The Truth War Read online

  CHURCH LEADERS ARE

  OBSESSED WITH STYLE

  AND METHODOLOGY,

  LOSING INTEREST IN THE

  GLORY OF GOD AND

  BECOMING

  GROSSLY APATHETIC

  ABOUT TRUTH AND

  SOUND DOCTRINE. FOR

  THE MOMENT AT LEAST,

  THE BATTLE APPEARS TO

  BE TURNING IN THE

  ENEMY’S FAVOR.

  According to Scripture, the ages-old conflict over the truth is spiritual warfare—a cosmic battle between God and the powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). And one of our enemies’ favorite tactics is to disguise themselves as angels of light and infiltrate the community of believers (2 Corinthians 11:13–15). This is nothing new either, but I’m convinced it has become a very serious problem in the current generation. Unfortunately, precious few Christians seem willing to take the threat seriously. The church has grown lazy, worldly, and self-satisfied. Church leaders are obsessed with style and methodology, losing interest in the glory of God and becoming grossly apathetic about truth and sound doctrine. For the moment at least, the battle appears to be turning in the enemy’s favor.

  When God gave the second commandment, which forbade idolatry, He added this warning: “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me” (Exodus 20:5). Scripture elsewhere makes it clear that children are never directly punished for the guilt of their fathers’ sins (Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:19–32), but the natural consequences of those sins do indeed pass from generation to generation. Children learn from their fathers’ examples and imitate what they see. One generation’s teaching establishes a spiritual legacy that succeeding generations inherit. If today’s “fathers” abandon the truth, it will take generations to recover.

  Church leaders are especially responsible for setting the example. What we desperately need today are “shepherds according to [God’s] heart, who will feed [believers] with knowledge and understanding” (Jeremiah 3:15; Acts 20:28–31). But it is every believer’s solemn duty to resist every attack on the truth, to abhor the very thought of falsehood, and not to compromise in any way with the enemy, who is above all a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).

  The Truth War is, after all, war. Warfare is always serious, but this is the battle of the ages for the highest of prizes, and therefore it requires of us the utmost diligence.

  WHY TRUTH IS INEXTRICABLY BOUND TO GOD

  We’ll begin chapter 1 by defining truth in biblical terms. We’ll also notice that every attempt to define truth in nonbiblical terms has ultimately failed. That is because God is the source of all that exists (Romans 11:36). He alone defines and delimits what is true. He is also the ultimate revealer of all truth. Every truth revealed in nature was authored by Him (Psalm 19:1–6); and some of it is His own self-revelation (Romans 1:20). He gave us minds and consciences to perceive the truth and comprehend right from wrong, and He even wired us with a fundamental understanding of His law written on our hearts (Romans 2:14–15). On top of all that, He gave us the perfect, infallible truth of Scripture (Psalm 19:7–11), which is a sufficient revelation of everything that pertains to life and godliness (2 Timothy 3:15–17; 2 Peter 1:3), in order to lead us to Him as Savior and Lord. Finally, He sent Christ, the very embodiment of truth itself, as the culmination of divine revelation (Hebrews 1:1–3). The ultimate reason for all of this was for God to reveal Himself to His creatures (Ezekiel 38:23).

  All truth therefore starts with what is true of God: who He is, what His mind knows, what His holiness entails, what His will approves, and so on. In other words, all truth is determined and properly explained by the being of God. Therefore, every notion of His nonexistence is by definition untrue. That is precisely what the Bible teaches: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1; 53:1).

  The ramifications of all truth starting with God are profound. Returning to a point we touched on earlier: here is the reason why once someone denies God, logical consistency will ultimately force that person to deny all truth. A denial that God exists instantly removes the whole justification for any kind of knowledge. As Scripture says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7).

  So the necessary starting point for gaining authentic understanding of the fundamental concept of truth itself is an acknowledgment of the one true God. As Augustine said, we believe in order to understand, and our faith in turn is fed and strengthened as we gain better understanding. Both faith in God as He has revealed Himself and the understanding wrought by faith are therefore essential if we hope to apprehend truth in any serious and meaningful sense.

  Scripture describes all authentic Christians as those who know the truth and have been liberated by it (John 8:32). They believe it with a whole heart (2 Thessalonians 2:13). They obey the truth through the Spirit of God (1 Peter 1:22). And they have received a fervent love for the truth through the gracious work of God in their hearts (2 Thessalonians 2:10). According to the Bible, then, you haven’t really grasped the truth at all if there is no sense in which you know it, believe it, submit to it, and love it.

  Clearly, the existence of absolute truth and its inseparable relationship to the person of God is the most essential tenet of all truly biblical Christianity. Speaking plainly: if you are one of those who questions whether truth is really important, please don’t call your belief system “Christianity,” because that is not what it is.

