Does Absolute Truth Exist?
In John 18, during the trial of Jesus, Pontius Pilate asked a question that has actually been asked throughout the centuries. Jesus told Pilate that He had come to bear witness to the truth. To this, Pilate responded, “What is truth?” It seems that Pilate expressed his doubt that there was such a thing as truth, and his attitude of doubt or even outright denial of objective truth has become very prevalent in our culture.
One of the foundational problems of our society is that many people deny the existence of absolute truth. The philosophy of moral relativism is most certainly growing in popularity. This has led people to the idea that no one has a right to say that any action is right or wrong, because (according to them) there is no right or wrong. Everything is relative because there is no objective standard of truth.
Does absolute exist? Let’s begin this article by giving a simple answer…
I. There Is Absolute Truth
So many people in the world have been fooled into believing that the concept of truth is completely relative. In other words, what’s true and right for me might not be true or right for you. Furthermore, people contend that truth is circumstantial. What might be true and right for me under one set of circumstances might not be true or right under other circumstances.
In either case, these people believe that truth lies completely within each individual. According to them, we can determine our own set of rules for morality and religion. This is why God’s standards of morality are being mocked and discarded among so many people in this country. When people who fear the Lord and respect His word teach God’s word about fornication, adultery, homosexuality, abortion, and other sins, people defiantly ask, “Who are you to judge me and tell me that how I’m living is wrong? The way you feel might be true for you, but it’s not true for me.”
This is a false and dangerous view of truth, and unfortunately, this is a view that is becoming more and more popular. A recent Barna survey shows that only 34% of surveyed Americans believe in absolute truth. The numbers look even worse for the younger generation. It is no wonder that the moral standards of this country seem to be getting more and more corrupt at an exponential rate. We must educate ourselves on this subject, and teach what God says about the concept of truth to our sons and daughters, lest they be swept away by the tide of moral relativism.
God’s word is clear in affirming that there is such a thing as absolute truth. Notice what Christ says about this…
John 3:20-21 “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Jesus draws a clear, defined line between “practicing evil” and “doing the truth.” In order to distinguish between these two categories of behavior, there must be an absolute standard of divine truth.
Next, read these words of Jesus…
John 8:32 “You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
Jesus says, “You shall know the truth.” If truth is merely relative and abstract, then it becomes impossible for a person to know with certainty what the truth is for all people. But Jesus says that we can know the truth. We can know it because there is an absolute, clear standard of spiritual and moral truth.
So having established that there is such a thing as absolute truth, let’s now consider Pilate’s question. “What is truth?” How do we determine moral and spiritual truth? Before we answer this question, let us first investigate unreliable methods of determining the truth.
II. Unreliable Methods of Determining the Truth
A. Truth is not determined by popularity.
The morals of this country are changing. How people feel about what is right and wrong is much different than a few decades ago, and we who respect God’s moral laws are in the minority, as far as some subjects are concerned. There is no denying this. However, popularity does not change the truth.
If the truth was determined by the majority, then in Genesis 6 Noah would have been wrong and the rest of the world—in their rebellion to God and their refusal to prepare for the flood—would have been right.
Truth is not determined by popularity because often what is popular is not the right thing to do.
In Exodus 23:32, God says, “Do not follow a crowd to do evil.” Furthermore, read Jesus’ words on this topic…
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Obviously, truth is not determined by numbers or popularity. It does not matter how many forms of immorality are accepted and celebrated by our culture. The truth is unchangeable.
B. Truth is not determined by individuals.
You cannot prove that something is right by relying on individual people.
Many times, people use the way they were raised to justify their beliefs and actions. “I was raised believing this way, so this is my truth.” Such people think that, for them, truth is determined by how their parents raised them, but the scriptures show that this is not a reliable way to determine what is true or right.
What if Abraham would have shared the attitude that says, “Well, if it’s good enough for my father, then it’s good enough for me”? Do you realize what the scriptures teach about Terah, the father of Abraham? Notice Joshua’s words in…
Joshua 24:2 “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.”
If Abraham would have tried to prove what was true based on the teaching of his father, then he would have been an idolater.
