What does the Bible say about truth?

Throughout the scriptures there is that which God designates as 'the truth.' It is divine, and above the opinions of men, however wise and pious they may be. In the O.T. the admonition is given, "Buy the truth and sell it not." Prov. 23:23. 'The truth' must refer to God, who is true, but is not called 'the truth:' hence it comprises all that may be known of God, whether declared by creation or made known by revelation. Truth is not simply that which is held as dogma, but must be received in the soul. Paul asked the Galatians who had hindered them that they should not obey 'the truth?' Gal. 5:7. Judgement is coming upon Christendom "because they received not the love of 'the truth' that they might be saved." 2 Thess. 2:10. Truth is the real way of liberty: "the truth shall make you free." John 8:32, 36. Truth cannot be separated from the Lord Jesus, who is "the way, the truth, and the life." This is objectively; subjectively the Spirit is the truth as having come from the glorified Christ. In the three Epistles of John 'the truth' is constantly referred to, and a Christian woman is warned not to receive any one into her house, nor wish him God-speed unless he holds the doctrines taught by the apostles — in other words, 'the truth.'

The danger in one epistle is in reception, in the other in exclusion; the truth is the test in both cases. The Roman governor asked: “What is truth?” Had he been divinely taught he might have seen it personified in the Prisoner to whom the question was addressed, for Christ is the truth. In Him we learn all that God is in the full revelation of Himself; and in Him we learn what man is according to God’s eternal thought. The truth as to God, the truth as to man, the truth as to the Father and the Son, and the relationships in which believers stand with these Divine Persons; the truth as to righteousness, salvation, and eternal life; and the truth as to atonement, on the basis of which these blessings can alone be ours—all is known in the measure in which we know Christ, for He is the truth. The gospel is the word of truth, the Scriptures are the record of it, and the house of God upon earth is the pillar and base of it. The truth judges everything which is contrary to it, and becomes the test for all practical fellowship with one another in the midst of religious corruption; and hence the prominence given to it in these two short epistles.

"Truth" I hold to be definite, unchangeable, and perfectly revealed in the Scriptures. These are, as regards man, the only fountain and depository of truth. As to its essence and living embodiment, it is found alone in Him who said, "I AM THE TRUTH" — happily for us, "the way and the life" also. If others hold not this, it is their loss. They have not the anchor that can be trusted in the storm. Truth, I deny not, may be matter of long and hesitating and anxious enquiry. Because truth, which is but the expression of the mind of God though perfectedly revealed, is not at once, and of necessity, perfectly understood — not even by those who are called "wisdom's children," and are "born of God." "We know in part, and we prophesy in part." But truth itself in the Scriptures, is perfect, absolute, and unchangeable. There is much in the apprehension of this. It removes doubt from the pathway, and is the hinge of all true enquiry. It lays open the well, and how its living waters may be drawn. It points to the oracle, and the temper in which it must be consulted.

When the fulness of time came and it pleased God to give a perfect revelation of Himself in Christ, then it could be said "We beheld His glory … full of grace and truth," (John 1:14), for truth is REALITY — the revelation of all that God is, with the consequent putting of everything into its right position in regard to Him. He who knows God as revealed in Christ, and is by that knowledge taken out of the mists of error, has been brought into the realm of truth.

The word of God is truth and right through the New Testament books "truth" is mentioned, yet the word occurs with special frequency in the Gospel and Epistles of the apostle John and in the first and second Epistles to Timothy. Inasmuch as these are amongst the latest of the New Testament writings, this shows us that when error began to raise its head within the church the Spirit of God began to emphasize "truth." In contrast with the error the "truth" aspect of Christianity was brought to the fore.

In this tangible and concrete world we often struggle to grasp moral concepts. We find it relatively easy to define concrete nouns (e.g. desk, chair, book) – but almost impossible to define abstract nouns (e.g. love, life, light, truth). Truth is difficult to define, but think of it in this way and each one of the verses listed above is more readily grasped: truth defines relationships between things, it enables anything to be seen in its right proportions.