  A biblical perspective of truth also necessarily entails the recognition that ultimate truth is an objective reality. Truth exists outside of us and remains the same regardless of how we may perceive it. Truth by definition is as fixed and constant as God is immutable. That is because real truth (what Francis Schaeffer called “true truth”) is the unchanged and unchanging expression of who God is; it is not our own personal and arbitrary interpretation of reality.

  A BIBLICAL

  PERSPECTIVE OF TRUTH

  ALSO NECESSARILY

  ENTAILS THE

  RECOGNITION THAT

  ULTIMATE TRUTH IS AN

  OBJECTIVE REALITY.

  TRUTH EXISTS OUTSIDE

  OF US AND REMAINS THE

  SAME REGARDLESS OF

  HOW WE MAY

  PERCEIVE IT. TRUTH BY

  DEFINITION IS AS FIXED

  AND CONSTANT AS GOD

  IS IMMUTABLE.

  Amazingly, Christians in our generation need to be reminded of these things. Truth is never determined by looking at God’s Word and asking, “What does this mean to me?” Whenever I hear someone talk like that, I’m inclined to ask, “What did the Bible mean before you existed? What does God mean by what He says?” Those are the proper questions to be asking. Truth and meaning are not determined by our intuition, experience, or desire. The true meaning of Scripture—or anything else, for that matter—has already been determined and fixed by the mind of God. The task of an interpreter is to discern that meaning. And proper interpretation must precede application.

  The meaning of God’s Word is neither as obscure nor as difficult to grasp as people today often pretend. Admittedly, some things in the Bible are hard to understand (2 Peter 3:16), but its central, essential truth is plain enough that no one need be confused by it. “Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray” (Isaiah 35:8).

  Moreover, our individual perception of truth certainly can and does change. Of course we gain better understanding as we grow. We all begin by being nourished on the milk of the Word. As we gain the ability to chew and digest harder truths, we are supposed to be strengthened by the meat of the Word (1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12). That is, we move from a merely childlike knowledge to a more mature grasp of truth in all its richness and relationship to other truth.

  But truth itself does not change just because our point of view does. As we mature in our ability to perceive truth, truth itself remains fixed. Our duty is to co
nform all our thoughts to the truth (Psalm 19:14); we are not entitled to redefine “truth” to fit our own personal viewpoints, preferences, or desires. We must not ignore or discard selected truths just because we might find them hard to receive or difficult to fathom. Above all, we can’t get apathetic or lazy about the truth when the price of understanding or defending the truth turns out to be demanding or costly. Such a self-willed approach to the truth is tantamount to usurping God (Psalm 12:4). People who take that route guarantee their own destruction (Romans 2:8–9).

  Moreover, God has revealed Himself and His truth with sufficient clarity. Even apart from the explicit, special revelation of the Bible, God has made some of the principle elements of spiritual truth clear enough for everyone. Scripture says, for example, that the cardinal truths concerning God, His power, His glory, and His righteousness are naturally known to all people through creation and conscience (Romans 1:19–20; 2:14–16). That truth is adequately clear and sufficient to leave the entire human race “without excuse” (Romans 1:20). All those who are condemned in the final judgment will be held responsible for rejecting whatever truth was available to them. The fact that a just and righteous God holds both unbelievers and believers alike responsible for obedience to His revelation is irrefutable proof that He has made the truth sufficiently clear for us. To claim that the Bible is not sufficiently clear is to assault God’s own wisdom and integrity.

  HOW TRUTH IS UNDER ASSAULT IN THE CHURCH TODAY

  The clarity and sufficiency of Scripture, the lostness of unredeemed humanity, and the justice of God in condemning sinners are all longstanding convictions in every major strain of historic Christianity. Christians have differed among themselves about peripheral questions or lesser points of doctrine. But historically and collectively, Christians have always been in full agreement that whatever is true—whatever is objectively and ontologically true—is true whether any given individual understands it, likes it, or receives it as truth. In other words, because reality is created and truth is defined by God, what is really true is true for everyone, regardless of anyone’s personal perspective or individual preferences.

  These days, however, people are experimenting with subjective, relativistic ideas of truth and labeling them “Christian.” This trend signals a significant departure from biblical and historic Christianity. Carried to its necessary conclusion, it will lead inevitably to the abandonment or compromise of every essential element of the true Christian faith. It is, I am convinced, another major onslaught in an ages-old battle against truth by the powers of darkness. The fact that this error is being taught and defended and promoted by people who profess to know and love Christ does not alter the fact that it is error. And the fact that relativism is often propagated in books found on the best-seller racks in evangelical bookstores does not alter the seriousness of the error. The remodeling of our ideas about truth and certainty poses a severe danger to the heart and core of the Christian gospel.

