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What Is Truth?
10 Plays24 days ago
In the pilot episode, Dr. Paul Dean and Dustin Meadows discuss the essential question: What Is Truth?
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Answering Pilot' Podcast
00:00:13
Speaker
Welcome into the inaugural episode of the Answering Pilot Podcast. Now, Dustin, this is Dustin Meadows, by the way. I'm Paul Dean. We serve at Randall House Church.
00:00:26
Speaker
And we do a lot of other things, but we do that. We've actually done several podcasts in the past as well. Started out on talk radio. don't have to get into all that, but it's always been centered on truth.
00:00:39
Speaker
We had Calling for Truth, a couple of other podcasts. The latest was um
Focus on Truth in Theology and Life
00:00:45
Speaker
True Worldview. Mm-hmm. But here we are with a different manifestation for a different cultural moment, and we're excited about that, of course, exalting the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:00:56
Speaker
And um we're going to be talking about theology and church life, but also current events, politics, economics, just... you know, looking at what's happening in our culture, what's happening in our world, and saying, how should we think about this? How should we react to this as believers in the Lord Jesus? Right, yeah. So the the title of the podcast is Answering Pilot, and we're going to talk a little bit about that in the episode today, but, ah you know, some people might not understand the reference there, but... yep
00:01:29
Speaker
the the story of Christ's crucifixion, he's been on trial and he's been ah convicted by the Pharisees and Sadducees, by the Sanhedrin.
Exploring Pilate's Question: 'What is truth?'
00:01:39
Speaker
They send him before Pilate because they want him to execute the sentence because they don't have the power to do that. And as Pilate's questioning him, his his big question to Jesus is, what is truth?
00:01:54
Speaker
And so that's that's the... The reason for the title of this podcast is we want to talk about what is truth and how does it apply in all areas of life. That's right.
Understanding Truth Through Jesus' Teachings
00:02:07
Speaker
um what What is the truth of of God? What is the truth of God's word?
00:02:12
Speaker
And how do we take that and apply it to everyday situations, to the things that people are talking about around the water cooler or whatever it may be? Yep, that's exactly right. Maybe we should just dive in. You mentioned the the text there in John's Gospel. um Let me just read one or two verses before that, if I may.
00:02:30
Speaker
Again, like you said, um Jesus is on trial, about to be crucified. And he says in the midst of this conversation that he's happening with ah Rome, as it were. i mean, Pilate represents the empire. Right. And he's the governor in particular.
00:02:48
Speaker
And Jesus says, my kingdom is not of this world. ah Wow. What a statement, by the way. We're going talking about the kingdom of God from time to time. But he said, if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews.
00:03:03
Speaker
But now my kingdom is not from here. And again, massive implications. But Pilate said to him, are you a king then? And Jesus said, you say rightly that I am a king.
00:03:16
Speaker
For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. And so that's where that issue came from. That's how the issue was raised. Jesus said, I have come into the world that I should bear witness to the truth.
Cultural Relativism vs. Universal Truth
00:03:30
Speaker
every Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. And Pilate said to him, what is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, I find no fault in him at all. By the way, what up what a statement. I find no fault in him, yet he did nothing about it. Right.
00:03:48
Speaker
But I remember we were talking a couple of weeks ago, Dustin, and... You know, here's Pilot. He asked this all-important question, what is truth? um what do you What do you think he meant by that?
00:04:00
Speaker
I mean, you you shared with me a couple of weeks ago what you thought, and I thought, yep, that's it. Yeah, well, I mean, to a certain extent, I think it's it's a little dismissive. Yep. I think he's...
00:04:10
Speaker
You know, Jesus is using this word truth. um And I guess it is kind of is this this big concept. And I think and to one extent, Pilate's going, what is truth? Yeah.
00:04:23
Speaker
Yeah. Why are we even talking about this? I'm trying to decide whether or not you're going to be picked. That's right. He's got more practical concerns in mind, doesn't he? I'm not here for a philosophical conversation. That's it. That is exactly right. He's not he's not really engaging in philosophical inquiry. you know He could be a skeptic.
00:04:42
Speaker
um He could be a cynic. we we don't We don't know exactly, but I think you're right. That's the sense of where he was coming from. What is truth? We can debate about that.
