Words --- Truth

Truth is reality.

Reality is truth.

Truth is not just what I can convince myself is true, without having any doubts --- which is what Scientology would have me believe.

Truth is not confirmed or proven by a warm and fuzzy feeling --- which is what the Mormons would have me believe.

Truth is not dispensed by the few people with the most prestige or college degrees --- which is what the American Association for the Advancement of Science would have me believe.

Truth is not determined by majority rule.

Truth is not owned by those who shout the loudest.

Truth is not true just because it is printed, or broadcast on radio or television, or appears on the internet.

Truth is what really happened.

Truth is reality.

Reality is truth.

Reality cannot be false.

Reality cannot be a lie.

Reality is absolute truth.

Whenever I make a statement about the world, that statement may be true or untrue.  I can take the statement, "the sky is blue", and hold it up, compare it to the real world, and decide for myself if the statement is true, or false, or whether it may need to be modified.  Maybe the statement should say, "on a clear day, the sky is blue." Simple statements are easily verified by almost everyone.

The difference between what is true, and what is truth is this:  Truth is what really happened, but that which is true is in a form --- like a statement about reality --- which may sometimes be false.

Truth is what really happened.  And the Bible says much the same thing.  John writes in 1 John, ". what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the word of life . what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also."  And Peter, in 2 Peter 1, writes, "For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.  For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to him .,'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased' --- and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him." 

So Peter and John are both saying, as it were, "We saw Him with our own eyes.  We heard Him with our own ears.  We touched Him with our own hands.  And this is what we are telling you about.

What does the Bible say about "truth"?

It says, "The truth of the Lord endures forever," Psalms 117:2.

It says, "Your law is truth," Psalms 119:142.

It says, "The LORD has sworn to David, a truth from which He will not turn back; 'Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne,'  Psalms 132:11.

It says, "speak the truth to one another; execute the judgement of truth and peace in your gates," Zechariah 8:16.

It shows Jesus saying, "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth,"  John 4:23-24.

It shows Jesus saying, "If you abide in my word then you are truly disciples of mine, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," John 8:31-32.

It shows Jesus saying, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you," John 14:16-17.

It shows Jesus praying, "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth," John 17:17.

It shows Jesus saying, "For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice," John 18:37.

It says, "[love] does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth," 1 Corinthians 13:6.

It says, "speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ," Ephesians 4:15.

It says, "it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth," 1 John 5:7.

Reality is this; that God created the heavens and the earth; that everything was created by that part of God which became Jesus; that everything is continually upheld by the word of His power;  that God Himself, in the form of Jesus, was born into His own creation; that He lived with us; that He gave Himself up to be put to death on a cross in order to show us the way of love --- to "love one another, as I have loved you"; that He rose from death on the third day; that He ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God, the Father; that He sent the Holy Spirit of love and truth to live within us.

Any idea, or teaching, which denies this reality, is not the truth but a lie.