Notice what Christ says about blindly following our family…
Matthew 10:34-37 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”
Christ says that serving Him might divide families. Why does he say this? He knows that in any family or group, some are going to follow His word and others will not. When this happens, our Lord expects us to choose what is right over the wishes or demands of other people—including our fathers, mothers, brothers or sisters.
Truth is not to be determined by individual people.
C. Truth is not determined by our feelings.
The use of feelings to determine what is true is really the foundation of what’s called, “situation ethics.” You see, people want to look at their particular situation or circumstances, gauge how they feel about those circumstances, and then determine what they need to do based upon how they feel about the situation.
One time I talked with a college professor about the concept of absolute truth. When he said he didn’t believe absolute truth existed, I asked him about Adolf Hitler. I asked, “So could you not say that Hitler was wrong to kill 6 million Jews?” He responded defiantly before a classroom full of students, “No. I can’t say he was wrong because I don’t know what Hitler felt in his heart.”
That’s an extreme example of someone using feelings to determine right and wrong. But while few would go to that extreme, if feelings are the standard of right and wrong, then we cannot state with conviction the simple and obvious truth that Hitler was evil. If moral relativism is right, then Adolf Hitler might have been right. It is all about how he felt in his heart. Any world view that allows for that possibility is flawed—to say the least.
But even people who would definitely condemn Hitler often turn around and use their feelings to justify actions that God condemns. Even though God’s word forbids all forms of lying and deceit, many religious people will say, “Well, under these circumstances, I feel that it’s best not to tell the truth.”
In reference to religious beliefs, like what the bible says about how to be saved, people who have refused to obey the pure gospel of Christ often say, “I have a feeling in my heart that I’m saved, and that feeling is all the proof I need.”
In reference to worship, many people say, “I feel that God is pleased with any method of worship, as long as we have the right attitude.”
Do you know what God says about our feelings? Look at the following scriptures:
Proverbs 28:26 “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool.”
Proverbs 16:25 “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”
Do not allow yourself to be governed by feelings, because your feelings are not reliable.
Having noticed these things that do not prove what is true and right, let us now move on in our study. We know that absolute truth exists. Logic and scripture affirm this. But what standard should we use to determine the truth?
III. The Scriptures Alone Determine the Truth
Common sense demands that if we want to know the truth about right and wrong, then we must rely on God to establish the standard. He is the only one with the authority to set standards for the way that we live and serve him.
How does He communicate this truth to us? Jesus gives an answer to this question in John 17. There, Jesus is praying to the Father, and he says…
John 17:17 “Sanctify them through your truth. Your word is truth.”
So what is our standard of truth? Christ says that it is the word of God.
In John 16, Jesus told His apostles that after his death, resurrection, and ascension, the Holy Spirit would come to them in order to teach them God’s word, so they could in turn teach it to others. Notice what Christ said to them in John 16:13…
John 16:13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth.”
The apostles would be led by the Holy Spirit to teach God’s truth; and how much of the truth would they be taught? Jesus said, “He (the Holy Spirit) will guide you into all truth.”
Do you know what this tells us? It tells us that everything that we need to know about God, morality, right and wrong—is found in God’s word. All truth is found in the scriptures.
Simply put, if a doctrine proves to be authorized by the scriptures, then it is true. But if a lifestyle or a doctrine is not supported by the Word of God, then it is not according to the truth. It might be a life that is lived with good intentions. It might be a belief system that makes us feel good. But if you cannot read your beliefs about morality or religion from the scriptures, then those beliefs are not in keeping with the truth.
They are outside of God’s will. They are sin.
So why is this so important to know? Why is it imperative to follow the truth of God’s word? We already noticed in John 17:17 that we are only sanctified (or set apart for God’s service) by the truth. Paul also shows us that our souls depend upon our obedience to the truth of God’s word.
Romans 2:5-8 “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness–indignation and wrath.”
What awaits those who do not “obey the truth (which remember, is the same as obeying God’s word)?” Paul says that those who do not obey the truth will someday face indignation and wrath.
We cannot afford to rely upon what is popular or what individual people tell us. We cannot afford to rely solely on how we feel about various circumstances. Our eternal fate depends upon our obedience to God’s truth.
There is such a thing as absolute truth. It is found in the scriptures, and one of these days, we’ll be judged by how we’ve conformed our lives to it.
Brandon Stephens, Evangelist
