The Power of Truth

By:  Dale Weckbacher   

John 8:31-32

"If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

NKJV

Truth has a liberating effect on us for when we indeed know the truth, we will not fall for lies and deception.  In John 8:31-32 Jesus is speaking to Jews that have chosen to believe Him.  He is telling them to abide in His word and since Jesus is the Word become flesh (John 1:14), Jesus is teaching these Jewish believers that abiding, or studying and living according to the Word of God will set them free. 

In another instance, Jesus was speaking to his disciples at the last supper and told them He was the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).  After the crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus' believers would have realized that Jesus was the truth, the truth that set them free from the power of sin over their lives.  In fact, when confronted by Pilate at His trial, Pilate asked Jesus if He was a king, Jesus replied by saying,

"You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

(John 18:37 NKJV)

The truth Jesus bore witness to is that all men and women are sinners (Romans 3:23) and the penalty for their sins is death (Romans 6:23).  However, Jesus, God in the flesh, came to the world, died, was buried, and rose from the dead making it possible for all of us to be saved from the death penalty of our sins (Romans 10:9-10, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).  All Jesus asks of us is to believe (John 3:16).  This is the power of truth, the truth that sets us free and gives us eternal life.  However, what would happen if there were no absolute standard for truth?

The answer is possibly what we are seeing in our world and society today for the philosophy of post-modernism now dominates our culture.  The epistemology of postmodernism brings into question previous approaches to knowing, including the Bible.  Its approach is to deconstruct previous sources of power and authority and attempts to set up a less hierarchical approach.  To put it more simply, it abolishes any belief in a supreme source of truth and accepts all things as truths.  (1)

This philosophy dominates institutions of higher learning (2) from which many of our business and political leaders come today.  (3)  This would explain why we now have a President of the United States that won election promising the fundamental transform of the United States and then once in office proceeded to ignore the rule of law of the nation to further his personal vision for the country.  As a person indoctrinated in the philosophy of post-modernism, he would see no problem with ignoring the U.S. Constitution, the supreme rule of law of the land.  After all, who are we to believe that the Constitution should be the only standard of law with which we judge what is right or wrong for the United States. 

It is also why the U.S. Congress continually fails to meet its budgetary deadline each year (4) and instead waits until the last minute to pass a temporary spending bill to keep the government from shutting down.  Of course, this last minute drafting of a spending bill means representatives and senators vote on these bills without having a chance to read them.  Meeting a deadline for passing a budget of course would mean congress could no longer hide the lard in their spending of taxpayer money.  (5)  I guess Nancy Pelosi is not the only one that can say we have to vote for the bill before we can find out what is in it.  (6)

Post-modernism also dominates the business world.  No longer is it the goal of many businesses to profit by providing a product or service in demand by the public and instead companies seek government handouts for products that purport to solve some manufactured problem like global warming  (7)  or a failed healthcare system.  (8)  Since government produces nothing, they fund these crony capitalists by taking money from the producers in the economy, you know those that actually provide a product or service consumers demand, and redistribute it to these crony capitalists.  (9)   Is it any wonder that U.S. debt now exceeds $18 trillion (10) and the rich crony capitalists continue to get richer while the middleclass continues to shrink.  (11) (12)

It is time that we as a nation once again adopt a standard of truth from which to govern the nation.  We must

1)      Get back to the Godly principles this nation was founded on as seen in its founding documents. (13) (14)

2)      Demand government operate within the limits placed upon it in the Constitution.  Belief that one man or group of men is somehow able to rule a nation is a failed belief.  History is full of tyrannical leaders that failed (15) so, what makes us think things have changed today.  This is precisely why the authors of the U.S. Constitution formulated a form of government with a separation of powers and a system of checks and balances.  (16)  Even though the Constitution is imperfect for failed men too authored it, it has stood the test of time as the best form of government for protecting the rights and liberties of citizens. 

Truth is all-powerful and liberating but we cannot have truth without some higher supreme standard from which to judge what truth is.  The Bible, the Word of God stands as the supreme standard for living our lives and is the standard we must live by.  The U.S. Constitution stands as a proven successful standard of governing that protects the rights and liberties of citizens.  The liberating power of truth exists in our learning to live and govern according to these standards. 

