On two occasions this week some of my high school students engaged in a lively discussion that escalated into a yelling match. The topics were important and heartfelt, so each party argued passionately for their point of view. Unfortunately neither side really listened to the other. I attempted to reign in the unwieldy “conversation” but I wasn’t very successful. I even followed up later to remind my students why and how to listen with understanding and disagree respectfully, which we have previously covered in class. However, they were still so fixated on what they held dear that they couldn’t objectively step back and receive instruction on how to more effectively present their values and beliefs in the future. Have you ever had trouble getting your point across or persuading someone? Have you ever closed your mind, dismissed someone’s point too quickly, or misconstrued their meaning?
Over the last several years I have noticed a dangerous trend—for many influencers truth is less important than persuasion and for many consumers truth is less important than confirmation. Many media outlets, technology companies, advertisers, journalists, politicians, and leaders misinform, disinform, censor, and suppress the truth in favor of promoting their agenda. They’ll even attack and attempt to discredit and destroy anyone who opposes their false narrative. On the flip side of the delusion coin many consumers are blinded by ignorance or denial. Either they don’t realize the deception prevalent in their information sources. Or due to mass formation psychosis or confirmation bias they tend to receive only what aligns with their beliefs and reject what doesn’t. Given the propensity for each of us to deceive and be deceived, we need God’s help. God enables you to hear the truth, discern the truth, and pass it on to others.
Escape Destruction
God is truth. All that is good, right, and loving comes from him. Although every person is created by God and loved by God, sadly each of us has rejected him in favor of living the lie that we are better off attempting to be our own gods (Genesis 3:4-5; Isaiah 53:6). We convince ourselves that if we amass enough stuff, accomplish enough goals, earn enough awards, or act with enough goodness we will be happy and fulfilled. Yet in the scope of eternity that life is futile. Ironically trying to fill your self leaves you empty and eventually kills you (Romans 3:20-24, 6:23). Fortunately, what you can’t do for yourself, God has done through Jesus. Jesus is God the Son who became a man to live, die, and rise again on your behalf (Romans 14:9; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 1:19-23). Anyone who trusts Jesus to save them can know God personally, be adopted into his loving family, and joyfully live an abundant life full of peace, purpose, righteousness, and truth now and forever.
Knowing God, understanding what he says, and carrying out his will liberates you from the deadly grip of self-centeredness. Jesus taught, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). So knowing what God has revealed about his character and his mission as taught in his word, the Bible, is vital for your development. I’ll briefly touch on three important reasons. 1.) It sets you apart to be trained in the character and purposes of God. 2.) It removes your blindness so you can combat false teaching. 3.) It enables you to teach others what is good and right.
Knowing What God Says Produces Holiness
Without holiness no one can see God (Hebrews 12:14). Yet you can never become clean enough, pure enough, or good enough to earn your way to God (Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:8-9). Only by trusting in the righteousness of Jesus on your behalf can you have a personal relationship with God (John 3:13-21; Romans 10:9-11). That is why Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). Once you put your faith in Jesus, God adopts you into his family and begins to teach you what it means to be his child (John 1:1-14). The Bible is his letter of love to you revealing how to live for him, with him, like him, and as him in this world. In fact, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). As you humbly study the Bible to discover what pleases God, his Spirit alive in you teaches you to become like Jesus in your thoughts, values, and actions. He sets you apart from this world to live rightly in character and purpose like, salt and light, so others can come to know him as their savior. To carry out his will now and to reign with him throughout eternity, knowing what he says is a prerequisite.
Knowing What God Says Helps Combat False Teaching
To recognize what’s false, you must know what’s true. When I was a child my mom had a friend who worked as a bank teller. Part of her training involved identifying counterfeit money. To do so she got to know real money real well—how it looked like, how it felt, and how it smelled. Knowing what’s real helped her spot what’s fake. As mentioned earlier our world is rife with counterfeit truth. This impacts not just the physical world, but the spiritual realm as well. If fact, the disinformation war taking place is really a manifestation of a spiritual war for people’s souls. Satan, the prideful cherub who chose to oppose God, is the father of lies behind all this. Deception is his native language (John 8:44). He wields his forked tongue to steal, kill, and destroy. He masquerades as a messenger of light, but he prowls like a lion seeking to devour anyone who aligns with God and the truth (2 Corinthians 4:11; 1 Peter 5:8). He cunningly does so by twisting the truth, casting doubt about God’s faithfulness, and appealing to people’s prideful desire for pleasure and autonomy apart from God. The apostle Paul warned of the detrimental guile of Satan, “The god of this age [Satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Fortunately God is much greater than Satan. He restores sight and reveals the truth to all who seek him. So take up the sword of God’s word through the power of his Spirit and you can discern and combat the false teaching of Satan and his fallen angels in the spiritual realm, as well as, that of his human minions in our material world. Like the apostle Paul told Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
Knowing What God Says Enables You to Teach Others
If you trust and obey Jesus, you are his light for people stumbling in the darkness and deceit of this world. Shine in reflecting his radiance. After Jesus conquered sin, death, and Satan with his sacrificial death and glorious resurrection, he commissioned his followers to share his victory with others so they could have new life in Jesus also, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). The apostle Peter exhorted believers to know God’s word well in order to be an effective witness. “In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15). Study the Bible to learn what Jesus said and did. Then by his grace and power model it for others so they can come to know God also.
How to Start
If you want to know what God says, if you want to live by his truth and righteousness, you can. Just confess any wrongdoing and receive his forgiveness. Trust him each day to show you how to live then obey what he tells you. Prayerfully study the Bible. The book of John is a good place to start. As you read, ask What do I see in this passage? What does it mean? and How should I respond? Let God’s Spirit guide you into all truth (John 16:13-15). Meditate on key insights. Write down any questions. Then seek answers from trusted, mature Christians. Share the truth you learn with others.
Conclusion
Do you seek to cut through disinformation and false teaching? Do you want to personally know God through faith in Jesus? Do you want to know what God says, grow in his likeness, and share his truth with others? I need God’s word and his Spirit to help me discern what is good, true, and right. I desire to be like young Samuel who was training to become a priest. When God called to him in the night he responded with a humble, open heart, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:1-10). Out of love for God I want to know what he says, to live in the freedom of his truth, to discover what pleases him, and to joyfully live it out. In so doing, I pray my witness will help others come to know him also. To God be all glory forever.
Note: For more on the credibility, relevance, and importance of God’s word, the Bible, refer to my previous notes #79 Prepare for Life and #208 Study God’s Word.