Apostle John 4: 1: What Is Truth?

Ps2000 Week One Devotional
Apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:1 (KJV) to test the spirit by the Spirit; for where there is truth, there is also a lie. There is the Real McCoy and the counterfeit; true and false, true Christians and false Christians, true brethren and false brethren (2Cor. 11:26) who preach a false gospel (Gal. 1:6-9) and so the question asked over 2000 years ago was “What is truth?” Jesus was asked this question by Pontius Pilate and today, there are many discussions concerning truth.
Jesus helps us out religiously when He stated in John 14:6 (KJV) (Joh 14:6) “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Perhaps a better question to ask would be “Who is Truth?” The Bible also makes it clear that apart from the Truth, man is prone to lean unto his
own understanding and to do “what is right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). This attitude has led man down the wrong path, me included.
In a class on worldviews taken at OCU, absolute truth and relative truth was discussed as we reviewed the different viewpoints of a secular world. Absolute truth does not have any room for argument. In other words, there is no gray area with absolute truth. You are either saved or unsaved, believer or nonbeliever; true Christians or false Christians, sheep or goat, wheat or tares, good seed or bad seed, righteous or unrighteous, holy or unholy.
Absolute truth is not simply something believed for a lie can be believed. Absolute truth is not simply whatever works. It is simple telling it like it is. At a close glance, we can see that truth matches its object. Say for instance in nature, birds are identified by their color markings, shape and size. The other morning I saw several yellow and black birds that look like sparrows but could have been finches however, there was no doubt in my mind that they were yellow and black as I studied them for a while prior to them taking flight.
My car according to the manufacture is Merlot in color and not Maroon as many have called it. Truth corresponds to reality. I see a door and that’s what it is; a physical door that I can open and walk through. I sit down in a chair and I am confident that it is a chair and that it will support me.
Relative truth means that what is true for one person does not have to be true for another.
Relative truth is opinion based. In other words, what is beautiful to me may be ugly to someone else. “The philosophy of relativism says that all truth is relative and that there is no such thing as absolute truth” ("Absolute truth," n.d., p. 4).
And so in today’s secular world, you have post modernism, philosophy of skepticism, and pluralism which says that all truth claims are equally valid. So, “can some truth come from secular sources and individuals?” Sure, I use the internet every day and it has proven to be very helpful in aiding my studies at OCU and my preaching and teaching in the church community. But, I do have to proceed cautiously because not everything I read is based on absolute truth but relatively what someone’s view or opinion is on a given subject.
I certainly don’t want to be taking my medication for diabetes based on my doctor’s opinion but on what he knows to be true and so far my diabetes is under control and has gone from a 6.8 A1C reading to a 6.0 reading. So, I am inclined to believe that good science and good theology make for a good
marriage.