00:04:53
Speaker
We'll never come to an answer. I think that's implied in the way he he confronts the Lord Jesus with that. But as you also said, I think he's he's got more utilitarian concerns in front of him than even trying to even make a philosophical statement like, well, who can know what truth is? Right. I mean, that's the force of his statement. Mm-hmm. But he's just trying to figure, listen, he's in a political quandary, isn't he? Yeah, he is.
00:05:21
Speaker
um Because he's under pressure from, he's he's getting pressure from the Jews because they hate this guy for some reason. yeah He still doesn't really know why.
00:05:34
Speaker
And they want him killed. um But he's also under pressure from Rome because he's the representative Rome in Jerusalem. And if he doesn't keep the peace, then his neck is on the line. Yeah.
00:05:48
Speaker
Yeah. That's exactly
Social Consensus and Perceived Truth
00:05:50
Speaker
right. He's under a lot of pressure there. So he's not really interested in in talking about deeper things right now. He's just trying to keep the peace. That's right. And in the end, he goes the expedient route.
00:06:00
Speaker
Right. And that's why he literally washes his hands, washes his hands of the whole thing. and And of course, you can't do that in real life. No. I mean, he thought he could. And here's the Lord Jesus. i mean, he's standing right in front of Pilate.
00:06:14
Speaker
um it's It's really the same as when he was standing before the rich young ruler. Rich young ruler, what you know ah you what does he call him? A good teacher? What must I do to inherit eternal life?
00:06:26
Speaker
Jesus says, well, why do you call me good? yeah right None is good but God. But he's making a point. right I am good. I am God. I'm standing right in front of you. You don't know it. right Well, he's standing right in front of Pilate. Pilate doesn't know who he is. Yeah, he asks what is truth of the man who...
00:06:44
Speaker
a few chapters earlier in the same book said, I am the truth. Yes. So he's asking the personification of truth. That's right. is true That's right.
00:06:57
Speaker
Well, that helps us to segue just a little bit into our own cultural context and over the course of our broadcast, and we hope we'll be doing this for a long, long time to come, but we'll be talking about the different truth claims that our culture makes.
00:07:13
Speaker
Obviously, many of them, well, outside of the truth, they're all contradictory. But one of the biggest dynamics in our culture today is is relativism. And we're not here to you know give an exposition of relativism in our introductory broadcast. We're just going to set the stage on what is truth, how do we know what truth is, et cetera.
00:07:37
Speaker
But obviously, and in our cultural context, um A lot of folk, maybe the majority of folk in our culture, um or approaching the majority at least, would say there is no such thing as absolute truth.
00:07:50
Speaker
There is no such thing as universal truth. There is no such thing as invariant truth or or truth that doesn't change. that' That's the issue, is or one of the issues. if If truth is not absolute, if it's not objective, if if if there's no such thing as truth for all people in all places at all times, then not only is truth what I make it, but truth can change. Right.
00:08:15
Speaker
Yeah, and that's... That's the other side of the big question here is what we what we have to answer is not only what is truth, but why does truth matter?
00:08:27
Speaker
boom Absolutely. Why does it matter what the truth is and that we know it? Yeah, that's right. Because if I have my truth, if I have my set of facts that are my lived experience that I live by, and you have yours and they don't match up,
00:08:45
Speaker
well, why can't we just go along, get along, and you do your thing, I'll do my thing? Why does it why does absolute truth matter? Yeah, good question. We're going to be talking about that, obviously.
00:08:57
Speaker
So it's not just a matter of personal opinion, like folks say. It's not just a matter of cultural context. A lot of folks say that, well, no culture can be better than in another culture. Well, I beg to differ. right and it's And it's not because of the the particular people who are in a culture.
00:09:15
Speaker
it's It's based on what what it is that undergirds that culture. What are the values that undergo this undergird this culture versus the values that undergird that culture?
00:09:27
Speaker
And so when you put it on those terms, well, I mean, people aren't going to like this, but there are cultures that are better than other cultures if they're rooted in truth. Truth, right. Yeah, truth and true morality and true ethics and true ah righteousness and and all the rest. But that's not where where our world is.
00:09:48
Speaker
Our world says that um truth is social consensus. Right. and And we, listen, that's affected Christians a lot in in the United States. so So that's where we're
Defining Truth in Modern Culture
00:10:00
Speaker
broadcasting from. We're not trying to, you know, reveal our location, but we're somewhere in the United States. We we may go overseas. case anyone couldn't figure it out. That's right.
