Truth…
“What is truth?” Pilate asked Jesus as He stood before him that day. That dark day, the hour of the evil one, the day when Jesus was sentenced to death by crucifixion, the moments when the crowd shouted “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” (John 18:38) Jesus Himself had already revealed to His followers would die. That through His death and His life salvation had come. He had already told them that He alone is “THE Way, THE TRUTH, and THE Life”. That no one is able to come to the Father, except through Him alone. (John 14:6) The crowd hated Him for His claim – that He said He had come from God. That He was the Messiah for whom they had been waiting for so long.
Pilate was distraught because his wife had warned him to do nothing to Jesus. Yet he had to appease the people or risk the favor he had with Caesar. He could lose his position, his power, his pride. He was at a loss for words, yet more concerned with his own career than for truth.
“What is TRUTH?” It is a question we must each ask ourselves. There is no better time than now, the weeks leading up to Resurrection Day – Easter, for us to explore the topic of truth and the intricate relationship between truth and faith.
It is disturbing to realize how many people are deceived as they place their faith in something or someone other than the TRUTH. So often we hear statements like, “If you only have enough faith it will happen. Or “if you only have enough faith nothing bad will happen to you.” God will heal your child…or your spouse…you won’t lose your house…you will find a good job…all will go well with you and you will be healthy and have all that you want. Really??? Is that what having faith is all about?
Did Jesus not have enough faith? He was hated and crucified!!!
Did Noah not have enough faith? His whole world was destroyed around him!!!
Did Joseph not have enough faith? He was hated by his brothers, sold into slavery, lied about, forgotten about for two years, left to rot in prison! Was God not pleased with him?
Did Job not have enough faith? He lost 10 children, all of his wealth, and his health. Yet it is written in Scripture that “This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.”
Did the apostle Paul not have enough faith? He was martyred!!!
Did Moses not have enough faith? He didn’t get to go into the Promised Land…at least not until the day when he appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration after his death. (This is just an aside, as my friend reminded us recently during a Bible study. Ultimately, Moses did go into the Promised Land – but not until after he experienced death – and he stood on that mountain with His Lord with Whom he had walked so closely for so many years leading the people of God out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and to the brink of the Promised Land.)
Did John, the Beloved Disciple, not have enough faith? He was tortured, imprisoned, and exiled to the Isle of Patmos!!
Do our precious brothers and sisters today who are persecuted and destitute in Iraq and Syria and China not have enough faith? Did those throughout history who were abused and martyred for refusing to deny Jesus not have enough faith – or did they have faith in the wrong thing?
We must be careful when we address this topic of faith. What does it mean to have faith? Is my faith in Jesus or is my faith in faith? Is my faith in some expectation of how my circumstances in this life will turn out? How much faith is enough faith? What do I really believe to be true? Is my faith based in truth? What is truth?
The Buddhists have faith. The Muslims have faith. The Jews have faith. Christians have faith. Atheists even have faith. Cultists have faith. But what kind of faith? What is their faith based on?
This week we went with a group from our church to see the Samaritan’s Purse film, Facing Darkness. It is a documentary about Dr. Kent Brantly, the doctor who contracted Ebola when serving with Samaritan’s Purse in Liberia in 2014. Dr. Brantly stated that having faith does not mean that God will keep us safe from harm. It does not mean we will not get sick and die. It means that God will be with us through whatever we face in this life. Faith is trusting Him with our lives and our families and our future.
In the book of Hebrews, we read that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” But are atheists pleasing to God? They have faith in themselves and in what they believe to be true. Is every religious belief system pleasing to God? If you have faith in your good works, does that please God? This verse in Hebrews 11:6 goes on to say that those who have faith “must believe that HE IS, and that HE is the rewarder of those who diligently seek HIM.” First, faith must be in the PERSON of God, through His Son, Jesus Christ. Additionally, faith involves DOING. In the book of James we read, “Faith without works is dead.” Faith includes obedience and action. Those who believe IN WHO HE IS will diligently pursue Him through their actions – good works that God has called them to do.
Easter is the culmination of the season to celebrate THE TRUTH – the life, death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, sent to earth so that “whoever BELIEVES IN HIM will have eternal life.” (John 3:16) The Bible does not say that whoever has faith has eternal life. No, only those who BELIEVE (HAVE FAITH) IN HIM! “For by grace are you saved THROUGH FAITH, not of works” (as the cults and other believe systems purport), but salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus alone. This faith is lived out in the works that we do, but the works do not save us. Jesus is the one who saves us.
“Since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life!” (Romans 5:9-10)
Do you believe this? Is your faith in THE TRUTH…The Truth of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? He is the only way to the Father, the only way to gain eternal life, the only way to the “exceedingly abundant, beyond all that we can ask or think” life that He has promised! It doesn’t mean that we will have no trials or sorrow. It does mean that we can experience His power, His protection, His perfect peace, and His abiding presence in this life and in the life to come!
Priscilla Shirer writes in her study, The Armor of God, Jesus “is not challenging (his followers-us, included) to focus on faith; He is telling them (and us!) to focus on Him.” (Member Book, p. 140)
Let’s live this life of faith IN THE TRUTH, together by focusing on Him, “The Way, The TRUTH, and The Life!”