What is Truth?
Greetings, a servant of God, by the grace of God, teaching the truth of God under the authority of Jesus Christ to any who are willing to receive it. (Mat 13:43).
The Holy Bible contains the truth of God by the word of God (Joh 17:17); therefore, God teaches and gives understanding, wisdom, and knowledge to all who pray and seek Him with all the heart (Deu 4:29-31; Jer 29:12,13; Psa 119:2).
Truth Demands a Sacrifice (Mathew 16:24)
In Scripture, truth is never upheld cheaply. From the prophets to Jesus to the apostles, those who stand with God’s truth inevitably pay a cost. The moment a person chooses God’s voice over the voice of men, something must be surrendered - reputation, security, relationships, comfort, life itself, or even all the above.
The prophets were rejected and silenced, Jesus was crucified, and the apostles along with believing followers suffered because truth exposes darkness and threatens the powers that depend on it.
The world rewards compromise, but God’s truth requires loyalty. So yes, the biblical witness shows that truth always demands a sacrifice. Those who uphold the truth of God must lay something down, because truth is not maintained by convenience but by costly faithfulness.
Truth, as God the Father and Jesus His Christ reveal it, is not an abstract idea or a shifting human philosophy. Truth is the very expression of God’s own nature. In Scripture, truth is inseparable from who God is: pure, unwavering, eternal, and utterly reliable. Jesus embodies this reality when he declares Himself to be “the way, the truth, and the life,” (Joh 14:6) showing that truth is lived and revealed.
To understand truth in God’s terms is to see it as the light that exposes all false things, the standard by which all claims are measured, and the foundation upon which every righteous life must be built. Truth is what God speaks, what His Christ demonstrates, and what His Spirit leads us into. It is unchanging, holy, and life‑giving.
Resisting the Holy Spirit of Truth
Act 7:51 You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Ghost [Spirit]: as your fathers did, so do you.
Acts 7:51 is the Bible’s most direct statement on “resisting the Spirit,” spoken by Stephen as he indicts the Sanhedrin for repeating the same pattern of rebellion seen throughout Israel’s history. To “resist the Holy Spirit” means to oppose God's conviction, reject His testimony, and harden the heart against the truth He reveals. Stephen calls them “stiff‑necked” and “uncircumcised in heart and ears,” echoing Isaiah 63:10, where Israel “rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit,” and Zechariah 7:12, where they “made their hearts like flint” against the words God sent by His Spirit. Their resistance is not ignorance but willful refusal - the same posture that led their fathers to reject the prophets and now leads them to reject the Messiah. Acts 7:51 therefore stands as the definitive biblical description of resisting the Spirit: a persistent, covenant‑breaking hardness that opposes the very One sent to lead them into truth.
Jesus the Christ and Pontius Pilate
The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, asked Jesus "what is truth?:"
Joh 18:38 Pilate said unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and said unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
Pilate declared, “I find in Him no fault at all," yet Truth Himself was crucified because darkness cannot tolerate exposure (John 3:19,20). Jesus testified that the world hates Him “because I testify that its works are evil” (John 7:7), and that those who reject truth do so because they are “of their father the devil… a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). Yet “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5), and Jesus identified His arrest as “your hour, and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53).
The leaders resisted the Holy Spirit just as their fathers did (Acts 7:51), hardened their hearts like flint (Zech 7:12), and grieved the Holy Spirit (Isa 63:10), fulfilling the pattern of rejecting the prophets sent by God (2Ch 36:16). Behind their actions, the god of this world blinded their minds (2Co 4:4), and the true battle was not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of darkness (Eph 6:12).
Yet the cross reveals that darkness is not defeated by force but by the self‑giving love for God, because “God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). Perfect love casts out fear (1Jn 4:18), and love “rejoices in the truth” (1Co 13:6). Thus the truth‑seeker must understand that truth will always be opposed by darkness, deception, and hardened hearts - but the love of God in Christ is the only power that overcomes the world (John 16:33).
Fretting Against the Truth
Pro 19:3 The foolishness of man perverts his way: and his heart frets against the LORD.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
For more on "us which are saved", see the teachings Repentance and The Baptisms of John and Jesus.
Truth Defined
Jesus the Christ revealed the answer to "what is truth" to His disciples while He was praying to God the Father:
Joh 17:14 I have given them your word; and the world has hated them [to detest or love less; persecute], because they are not of the world [Rom 12:2], even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15 I pray not that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through your truth: your word is truth.
We clearly see, from the mouth of Jesus, the Christ of God, that the word of God is truth, words spoken by the holy prophets in the Old Testament:
Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2Pe 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost [Spirit].
And words spoken by Jesus His Christ in the New Testament:
Heb 1:2 Has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
The Believing Followers Hear the Words of Truth
Joh 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Are you a king then? Jesus answered, you say that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth hears my voice [sayings; doctrine (Pro 4:10, 20; Mat 7:24, 28; Joh 7:16; 14:24; Rev 22:7).