00:10:10
Speaker
We may go overseas and do a remote. I'd love to okay do that. to Maybe we can go to New Zealand. We could. Our producer is from New Zealand, and he'll he'll he'll be on the podcast from time to time as well, by the way. We didn't say that at the outset.
00:10:24
Speaker
We've got a whole cadre of ah of podcasters or would-be podcasters or fellas that are going to sit along with us or... you know, dialogue back and forth. And then we'll have, you know, outside folk from time to time as well. That's right. We may get, to well, I better not say that. Anyway, we'll we'll get some folk on here. It'll be good. Yeah. But I don't know where I was going with that other than, um oh, significant change in terms of
00:10:56
Speaker
when you When you think of a culture as a whole, well, 50 years ago, 100 years ago, most people in our culture felt like Christianity, some version of Christianity, even sort of a civil religion, i' yeah for sure. and We can talk about that as well sometime.
00:11:14
Speaker
But at least the understanding. When you walk down the street 50 years ago, you mentioned to somebody that you God, well, most of them had in their minds the biblical view of God.
00:11:28
Speaker
Yeah, at least in a very general sense. Yeah, exactly. Right. Now, you use the term God, it can mean any number of things depending upon who you're talking to. And so now, of course... Because of the um change in our culture and and the worldview, all these words are so important, right? And those are the things we're going to be talking about.
00:11:50
Speaker
But because of the worldview that that one of the the the main worldviews in our culture, I don't know that anything's dominant at the moment, but one of those main worldviews, you know, they're going to say truth is relative. And so...
00:12:02
Speaker
The more people in our culture who who embrace certain things as truth, and a lot of those things being diametrically opposed to biblical Christianity in terms of ethics or morals, terms of values, well, all of a sudden, you know, the culture says, well, no, this is truth.
00:12:22
Speaker
And they would say, on the one hand, it's not objective, but on the other, this is truth now. And so there's a social consensus, and of course that's a contradiction, but nevertheless, that's kind of where we
Science and Christian Worldview in Truth
00:12:34
Speaker
are. Right, and while the package may change from generation to generation, there's also a sense in which there's nothing new under the sun, yep because to bring it all back around,
00:12:45
Speaker
that this is the same mindset the pilot is coming from. Because if you look at Greek and Roman philosophy, um it was... i mean, you know, we we always talk about we get our our notion of democracy from the Romans because it would be majority rules.
00:13:04
Speaker
And so... And that filtered into their philosophy as well. So it's this... For the same reasons in a certain extent that Pilot is asking that question is the same reason that we have that question now. Yeah. Because the our our world, our society is still not coming to that answer. Yeah.
00:13:28
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. And um you you said it a little bit earlier, that political context that Pilate was in was a driving force in his decision-making.
00:13:39
Speaker
And, of course, the Roman Empire went through significant changes. I mean, you know, it went from, you know, we're not going a history of the Roman Empire, but at one point you had, you know, imperial Rome, and then, yeah you know, the Caesars came to power, and, you you know, a republic, and and then...
00:13:58
Speaker
you know, a form of democracy here or there. In our own culture, constitutional republic is essentially what we're supposed to be. A lot of folk think it's a democracy. A lot of folk would rather it be a democracy. um Again, things that we can talk about, but even though it's a constitutional republic right now, the Constitution is not really the law of the land. It's supposed to be, right but it's not.
00:14:24
Speaker
And again, it's because consensus yes changes yes on what was supposed to be a settled document. Not that it hasn't been amended over time yeah for various reasons, but now, even without an amendment, if the consensus says that this is right, this is good, regardless of what the Constitution says, right then if enough people vote for it, then that's what we're doing. Yeah.
00:14:50
Speaker
It's interesting, just as a side issue by way of example, um i read so I read a piece this morning, early this morning, and it was about the war that we're in over in in Iran. And, um you know, we'll talk about the war. We're going to add our voice to all the voices talking about it.
00:15:08
Speaker
and And, of course, it's not what the president promised, and I think it's very foolish for a lot of reasons. But nevertheless, talking about two things, one, constitutional republic,
00:15:21
Speaker
Well, you know, Congress is supposed to declare war, according to the Constitution, and all the conflicts, wars, police actions, whatever you want to call them, that we've been in since World War II, Congress hasn't declared war. Right. And we have been at war constantly for all these years.
