Truth Himself

Sacred Scripture emphasizes many themes, and one of the truths we find highlighted repeatedly throughout the Bible is the sanctity of truth. Given what John 14:6–7 tells us, this emphasis on truth makes perfect sense. After all, Jesus refers to Himself as "the truth," and since Jesus is God incarnate, we see that truth is ultimately a person. Our personal Creator is truth Himself.

Truth is fundamental to who God is as God. We see that the Word of God teaches us this in many ways. The Lord's chief enemy—Satan—is a "liar and the father of lies" (8:44). Since God is utterly opposed to all that Satan is and stands for, He must be nothing other than the truth. Because God is truth, His Word is truth (Ps. 119:160). The Lord comes near to bless only those who invoke His name in truth (145:18). In fact, truth is so important to God that He is willing to swear an oath to prove His own truthfulness. The Lord swore by Himself—for there is none higher by whom He may swear—in order to assure Abraham that He would keep His promises to the patriarch (Heb. 6:13–18; see Gen. 15).

Because truth is ultimately a person—God is truth—we find that truth consists of both propositions that are spoken or written and actions that persons perform. God's written Word—Scripture—is truth, and it comes to us in propositional form. It is inspired such that it is without error and completely sufficient to equip us for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16–17). But we have not really known the truth of God's Word if we do not seek to put it into practice. We must love in deed and in truth, and since love encompasses actions, so also does truth. We are to walk in the Lord's true way, and this means a life of repentance in which we seek to do what God commands and repent when we fail to do so (Ps. 86:11; 1 John 1:5–10).

God Himself is truth, so there is no standard outside of the Lord to which we may appeal for objective truth. Our Lord, as the Creator, defines reality, so truth can never be opposed to what He has revealed. When our conclusions do not seem to match His revelation, then we have drawn the wrong conclusions or we have failed to understand the teaching of His revelation properly. But our failures to comprehend His truth are our failures; they do not call His revealed truth into question. Let us study Scripture, confident in its truth, knowing that the Holy Spirit will help us to know His truth (1 Cor. 2:6–15).