1. PhD., Louis Hoffman. Premodernism, Modernism, & Postmodernism:. www.postmodernpsychology.com. [Online] [Cited: September 7, 2013.] http://www.postmodernpsychology.com/Philosophical_Systems/Overview.htm.

2. Post Modern Psychology. Postmodernism and the Academic Disciplines. www.postmodernpsychology.com. [Online] [Cited: December 12, 2014.] http://www.postmodernpsychology.com/main_topics/PM_and_academic_disciplines.htm.

3. Penfold, Michael J. Postmodernism. www.webtruth.org. [Online] WebTruth. [Cited: December 12, 2014.] http://www.webtruth.org/articles/cultural-issues-26/postmodernism-35.html.

4. Baumann, David. Budget Deadlines: Made To Be Missed. uspolitics.about.com. [Online] About News. [Cited: December 12, 2014.] http://uspolitics.about.com/od/thefederalbudget/a/Budget-Deadlines-Made-To-Be-Missed.htm.

5. Taylor, Andrew. $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill Would Bury Budget Battles. www.huffiungtonpost.com. [Online] The Huffington Post, January 14, 2014. [Cited: December 12, 2014.] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/spending-bill-budget-battle_n_4592524.html.

6. You Tube. Pelosi: "We Have to Pass the Bill So That You Can Find Out What Is In It". www.youtube.com. [Online] You Tube, March 9, 2010. [Cited: December 12, 2014.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV-05TLiiLU.

7. Toback, Steve. The Myth of Global Warming. www.foxbusiness.com. [Online] Fox Business, May 31, 2013. [Cited: December 13, 2014.] http://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/2013/05/31/myth-global-warming/.

8. Asness, Clifford. Health Care Mythology. www.realclearpolitics.com. [Online] Real Clear Politics, July 23, 2009. [Cited: December 13, 2014.] http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/23/health_care_mythology_97552.html.

9. Intellectual Takeout. Free Market Capitalism vs. Crony Capitalism. www.intellectualtakeout.org. [Online] Intellectual Takeout. [Cited: December 13, 2014.] http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/library/business-and-economics/free-market-capitalism-vs-crony-capitalism.

10. Sargent, Michael. Since Obama Took Office, the Federal Debt Has Increased by Almost 70 Percent. dailysignal.com. [Online] The Daily Signal, December 3, 2014. [Cited: December 6, 2014.] http://dailysignal.com/2014/12/03/since-obama-took-office-federal-debt-increased-almost-70-percent/.

11. Schwartz, Nelson D. The Middle Class Is Steadily Eroding. Just Ask the Business World. www.nytimes.com. [Online] The New York Times, February 2, 2014. [Cited: December 12, 2014.] http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/business/the-middle-class-is-steadily-eroding-just-ask-the-business-world.html.

12. Tavernise, Sabrina. Middle-Class Areas Shrink as Income Gap Grows, New Report Finds. www.nytimes.com. [Online] The New York Times, November 15, 2011. [Cited: December 12, 2014.] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/us/middle-class-areas-shrink-as-income-gap-grows-report-finds.html.

13. age-or-the-sage.org. The Declaration of Independence. www.age-of-the-sage.org. [Online] [Cited: July 2, 2013.] http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/philosophy/declaration_of_independence.html.

14. The U.S. National Archives & Records Administration. The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription. www.archives.gov. [Online] [Cited: August 6, 2013.] http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/print_friendly.html?page=constitution_transcript_content.html&title=The%20Constitution%20of%20the%20United%20States%3A%20A%20Transcription.

15. elistmania.com. 10 Most Notorious Leaders In History. elistmania.com. [Online] December 9, 2008. [Cited: December 12, 2014.] http://elistmania.com/juice/10_most_notorious_leaders_in_history/.

16. National Center for Constitutional Studies. Checks And Balances: The Constitutional Structure For Limited and Balanced Government. www.nccs.net. [Online] National Center for Constitutional Studies. [Cited: December 12, 2014.] http://www.nccs.net/checks-balances-limited-and-balanced-government.php.