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Hebrews 1 goes on to describe who Jesus is:
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his [God's] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power [Joh 5:30], when he had by himself purged our sins [1Co 5:7], sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
See the teaching The Passover and Last Supper Connection for details of "purged sins" in the New Covenant which has also extended to the whole world (Gentiles) as well (Jeremiah 31:31; Matthew 26:28; Acts 11:18).
Enemies of the Cross
If the words or doctrines of men contradict, compromise with, or omit the truth of God, and you follow those men, then you are not following the Christ. You are following anti-Christs:
1Th 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when you received the word of God which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually works also in you that believe.
Php 3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
And from John concerning anti-Christs (opponents; adversaries of the truth: 2Ti 2:25,26):
1Jn 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as you have heard that anti-Christ shall come, even now are there many anti-Christs; whereby we know that it is the last time.
The Adversary of the Truth-seeker
1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Peter 5:8 stands as one of Scripture’s clearest warnings that truth is hunted by an active, personal adversary. It is not poetic language - it is a spiritual alert. The same enemy who blinded minds to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel (2Co 4:4), who filled the heart of Judas to betray Christ (John 13:2), and who opposed the truth through lies from the beginning (John 8:44), still prowls with the same intent: to devour faith, distort truth, and destroy the truth‑seeker.
Jesus Himself warned that the evil one “snatches away” the word from the heart (Mat 13:19), and Paul revealed that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against “the rulers of the darkness of this age” (Eph 6:12). The warning is simple and severe: truth is never opposed merely by human resistance - it is opposed by a spiritual adversary who fears the light and hunts those who walk toward it. Therefore the truth‑seeker must remain sober, vigilant, anchored in the Word, and guarded by the God whose perfect love casts out fear (1Jn 4:18) and whose truth makes His people stand firm (John 8:32).
Truth Confirmed by Eye Witnesses Prophesied
Isa 43:10 You are my witnesses, says the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Isaiah 43:10 establishes the prophetic foundation of witness - “You are My witnesses… and my servant whom I have chosen” - but Israel failed in this calling (Isa 42:19,20), so Isaiah 49 shifts the identity of the Servant from the nation to the Messiah Himself: “You are My Servant… in whom I will be glorified” and “I will also give You as a light to the nations” (Isa 49:3,6).
Jesus fulfills this perfectly, declaring the divine “I am He” of Isaiah (John 8:24,28) and identifying His mission as bearing witness to the truth: “For this cause I was born… that I should bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37). After completing the witness‑mission Israel could not fulfill, Christ then extends it to His followers: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). Thus the prophetic line is unbroken - Israel was called to witness, Christ becomes the true Witness, and His Spirit‑filled people now carry that witness to the ends of the earth.
Act 2:32 This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
Act 3:15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
Act_5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost [Spirit], whom [which] God has given to them that obey him.
Act 10:39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:
Act_13:31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.
Heb_12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
Heartfelt Study Reveals Scriptural Truths
2Ti 2:15 Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Any who claim to be followers of the Christ, should be following the apostles' doctrine, the same doctrine taught to the apostles by Jesus the Christ:
Act 2:42 And they [follower's of the Christ] continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
They continued in a doctrine that accurately teaches the way and truth of God (Joh 7:16) leading to eternal life through Jesus the Christ:
Joh 14:6 Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.
A doctrine that teaches the commandments of God:
Pro 4:2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake you not my law.
Lev 22:31 Therefore shall you keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD.
If you been taught that Scriptures like these from the Old Testament have been nailed to the cross with Jesus, then you may want to hear from the Christ Himself:
Joh 14:15 If you love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 15:10 If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
Do these commandments include the ten commandments?
Mat 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why call you me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if you will enter into life, keep the commandments.
Mat 19:18 He said unto him, Which? Jesus said, you shall do no murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness,
Mat 19:19 Honour your father and your mother: and, you shall love your neighbour as yourself.
Jesus clearly taught the keeping of the commandments (Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5). Consider this:
Psa 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
But why can not the many who teach against or apart from the doctrine of Jesus Christ and His apostles see these truths? Consider these; though speaking of a prophecy concerning "the man of perdition", the following verses emphasize the power of God to send strong delusion to believe a lie to any who refuse the love of the truth:
2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
"Pleasure" that can come from making a large sum of money from the "unrighteousness" of one's own interpretation of the word of God. But here is the word of God:
Mat 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You can not serve God and mammon [wealth].
Could you part with wealth, property and possessions, distribute to the poor, and follow Jesus, the Christ of God?
Mar 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing you lack: go your way, sell whatsoever you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
"Take up the cross" emphasizing the strait and narrow "pressing" into the kingdom of God. What did Jesus plainly state about following him?
Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it.
Luk 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John [the Baptist]: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it.
Let us now return to the truth of God, His doctrine, taught by Jesus His Christ and the apostles. Here, Jesus, while honouring the Father and responding to the Pharisees who questioned His authority and sought to kill Him:
Joh 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me.
Joh 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
What is God's will concerning "the doctrine"?