00:15:40
Speaker
um So that's that's one reason I say we're no longer ruled by the Constitution. Right. It becomes, as you said, a consensus, but... That whole issue of precedent, what I was reading this morning, was one Christian, um well-known Christian, defending um what we were doing in the Middle East, and he was saying it was morally right on the one hand. On the other, he was saying might not be legally right, but it's morally right. But even though it's not legally right, it's okay because we've done it many times before, and so there is now a precedent. Mm-hmm.
00:16:19
Speaker
and And I found that a little bizarre, particularly from from a Christian perspective, because we're talking about a Christian worldview, which should be informed by Scripture. But not only that, this this brother, I mean, he's he's very intelligent, and he's he's in our camp. I mean, he's he's he's one of the heroes in a sense, but I disagree with him on that. That's okay. We might disagree with some things. I don't know. Maybe. It's like I tell the congregation sometimes. I don't agree with myself on everything. So...
00:16:47
Speaker
Anyway, um so, woop you know, when you talk to me, you could get bogged down, so i need to get back on track, so so I appreciate that. But, you know, let's, let's ah you know, the culture...
00:17:03
Speaker
it's It's all relative. So we're asking the question, actually, Pilate asked the question, what is truth? We want to answer that question. We want to answer Pilate in all of these things.
00:17:16
Speaker
um And so what we're going to say is things like this. Truth isn't constructed by human beings. Right. Truth comes from God, right?
00:17:27
Speaker
ah We're going to say that um what most people or a lot of people don't realize Yes, we believe in science. Christians above all folk believe in science.
00:17:39
Speaker
In fact, Christians invented science, if you think about it. I mean, God invented science, I guess. Depends on what you mean by that. yeah But Christians invented um ah the scientific method. And but and when he use the term invented, it's because Christians had this this understanding that God created the universe, right?
00:17:59
Speaker
And God is a God of purpose. And so the universe has purpose and natural laws have purpose, gravity and um the motions of the planets and the stars and all that. It all has purpose. It all comes from God.
00:18:12
Speaker
And so we want to investigate that. We want to investigate God's world. God is revealing himself to us through creation, not just his word.
Revelation vs. Naturalism in Truth
00:18:21
Speaker
We're coming to that. But through creation, for example, want to know what that's all about.
00:18:25
Speaker
And the entire history of a scientific endeavor is rooted in that worldview. And there is no other worldview that would have created nor did create scientific endeavor. You you leave it to some of these, yeah you know, countries with different worldviews where where they're polytheistic or, I mean, really polytheistic. And we'll just leave that there for the moment.
00:18:51
Speaker
But they would have never developed the scientific method. well and they and And that's why so many countries remain third world countries. and That's why they remain economically stunted and and technologically stunted, because they don't have the right worldview. It's a worldview issue. They're not guided by truth. They're not guided by truth. Thank you. that yeah And so here we are, and and and because people can see the value of science as as Christians,
00:19:18
Speaker
you know, led the way. Well, there are some countries now who don't share our worldview, but they've been influenced by the biblical worldview in that particular area. And that's why they're willing to make use of technological advance right and and and add to it because they're human beings creating the image of God. So they have intelligence. Mm-hmm.
00:19:37
Speaker
But they they they don't know why this endeavor is a good thing other than the pragmatic concerns that they have. Right. Yeah. Yeah. They they see a benefit to it for them at the time. Yeah.
00:19:49
Speaker
But, I mean, the the scientific method that you're referring to, studying the universe and all aspects of it, that's really an obedience of the guard and command.
00:20:00
Speaker
Yeah. Fill the earth and subdue it. Yeah. How do we subdue the earth? Well, we have to learn about God's creation. Yeah, that's right. To able learn how to use it for His glory. Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right.
00:20:15
Speaker
But I think what what was taking me down that path um was was was the fact that if you think about ah yet another worldview in our culture, naturalism, evolution is rooted in naturalism.
00:20:30
Speaker
um By the way, even even a number of secular scientists say a Darwinian evolution, just just it's not true. We know it's not true. But anyway, side issue. We'll we'll talk about that as well.
00:20:41
Speaker
I'm going to quit saying stuff like that. We're going to talk about anything and everything. We were talking this morning about why Apollo Ono was disqualified in the 500 at the Olympics. I don't even know what year it was now.