The truth, clear and positive truth, given as a revelation from God in the words — clothed with His authority — by which He has given the truth a form, communicating the facts and the divine thoughts which are necessary for the salvation of men, and for their participation in divine life — this it is which we are to hold fast.

We are only sure of the truth when we retain the very language of God which contains it. By grace I may speak of the truth in all liberty, I may seek to explain it, to communicate it, to urge it on the conscience, according to the measure of light and spiritual power bestowed upon me; I may endeavour to demonstrate its beauty, and the connection between its various parts. Every Christian, and especially those who have a gift from God for the purpose, may do this. But the truth which I explain and propose is the truth as God has given it, and in His own words in the revelation He has made. I hold fast the form of sound words, which I have received from a divine source and authority: it gives me certainty in the truth.

Truth is the substance of a revealed thing, the reality of what is spoken. "No man cometh unto the Father but by me." He is the Way, and as the Truth and the Life are these things brought into operation so as to bring one in the way. And not only so, but if they had known Him they would have known the Father also, the end they sought for. In thus being the Way and the Truth and the Life, He was the revealer in His Person in unity with the Father, as perfectly leading them to, and revealing, all in fulness.

First then, you may ask me, "What is truth?" I do not know that I can make it plain to you; but so far as I can grasp the meaning of truth, it is this: Truth is the exact, the perfect, and absolute expression and delineation of that which is. It is the identity of the statement and the fact stated. I could not say, that God was the Truth. He is true. God is true, but of the Lord Jesus Christ it is said, "That grace and truth came by him" (John 1:17). Nay, more, He Himself has said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). He was the Truth; and I hope to show you that He was the truth about everything — the truth about God; the truth about man; the truth about the heart of God, the nature of God, and the claims of God; and the truth, moreover, about man in every possible relation of his being. He was no mere man, for He was verily God; nevertheless He was a real, true, perfect man. Get hold of that, I implore you. That Jesus, whom we have read about, was a real, true, perfect man, as much a man as I am standing here before you this evening, sin alone excepted. As man He was in this scene to declare God, and to divinely meet man. "To this end," He says, "was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth." None could reveal God, none could unveil the love of God, or declare the heart of God, other than He who came from God. There was none who knew the claims of God, and could meet those claims, except the One who came from God. He must come from God, if He is to bring God to me, and He must be a man, a veritable man, to bring me to God; because I am a sinful man, a sinner. So are you. Sin carries its consequences and merits judgment, and the truth as to this alone is seen fully in Christ.

The truth has been revealed in the Person of the Son of God. In Him in manhood the Father was seen, and on earth He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). Now that the Lord Jesus is in heaven, it is to heaven that we look to find the truth, though it is also to be found in the words that He spoke while here, and which have been recorded for us in the Scriptures. Objectively, we see the truth in the Person of the Son, but subjectively, the truth is in the Holy Spirit who indwells all who believe in the Lord Jesus. Christ (1 John 5:6). Although the truth has been revealed, all do not know the truth, for all have not the capacity and the power for its reception. Pilate asked the question that many of the great of this world have asked, "What is truth?" (John 18:38), but in condemning the Son of God he manifested that he was not of the truth, and had no real desire for it, for it was there before Him in the Person of Jesus.

But now all that God is, in His attributes and nature, has been declared, along with all the purposes of His love. Nothing has been kept back; so that John can tell the babes that they “know all things” (1 John 2:20). The depths of God, the depths of man, the depths of Satan—all have been sounded, and the moral foundations of every work, human, devilish, or divine, have come to light. “The present truth” does not differ at all from the truth that “shall be with us for ever” (2 John 2). We know that Christ is in us (John 14:20), and ever with us (Heb. 13:5); the Spirit of truth is also in us, and abides with us for ever (John 14:16-17), and so it is with regard to the truth itself, it is “in us, and shall be with us for ever” (2 John 2). Christ is the truth, the Spirit is the power by which it takes effect in our souls, and the Scripture is the God-given record of it, the means by which it is made known to us in word and doctrine.