Pro 1:5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
Psa 119:105 NUN. Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Isa 55:6 Seek you the LORD while he may be found, call you upon him while he is near:
Isa 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and [return] to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Jer 9:23 Thus says the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
Jer 9:24 But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, says the LORD.
The Works of God
Joh 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent.
Therefore, the work of a believing follower of Jesus the Christ, as a servant of God, is to bring the blind into the truth of God through the teachings of Jesus who carried out the will of God:
Act 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
To those that speak of themselves apart from the truth of God:
Joh 7:18 He that speaks of himself seeks his own glory: but he that seeks his [God's] glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.
Joh 7:19 Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keep the law? Why go you about to kill me?
Is it possible to worship God in vain by following false teachers who follow doctrines introduced by men?
Mat 15:7 You hypocrites, well did Esaias [Isaiah] prophesy of you, saying,
Mat 15:8 This people draws near unto me with their mouth, and honours me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men [Isa 29:13].
Doctrine of Truth
Now that we have seen that the doctrine of Jesus the Christ was in keeping with the will and doctrine of God the Father, let us conclude with writings that reflect that true doctrine from the apostles, beginning with Paul:
Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
These received the love of the truth, repented, and became baptized covenant children of God. Was this repentance in accordance with the doctrine of Jesus the Christ?
Luk 5:32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
The False Doctrine of Disfellowship Within the Spiritual Church of Jesus Christ (Mathew 16:18; 1Peter 2:5)
Rom 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark [regard; consider] them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which you have learned; and avoid them.
Jesus taught that in His spiritual church the wheat and tares would grow together until the final judgment, meaning the church must expect mixture and resist any attempt to purify itself by human force. Yet this does not cancel His clear doctrine of discipline; it defines its purpose.
When Paul commands believers in Romans 16:17 to “mark” and “avoid” those who cause divisions and teach contrary doctrine, he is not uprooting tares but protecting the flock from active corrupters of the gospel. Jesus forbids tearing up the field, but He requires guarding and feeding the flock. Paul applies that principle: the church does not purge the imperfect, but it must separate from those who oppose the truth and endanger the unity of Christ’s body. In this way, Romans 16:17 stands fully consistent with Jesus’ teaching - patient with weakness, firm against wolves.
Some twist Paul's word's into a meaning to explain the disfellowship ("uprooting") of any who attempt to emphasize the true doctrine of God over false doctrines - an example being the false and judgemental doctrine of avoidance of other baptized people of God in other churches who they have never even met. The apostle John wisely teaches us to "test the spirits" to see if they are of God before passing judgement:
1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
If we judge without evidence and by the commandment of men, we break God's commandment:
Mat 7:1 Judge not, that you be not judged.
However, Jesus also teaches us to personally observe and judge by what we have seen with our own eyes, and heard with our own ears, concerning doctrine:
Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16 You shall know them by their fruits [doctrine; works]. Do men gather grapes of [among] thorns, or figs of [among] thistles?
Mat_7:20 Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them.
Jesus did not implement any such doctrine of avoidance. In fact, He introduced "a new commandment" for all the baptized people of God in His spiritual church - all who worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:23,24):
Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Focus on the words of the Lord Jesus, not on assumed interpretations of Paul's writings which can be misunderstood and therefore misinterpreted (2Peter 3:15-18). Jesus wants unity. The apostle Paul teaches unity in many places. The Lord Christ wants us to adhere to The Father's doctrine (Joh 7:16) through Him:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Jesus the Christ is the head of the spiritual church (Mat 16:18) who worship God in Spirit and in truth (Joh 4:23,24). Paul understood the seriousness of false doctrines from men, doctrines which are in reality "doctrines of devils". Notice:
1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times [our times] some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1Ti 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
Paul endorsed "good doctrine" in order to be recognized as "a good servant of Jesus Christ:"
1Ti 4:6 If you put the brethren in remembrance of these things, you shall be a good minister [servant] of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto you have attained.
1Ti 4:13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
1Ti 4:16 Take heed unto yourself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this you shall both save yourself, and them that hear you.
From John:
2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresses, and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, has not God. He that abides in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
Regardless of what you may have heard regarding doctrine, faith comes by believing that the true doctrine will always come from the Holy Bible - the word of God, the truth of God (Joh 7:16; 17:17):
Rom 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Final Thoughts
If it be God's will, may this teaching lift the truth-seeker's eyes from the noise of human opinion back to the unshakable voice of God. When all is said and done, the doctrine of truth belongs to Him alone. No tradition, council, creed, or clever argument can redefine what God has spoken or alter what His Christ has revealed.
Human doctrines shift with culture and convenience, but God’s truth stands eternal, judging every thought and exposing every counterfeit. To walk in truth is to submit joyfully to God’s word as the final authority, refusing to let man-made teachings dilute or replace it.
In the end, only one standard will remain - the truth that proceeds from the Father, embodied by His Christ, and confirmed by His Spirit. All who love God must love this truth above every voice, every system, and every doctrine of men.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through your truth: your word is truth.
Freely, I have received from the word of God; freely, I have given to all who would receive the truth of God.
Farewell,
Servanthood