  PEOPLE ARE

  EXPERIMENTING WITH

  SUBJECTIVE,

  RELATIVISTIC IDEAS OF

  TRUTH AND LABELING

  THEM “CHRISTIAN.” THIS

  TREND SIGNALS A

  SIGNIFICANT DEPARTURE

  FROM BIBLICAL AND

  HISTORIC CHRISTIANITY.

  As always, a war is being waged against the truth. We are on one side or the other. There is no middle ground—no safe zone for the uncommitted. Lately the question of truth itself—what it is and whether we can truly know it at all—has become one of the major points of contention.

  We also happen to be living in a generation when many so-called Christians have no taste for conflict and contention. Multitudes of biblically and doctrinally malnourished Christians have come to think of controversy as something that should always be avoided, whatever the cost. Sadly, that is what many weak pastors have modeled for them.

  Controversy and conflict in the church are never to be relished or engaged in without sufficient cause. But in every generation, the battle for the truth has proved ultimately unavoidable, because the enemies of truth are relentless. Truth is always under assault. And it is actually a sin not to fight when vital truths are under attack.

  That is true even though fighting sometimes results in conflict within the visible community of professing Christians. In fact, whenever the enemies of gospel truth succeed in infiltrating the church, faithful believers are obliged to take the battle to them even there. That is certainly the case today, as it has been since apostolic times.

  HOW FAITHFUL CHRISTIANS MUST RESPOND

  As the Holy Spirit drew New Testament revelation to its completion, the importance of fighting for the truth emerged as one of the dominant themes. Tucked into the end of the New Testament, in the shadow of Revelation (which describes the final battle and ultimate triumph of truth), we find three very short epistles whose common theme is devotion to the truth in the midst of conflict. The apostle John wrote two of them. Second John contains the word truth five times in the first four verses alone. It ends with this sobering message (vv. 7–11):

  Many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

  Third John likewise has truth as a major theme. The word truth appears six times in the epistle’s fourteen verses. The apostle John was writing to defend the truth against Diotrephes, who loved having preeminence in the church more than he loved the truth. By contrast, he commends Demetrius, saying he “has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself ” (v. 12).

  Jude wrote the third in the trio of “postcard” epistles. His whole point in writing was to remind believers of their duty to fight for the truth. It wasn’t what he intended to write about. When he took up his pen to write, his plan was “to write . . . concerning our common salvation.” But he was compelled by the Holy Spirit instead to exhort us with all passion “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

  Jude was talking specifically about battling the influence of false teachers who had secretly infiltrated the Christian community. These men were apparently turning Christian pulpits into platforms from which they broadcast lies that undermined the heart of Christian doctrine: “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 4).

  That inspired warning from Jude 3–4 is what has prompted me to write this book. I have already written a complete commentary on Jude,8and there is no need to cover the same ground again. So in this book, I want to focus very closely on those two verses (vv. 3–4) in particular. We will look at Jude’s warning from several different angles. We will examine why defending the faith inevitably requires warfare, rather than the gullibly sanguine stance many Christians today seem to favor. We will see why indifference, timidity, compromise, and nonresistance are all ruled out as options for Christians when the gospel is under attack. We will examine some of the major engagements in the Truth War throughout church history. And above all, we will discuss why Jude’s warning is particularly applicable for the times in which we live.

  My heart resonates with Jude’s concern for the church, his love for the gospel, and his passion for the truth. I too would prefer to write about something positive—concerning such things as the riches of salvation and all the joy and blessings that belong to all who are truly in Christ; our love for the Lord; and especially His grace and glory. In fact, this book is ultimately about all those things and how to saf
eguard them, because they are precisely the points of truth that are ultimately at stake in the Truth War.

  Yet rather than deal with those things in a completely positive and nonpolemical way, I find myself compelled to echo the inspired words of Jude and exhort my readers who truly love Christ: you need to contend earnestly for the faith. Truth is under heavy attack, and there are too few courageous warriors who are willing to fight. When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, believers from this generation will not be able to justify their apathy by complaining that the strife of conflict over truth just seemed “too negative” for the kind of culture we lived in—or that the issues were “merely doctrinal” and therefore not worth the effort.

  Remember, Christ rebuked the churches in Revelation 2–3 who had tolerated false teachers in their midst (2:14–16; 20–23). He expressly commended the Ephesian church for examining the claims of certain false apostles and exposing them as liars (2:2). Churches have a clear duty to guard the faith against false teachers who infiltrate. Christ Himself demands it.

  At the same time, we need to notice carefully that a polemical defense of the faith by no means guarantees a healthy church, much less a healthy individual Christian. Christ also rebuked the doctrinally sound Ephesians for departing from their first love (Revelation 2:4). As vital as it is for us to enlist in the Truth War and do battle for our faith, it is even more important to remember why we are fighting—not merely for the thrill of vanquishing some foe or winning some argument, but out of a genuine love for Christ, who is the living, breathing embodiment of all that we hold true and worth fighting for.

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