00:20:54
Speaker
and Yeah. Long time ago. we were put into the context of truth. were put in the context of God's sovereignty. Right. We'll leave it there for now. But where I was going is naturalism.
00:21:05
Speaker
What is truth? Well, there's some folk who still think, okay, well, there's scientific truth. Now, a lot of folk don't think there's a no scientific truth, right? Right. Even that's a a construct of some kind, relative construct. But...
00:21:18
Speaker
ah scientific truth. Well, they said, well, what what's the source of truth? what What they would say, of course, is, well, what we can see, what we can well what we can detect with our five senses. you know We can touch it, we can smell it, we can see it, we can hear it, um whatever.
00:21:35
Speaker
um There's nothing beyond that. There's no metaphysical or spiritual realm. It's only the natural realm, the physical realm. It's it's only what's inside the box.
00:21:47
Speaker
um But we would say, no, yes, science is a source of truth. we We can understand the universe better through the scientific endeavor, through the scientific method.
00:21:58
Speaker
But there's another source of truth, revelation. God has revealed it to us in His Word. Right, because God Himself is truth.
00:22:10
Speaker
god God didn't invent truth. It's his nature. He is true. That's right. And so revelation is how he reveals himself to us for us to know him.
00:22:23
Speaker
and the to reveal... the study of science ah is to reveal
Jesus as Truth: God's Nature and Revelation
00:22:34
Speaker
that general revelation um of who He is and who His character is. But then again, as we're going to get into, His Word, His special revelation, how He has spoken to us, is truth as well. But what's really interesting is when they approach, when a secularist approaches science,
00:22:55
Speaker
And even if they're willing to say that it's truth, they say that science is truth. But like you said a minute ago, science is a way to know truth.
00:23:08
Speaker
Science isn't our authority. right God's our ultimate authority. that's right Science, as it reveals God to us... allows us to know truth.
00:23:20
Speaker
And what's really interesting about that too is that if you look at the consensus truth of our current culture, it even, as you kind of alluded to already, turns its back on scientific evidence. Yeah.
00:23:39
Speaker
If you look at the transgender movement, yeah it's turning its back on scientific evidence. Right. Abortion. Reality. Yeah, abortion. Abortion, yes. the scientific realities that we see in the world around us yeah so again science obviously is great it's a gift from god but just like any gift from god if it becomes the authority if it becomes the idol then we're going to get off track. We're going to miss the point. yeah um our our source of Our ultimate source of truth, no matter how we get to it, is God himself. yeah Science is just one of those tools that we can that we can use to discover more about. It's like reading his word. Yeah, that's exactly right.
00:24:29
Speaker
Yeah, i was thinking when you were when you were saying that, in every kind of way possible, but get... Several years ago, we wouldn't have – we would have thought it absurd that someone would would not be able to answer the question, what is a woman?
00:24:48
Speaker
Right. Right? Right. I'm certainly i'm referencing Matt Walsh. and but But, I mean, that is a question. Even in in even in what what um some of the public hearings that we've had in Congress for what' court judges and things like that, they can't answer the question, what is a woman? Mm-hmm.
00:25:04
Speaker
Either they don't know or they're going to go with the politically correct answer, which, of course, is relativism. But the point being, well, we know what a woman is. and And I don't have a formal definition, but it's a biological female, you know.
00:25:20
Speaker
see, when you reject... when when you reject and this is your point, objective truth, truth that is true for all people in all places at all times, you're going to come up with nonsense like that. Right. And by the way, when I when i talk like that, I'm not saying I don't love people ah who who have bought into um you know transgender philosophy. i I think they're wrong.
00:25:48
Speaker
ah They need salvation. They need help. They need all kinds of things. They're deceived. They're deceived. and And I'm very compassionate for those folk But philosophically speaking, it is foolishness it it because it because it does not comport with reality.
00:26:05
Speaker
And truth corresponds to reality. And it does so because God is the one who is created. Reality and the universe and the and the the laws that go with it and nature.
00:26:17
Speaker
and but But I was thinking, well well, how is it that we can get to a point? Again, we've said it, you don't believe in objective truth. Well, how can you deny reality? Well, I go to Romans 1.
00:26:29
Speaker
Right. What does Paul say? I mean, very clearly. Yeah, that God has revealed himself through creation, and all men or without excuse because we can all— open our eyes and see the world that he created. That's right.
00:26:43
Speaker
and And that he's revealed that he exists and he's revealed at least in a general sense of who he is ye by the very fact that the world exists. That's it.
