Wednesday 24 February 2016

then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free...

Sun setting on the Hokitika beach, 2016

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free..... so if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
- John 8:32,36

I love truth. I've always loved truth. I love finding out what really happened, what the whole story is. I love ferreting out the flaws in people's arguments and setting them straight (not many people love it when I do it though, strangely). I love finding out the truth about something and broadcasting it. I love making sure everything is just right. I love truth.

One thing I love praying for when I pray for people is that they would be a lover of truth. That they would hunger after it. Because if people hunger after truth, then they will seek and seek and seek until they find it!
It's usually in the context of finding God. Because God is absolute Truth. God and truth are synonyms, really. And if people have a hunger and desire in their heart to search for absolute truth, I believe they will eventually find God. The Bible tell us that anyone who seeks with all their heart will find him. We are told to ask, seek and knock, before the door will be opened to us.

Are you a lover of the truth?

I'm not talking about nitpicking, like I sometimes do. I'm not talking about annoying-to-everyone-else-picking-their-arguments-apart. I'm talking about God's truth, of course.

His truth is what we should always seek.

There are a lot of slightly funny theologies out there. I went on a Bible camp at the beginning of the year and there were lots of people there from various Christian denominations. We had some really good talks (read: debates) on different theologies throughout the week, from what part the Holy Spirit plays in our lives to what Creation looked like! It exposed me to a range of different theologies and I really enjoyed it. We all believed in the same God, only, some people thought that Genesis's account of a seven day creation could be taken figuratively not literally (I believe it's literal, just saying).

A lot of people think that as long as someone's theology doesn't tamper with the main core beliefs of Christianity, it doesn't matter. We can all be loving and respectful of each other (apart from the occasions when you meet up with people of other theologies and everyone has some interesting discussions :P) because our theologies don't actually interfere with our salvation.

Which I agree with.

But for me personally, coming into contact with someone of a different theology makes me think. I don't merely define my position. I'm interested in what they have to say. I love different ideas because their idea just might be the right one. I always come away from the discussion thoughtful, because I want to believe the truth. I want to know the truth. It makes me research, to dig deeper into my Bible and see if I can find answers to my questions.

And that's what I want to encourage you to do. You see, as I said before, there are a lot of slightly funny theologies. There are a lot of ideas out there. One must be really careful that we don't stray off the straight and narrow path just because we've come into contact with some new idea that has shaken our faith.

Does that sort of make sense?

I have a relative whose faith has been severely damaged because of a church he attended. Apparently the things he heard in that church shook his faith so much he now doesn't believe in the Bible. He believes in God because he has had a few encounters with Him, but that is where it ends. My question is, if you don't believe the Bible is true then where does that leave you? It is hard to believe in God while not trusting in his very Word!

It is so dangerous to let your faith  be swayed by the things you hear. There are some very convincing people. There are some eloquent, silver-tongued people who will try to shake your faith.

Always go straight to the Bible. Search for yourself. Ask, seek and knock yourself. Find the answers to your questions and know what you believe and why you believe it. Love truth! Seek truth! At all costs, if necessary. Ask the Lord to give you a love for truth and to show you truth.

Truth sets you free. Seek truth.
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8 comments:

  1. This is a really great post bonnie! Very eye opening. I love truth! :)

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  2. I think this is an excellent post, Bonnie, one of the best I've read on your blog actually. I especially like what you say about God and Truth being synonyms. So true. A Bible verse that also points this out would be John 14:6.
    So yeah, a really good job. :)

    Since I'm a Catholic (and probably someone you may consider with a slightly funny theology, hehehe :P), there was one thing I was wondering about in what you said, so hopefully you don't mind me asking you a kinda "Catholic" question.

    You said "if you don't believe the Bible is true then where does that leave you? It is hard to believe in God while not trusting in his very Word!"

    My question for you would be, How do you know that the Bible *is* God's inspired Word?

    Now I totally agree with you that the Bible is God's inspired Word and that we have to absolutely trust everything it says as inspired by God, and I have reasons why I believe that. But I'm wondering what your reasons would be for believing that.

    So yeah, that's my question. :)

    Again, excellent post and God Bless. :)

    -Matthew M

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    Replies
    1. Hi Matthew,
      Firstly, thank you for your compliments. One of the best you've read on my blog?! Wow, thanks.
      Haha, I'm not actually sure if I would place you in the class of someone with slightly funny theology. Perhaps, perhaps. :P
      How do I know that the Bible is God's inspired Word? Because of 2 Timothy 3:16. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousnes...."
      Now I completely get that if there was someone who doesn't believe the Bible is God's word, then a Bible verse telling that it is in fact God's word isn't going to hold much weight. But that's all good because there are lots of outside reasons for believing the Bible is God's inspired word as well.

      1. Manuscript evidence ("There is no body of ancient literature in the world which enjoys such a wealth of textual attestation as the New Testament" - F.F. Bruce)
      2. Archeological evidence
      3. Eyewitness accounts (Many of the men who saw Jesus and wrote about Him were murdered for their faith. Would you die for something you knew was untrue?)
      4. Corroborating accounts
      5. Literary consistency (66 books by 40 different writers written over 1,500 years and is completely consistent)
      6. Prophetic consistency
      7. Expert scrutiny
      8. Global influence
      9. Changed lives (the words of the Bible have transformed lives unmistakeably and forever)

      God bless you too! If you want to chat more about this with me feel free to email! :)

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    2. 10, a build on 1, would be that there was 24,000 different ancient copies of the Bible made.

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    3. Great reasons, I'm not sure if they would completely prove that the whole Bible is inspired--more that it's historically reliable--but I like those points.

      I have emailed you about it. :)

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  3. Good post. I like truth as well.

    Timothy

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