“…and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:32
We are continuing a study this week about how a person’s life is changed when they accept Christ as their Savior. One thing that should occur is that the believe is exposed to or taught that Christ is absolute Truth. We are looking at truth and relativism today on Christian Holiness Daily.
Ravi Zacharias is perhaps the world’s greatest defender of the Christian faith. He speaks much about Absolute Truth. True freedom, he says, comes from knowing the truth. What is the source of that truth, if it is not God, Himself?
It is the demise of the belief in absolute truth that has sent the world as we know it into destruction. If nothing is true then all things are relative. If all things are relative, then they’re only value is perceived, a matter of perspective. If I assign no value to the life of the unborn, then what is the harm in killing them. If I assign no value to the life of an infant, then could I not abort them as well? Believe it or not but that is the question being asked on many college campuses. Why do mass shootings occur? One possible answer is because, for many people, there is no absolute truth on which to build our lives. People are of no value in such a society because no one has told them the absolute truth about the intrinsic value of life, and no one has taught the masses about God’s love for each and every one of them.
A similar problem exists in our churches today. Because there is no absolute truth, there can be no such thing as sin. Therefore, many pastors no longer preach about sin. As a result, many young people believe they can live any way they want and God is okay with it. Many adults – who know better – have become calloused to their conscience and choose to ignore the truth. Because sin, like truth, has fallen by the wayside, the church no longer resembles the church of yesteryear. The Old Testament and large portions of the New are never preached. Parishioners are never disciplined. Churches that were once considered radical for housing a coffee shop are now meeting in breweries. Sexual perversion and other unspeakable sins now rule the lives of church leaders. What was once wrong is right. What was once right is wrong.
All because we believe God is too loving and kind to hold people accountable to right and wrong.
There is yet another result of relativism that few people perceive or discuss and if you miss this, you miss the entire point of this essay:
Many people look at the Church and wonder how they can act so hateful and narrow-minded. Why are Christians who claim to believe in a God of love so quick to hate?
Because they have never experienced grace. Follow me here.
- They have never been taught truth
- They have never been told that they are living in sin.
- As a result they have never repented of sin.
- And therefore, have never found forgiveness.
- And never experienced the grace of God.
- So they cannot share the grace of God with others.
- Healing in the church will not occur until the full Gospel is preached far and wide.
- Can the truth set us free? Yes it can and will, and if your read that verse in its context, you will understand how.
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
- Abide in Word.
__________
__________
Holiness is, perhaps, the most misunderstood concept in Christianity. Anyone who has striven to follow the life of Christ can likely tell you that it is impossible to do. No one can match His love, His grace, or His compassion. For no one but Jesus is perfect. Once the believer is filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit, though, he or she is filled to the brim with the love of Christ, and desires nothing more than to please God and follow in Christ’s steps. The love of sin is gone. In its place is a love and passion for others. That is Christian Holiness. This is Christian Holiness Daily.