00:26:55
Speaker
And because we're we're sinners, we're born dead in trespasses and sin, that's a podcast right there. I mean, why do we sin? Where that come from? We'll talk about that, too. I said I going to say that, but but nevertheless, I said it. It's okay. ah I appreciate that.
00:27:12
Speaker
But we suppress the truth. Right. We suppress the truth because of our sinful nature. and And you mentioned general revelation a moment ago. God, and you mentioned it just now, God is revealing himself.
00:27:25
Speaker
There's no language in which God's revelation of himself is not heard. Psalm 19, Romans 1, Psalm 19 kind of go together. But because we've suppressed the truth,
00:27:37
Speaker
another side issue, but you you you you can't be saved. Like, you can't come into right relationship with God unless He reveals Himself to you ah through what we call, so what theologians call special revelation, right which would be Distinct from general revelation, general revelation available to all people in all places, all the time, special revelation would be things like God's word or the Lord Jesus himself when he's walking the face of the earth.
00:28:05
Speaker
Right. Right. So you need to understand that source of truth outside of yourself, outside of your ability To comprehend certain things. You know, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2.14, the natural man, and by natural man he means the way we're born, now dead in sin. The natural man does not receive the things of God because they are foolishness to him.
00:28:29
Speaker
So he he doesn't comprehend them. He doesn't perceive them. They're foolishness. So he says, I don't want that. And then he goes on to say, neither can he understand them. can't understand the things of God.
00:28:41
Speaker
He can understand the grammar, the words, but he can't understand the things of God because they're spiritually discerned. Right. He doesn't have the Holy Spirit, and he's spiritually dead in trespasses and sin. And so he needs to be born again,
00:28:59
Speaker
Anyway, i tend to run on and on and ramble. It's okay. We'll figure it out. But you said a moment ago, um truth is ultimately God himself. Bible says he's the God of truth. The Bible says he can't lie.
00:29:15
Speaker
um and that brings us to the Lord Jesus. you so you You quoted John 14, 6 a moment ago. um i'm the way the truth and the life.
00:29:27
Speaker
No one comes to the Father but by me. Well, who is Jesus? Well, i mean, he's God. Right. Right? So the Bible reveals this Trinitarian view of God. One God, three persons, Father, Son, Spirit.
00:29:42
Speaker
God added humanity to himself, so the second person of the Godhead, the Son of God. added humanity to to his already deity. So you've got um truly God, truly man in one person, the Lord Jesus.
00:29:57
Speaker
And truth is the self-expression of who God is, right? um In his nature,
00:30:08
Speaker
He expresses, as we've been saying, the truth of who he is in creation. He expresses it in the things that he's decreed. He's sovereign over all things, right? He's he's decreed the all things that will come to pass.
00:30:23
Speaker
um He's... sort he's he's You know, it it it's it's a self-expression of who God is when we have the revealed Word of God.
00:30:34
Speaker
um So all of these things put God on display, and they they demonstrate to us that in order to know truth, ultimate truth, we're completely dependent on God.
00:30:47
Speaker
Right. God Himself, God's Word, God's grace, God's mercy, God's condescension, His willingness to... speak to us through his word. And of course that brings us to his word.
Truth's Impact on Life and Hope in Jesus
00:30:59
Speaker
How do we know who Jesus Christ is? We have to read the Word. We have to read the Word. And Jesus, some talking about truth, he's praying that high priestly prayer before he goes to the cross, praying to the Father, and he asks the Father to sanctify ah his disciples, and by extension, us. We're all disciples, who those of us who knowt know another Lord Jesus.
00:31:25
Speaker
He says, sanctify them by your truth. by your truth your words Your Word is truth. That's exactly right. So, Again, this isn't a theology class, but let's just say a couple of things about God's Word if we can. And we'll expand on these on future episodes because, i mean, we don't we don't know who's going to be listening to our podcast, presumably a number of Christians, presumably Christians.
00:31:48
Speaker
some some folk who aren't Christians. Right. And we want them to understand who Christ is and and what Christ is all about. I should imagine we're not necessarily speaking to all the seminary professors out there. know some of them might enjoy it. I listen to other seminary professors and other pastors, but, you know, we're just talking to everyday folk.
