One who can liberate us from the shackles of sin, fear, and deception. If you will lock onto Jesus and abide in His teachings, you can experience a freedom that transcends any rough season you may find yourself in. His freedom is not some license to do whatever you want. It is about living in the fullness of His purpose for your life.

Father God, give me the wisdom to search out the truths in Your Word, to willingly embrace them, and to allow Your Holy Spirit to continuously transform me into the image of Your Son. Allow me never to stop knocking on Your door because, Lord, I know that You will always invite me into Your truth. In Jesus’ abiding name, Amen.

[1] https://www.ligonier.org/posts/truth-corresponds-reality

[2] Sitz im laben is a German phrase meaning “setting in life.”