Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist

In this passage from Ephesians 6:14, Paul compares truth to a piece of Roman armour, the belt. The Roman belt was said to have a number of purposes, for example to give support, but also to hold the sword which Paul tells us is the Word of God (verse 17).

Truth today is under attack, as it perhaps has always been. There are in fact three questions worth asking for 21 century man. Firstly does truth exist, secondly if it does can it be known, and thirdly if the answer to the first two questions is yes, how can we know it?

There is much talk today about “my truth,” and “your truth.” We hear things like “That may be true for you, but it is not true for me.” In other words truth is relative. And this makes sense at some level. I mean it is wrong for an alcoholic to take a single drink, but the Bible does not condemn consumption of alcohol period. It does of course tell us not be be drunk (Ephesians 5:18). But is all truth relative? Actually the statement “All truth is relative” is an absolute statement and so self contradictory. To see this we ask “all truth, absolutely all truth is relative?” What I am saying is that if the answer is “yes,” the statement is an absolute statement and so self contradictory! In fact the contradiction behind this statement shows that while some truth can be relative, not all truth is relative. In other words truth exists.

So secondly “Can it be known?” The Christian answer is yes, in fact Jesus tells us that He can into the world to testify of the truth (John 18: 37). Some even doubt the existence of Christ, but no serious historian does. And in the end the question is “What do you do with Jesus?” Jesus claims to be the Son of God, and while this too is disputed, it can only be done by twisting the Scriptures. In fact the clearest statement comes in the Old Testament, where the child born, the Son given has the name “the Almighty God” (Isaiah 9:6).

So what do we do with this claim of Jesus? Is He a liar, is he deluded? In C. S. Lewis’s famous trichotomy He is either a liar, a lunatic, or He is Lord! Lewis says that if you reject the first two, then you must accept the third, He is Lord. And if He is Lord He also tells the truth, in fact He is the Truth (John 14:6). So can truth be known? Jesus says so, and God is not a man that he should lie (Numbers 29:18), in fact He tells us that if we continue in His Word, then we will know the Truth and the truth will set us free (John 8:31).

So in fact, this last quotation, tells us not only that truth can be known, but it tells us how to find it. We find truth when we find Him!

Father, thank You that we have not believed cunningly devised fables (2 Peter 1:16). Thank You that in these last days You have made Yourself known in and through Your Son Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1). Thank You that truth is much more than a collection of propositional statements, truth is a person, truth it is Jesus Christ. So knowing truth is about knowing You. Thank You that You have promised if we search for Uou with all of our heart we will find You (Jeremiah 29:13). Thank You that in You is life and health and peace. Thank You that I can stand firm in these truths, and that they stabilize me in Jesus Name Amen!