00:32:09
Speaker
You remember that song back in the 60s? This is how my mind works. I'm sorry. Sly and the Family Stone. Everyday people. Everyday people. You can... I'm not going to sing it for you right now. You're not going to it? You could.
00:32:20
Speaker
You could. he He could, I promise. But, yeah, but that shows my age. Everyday people sliding the family stone. But I should imagine that's that's that's who we're talking about. I'm an everyday person. I'm an everyday guy. Right.
00:32:35
Speaker
but i'm I'm an average Christian here in America. Right. Anyway, um couple of things. Like I said, God's Word is inerrant. What do we mean by that?
00:32:46
Speaker
It does not contain any error. That's right. That's right. Obviously, if it's going to be true, can't be fraught with errors, but a lot of folk have attacked the Bible and said, well, it's full of errors and full of contradictions.
00:32:59
Speaker
Not the case, and then we can demonstrate that. Right, yeah. I mean, um you know, a lot of times people will reference in different areas of, you know,
00:33:11
Speaker
Someone saying the sun stood still. and Well, we know scientifically that's not possible. Right. Again, the Bible, while we while we said that science is good and it's it's an opportunity to reveal God's nature to us, the Bible isn't a science book.
00:33:26
Speaker
Right. And so to the perspective of the people that were there at the time, the sun stood still in the sky. Yeah. To their perspective. Yeah. That's not trying to teach a scientific principle there. Right.
00:33:38
Speaker
It's just telling you, it's explaining what happened from the eye of the behold. Sure, sure. And of course, God can do a miracle. and Mm-hmm. suspend natural law from time to time. and sure and And I think he's done that, you know, with that and part of the Red Sea. i mean, we believe those things, but at the same time, to your point, um,
00:34:00
Speaker
I don't know. i i i I think there's probably a reference to the sunset in the Bible. I don't know. But we call it the sunset or, you know, I guess the the moon moving or the sun moving.
00:34:15
Speaker
All of this is, like you said, we're we're speaking of these things, not scientifically, but from the perspective of the beholder. ah It's phenomenological language is is what it is. And so the Bible is very...
00:34:30
Speaker
Let me put it this way, God is very happy to accommodate us, well and thankfully so. A lot of folk talking about relativism in our culture, a lot of folk think, well, not only can you not know truth and no one religious opinion or any kind of opinion, philosophical or otherwise, um can hold sway over others, they would say, well, because the Bible is such an ancient book, you can't really understand it, so we don't know what it says.
00:34:59
Speaker
Well, we again, there's a lot that could be said about that, but one of the things that could be said about that is, well, God has revealed himself in such a way that we can understand the words on the page.
00:35:13
Speaker
Now, does that mean that if you just go to the Bible and you insert your own cultural context onto the pages of Scripture that you're going to get it all right? No. No, you're going a lot of it wrong. Right.
00:35:26
Speaker
Because it was written in a different cultural context than ours, very different. going have to do some background study and you have to study Hebrew a little bit, you know, and if you don't know Hebrew, you got to read some scholars who have studied Hebrew and some for the old Testament and Aramaic and some scholars who have studied Greek. If you want to understand the new Testament and So again, you know, we may not understand a whole lot about um herding sheep or, is that right? Shepherding sheep, herding cattle. Yeah. See, i don't even know how to talk about it in my own culture.
00:36:04
Speaker
But I'm not a shepherd. I'm not a cattle rancher or cattle herder. um But we need to know something about that so we can understand the the word pictures, right, that are going on there. right We need to understand something about, you know, some of the references the Lord Jesus and the apostles make to the Old Testament.
00:36:25
Speaker
What's going on in Jewish culture? What's going on in the Old Covenant? How does that find its fulfillment in the New Testament? These are wonderful, wonderful realities. Right. Look like you say something. I don't know. Feel free to interrupt or I'll just keep going. I know.
00:36:41
Speaker
yeah No, it ultimately, um because what we're talking about it is the truth is God's word. um And to go back to the question I asked at the very beginning, why does the truth matter? Yeah.
00:36:55
Speaker
God's Word is how Jesus Christ is revealed. Yeah. The person of Jesus Christ, who He is, which we talked about a little bit already, what He came to do, what He did, what He's continuing to do by... He came he came to ransom a people for Himself.
00:37:15
Speaker
He came to die to pay the penalty for sin. to redeem a people unto himself, and now he is advancing his kingdom. He is using us to go out and gather the rest of his people to himself, and he's coming again to take us all to be with him.
