Although disheartening, society’s trend away from absolute truth is not surprising. The apostle Paul warned of this many years ago: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine [God’s word], but according to their own desires … they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (II Timothy 4:3-4).
Searching for spiritual fulfillment isn’t wrong, but where we search can be. There is tremendous power and wisdom in the Bible. Many recognize its influence, often adding portions of the Bible to their own writings. In studying various religions, I learned that most, if not all, replace God’s truth with “preference”. The fact that groups have greatly altered the truth of God’s word is a startling reality. Who would you rather trust your soul to, God or man? We don’t change God’s message—His message changes us.
There are not “many” ways to God. The Bible and the beliefs of other groups cannot all be right. All religions can be wrong, but all religions cannot be right. The Bible was not written “in addition to” anything; it stands alone. Jesus said in Matthew 24:24 that false Christs and false prophets will appear and deceive many. A “prophet,” as mentioned here, can be anyone in a position of spiritual authority, or claiming to be.
How do we avoid err? It’s actually very simple: determine if what is being taught agrees with the Scriptures. For example, if someone says that there are many gods, Isaiah 45:22 tells us otherwise: “For I am God, and there is no other.” If they claim that a “messenger of light” appeared to one of their prophets as the voice of God, we should point them to II Corinthians 11:14 where “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” If someone says that righteousness is only obtained by following rigid codes of moral requirements, including keeping the Sabbath, the New Testament says otherwise—we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Can you see the unparalleled truth in all of this? Unless a person is anchored in God’s word, knows what the Bible says, and believes it, he or she will be like a child tossed back and forth and carried away by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men (Ephesians 4:14).
Satan counteracts truth through deceptions and counterfeits. A good example of this is the fabricated book and movie, The Da Vinci Code. It’s been said that if as many Christians who read The Da Vinci Code had read their Bibles, America would have experienced a revival. Surprisingly, many who read this book actually believe it. This shouldn’t catch us off guard, remember Paul’s warning to Timothy, that a time will come when people will not be receptive to God’s word. They will look for “positive”, “motivational” teachers who will tell them what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear. As a result, many will turn from the truth. Galatians 1:8 adds, “But even if we [the writers of the Bible], or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”
To detect a counterfeit, one must first know what the original looks like. It’s impossible to gain a clear picture of absolute truth without going directly to God’s word. We wouldn’t look for fish in the Mojave Desert, or almonds on a palm tree, but that’s exactly what we do when we look for truth outside of God’s word.
The human mind, apart from God’s Spirit, will never comprehend or understand spiritual truth. I Corinthians 2:14 validates this: “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” This is why many reject the Bible or change its message—their natural mind does not receive the things of God; truth is foolishness to them.
Reflecting back, I see that many of my wrong choices could have been prevented had I simply followed God’s plan for my life and embraced His absolute truth. Enough cannot be said about the one, unquestionable proof that the Bible is the inspired word of God. The greatest witness is a transformed life. Even Rousseau, the French skeptic, said: “I must confess to you that the majority of the Scriptures astonish me; the holiness of the evangelists speaks to my heart and has such striking characters of truth…that if it had been the invention of men, the inventors would be greater than the greatest heroes.” Unfortunately, Rousseau was unwilling to replace preference with truth. Are you?