00:37:33
Speaker
So the reason the truth is so important, the reason that knowing the Word of God is so important is because... It's life or death. Yeah. If we don't know the truth, if we don't know Jesus Christ, nothing else matters yeah because we'll perish. Yeah.
00:37:48
Speaker
And so that's why we're so concerned with what is truth. ah Why do we want to talk about the truth in all of these areas? Because the truth, Jesus Christ himself, is the ultimate of the universe. And it's not just because he's some deity that we fear or feel like we have to pay respects to.
00:38:13
Speaker
he is He is the sovereign Lord of the universe. yeah But without knowing the truth, without knowing him, we have no hope. And so that's why truth it matters. yeah Because truth gives hope.
00:38:28
Speaker
hope it does. It gives life. It does. You know, um and And we're going to wrap this up here. um There are a lot of practical things that we could say.
00:38:41
Speaker
and in one sense, they're ancillary to what you just said ah or secondary. now Now, they're important for everyday life. Truth, we just jotted down a couple of things here.
00:38:52
Speaker
Truth is going to help you with your decision making. in And we want to talk about biblical decision-making on a future podcast. um you you You need to be confident instead of confused on how to make decisions. Should I marry this person? Should I take this job?
00:39:10
Speaker
Most folk, they're kind of looking for some kind of side. Well, that's not how we figure out what God wants us to do. um So truth is important there.
00:39:20
Speaker
Truth can give you moral courage. And this culture that stands against truth and frankly, a culture increasingly standing against the Lord Jesus Christ. And if what you said is true, which it is, then, you know, we're going to want to stand.
00:39:37
Speaker
Right. and And we're going to want to still be Christ-like. ah But what does that mean? it means It means a lot of things. And we need courage to be Christ-like. What if you're a parent? Right.
00:39:49
Speaker
you you You need to know how to parent, you need to and you need to parent with purpose. um Lots of of grieving parents out there because they're so happy when the baby's born, and then...
00:40:00
Speaker
You didn't know by the time they're 12, 13 years old, there's nothing but fighting. Right. And that's not the way it should be. um How do you handle doubt? How do you handle anxiety? How do you handle depression? How do you handle wokeism, cultural Marxism, cultural skepticism?
00:40:19
Speaker
how do you How do you do that? How do you have integrity in everyday relationships? How do you... How about your walk and your relationship with God? We could go on. So all of those things are, just going to say, they're critically important.
00:40:35
Speaker
Right. But they all flow from what you said a moment ago, which is ultimate, which is the gospel. um Yeah, because for all of these things, truth is the answer to all of those questions you just asked, is knowing the truth,
00:40:53
Speaker
Christ, through his word, has an answer for every single one of those questions. That's right. So it gives us hope in life, in death, in the day-to-day. Yeah.
00:41:04
Speaker
He has the answer, as you said a moment ago, to our biggest problem, which is sin. we're We're separated from God, but we need to be reconciled to God, put in the right with God.
00:41:15
Speaker
It's not through human effort. It's not through religion. It's not through intellectual prowess. It's through a faith relationship with God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. By virtue of his sinless life, his death on the cross, our sin put him there. Our sin killed him.
00:41:34
Speaker
And um that's why he... He couldn't stay in the grave. He had no sin of his own. Our sin killed him, but he had no sin of his own, so he couldn't stay in the grave. He was raised from the dead, having conquered sin, Satan, and death.
00:41:48
Speaker
And now we can have forgiveness in life, as you said. I'm just repeating you, but it's just so important. So important. We can have forgiveness in life in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so at the end of all of our discussions that we're going to have, that's what we want to point people back to is Christ. That's right. That there's hope in Him, there's life in Him, and there's answers to whatever whatever issue or circumstance we're thinking about or dealing with at the time, it's all found in Christ. Yeah, absolutely.
00:42:15
Speaker
it's ah It's in his gospel. What's that song you wrote? yeah The Gospel Overcomes. The Gospel Overcomes. Say one more time. The Gospel Overcomes. Amen.
Conclusion and Contact Information
00:42:25
Speaker
The Answering Pilot Podcast is a ministry of Randall House Church in Greer, South Carolina.
00:42:32
Speaker
You can learn more at www.randallhousegreer.com slash church. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at at Randall House Church. Don't forget to like and subscribe, we'll see you next time.