The Truth Axiom

During His ministry on Earth, Jesus spoke often about His character and nature. When He told the disciples that He was the "Way, the Truth and the Life", these were more than characterizations of His personality. They were axiomatic facts through which all of Scripture was to be filtered. When He said He was the Way, He confirmed it by saying that no one could come to the Father, except through Him (John 14:10). Whe He said He was the Life, He confirmed this through His ressurrection. However, I have always considered His statement that He was the Truth to be the most tangibly important because it is the primary axiom in the Scripture. The entire struggle of good versus evil can be boiled down to each element's primary methodology...Truth versus deceit. Truth is a person. Jesus was the Truth. In His entire life He never sinned and therefore, never lied. Everything He ever did or spoke was absolute and true. A strong, healthy Christian theology is built on the foundation of this simple axiom. Because the world has secularized and conceptualized the word "truth", the very meaning of the term has become subjective and relative. That is why I have coined the phrase, Truth Axiom. I suppose it's a little like those bracelets that reminded you about , "What would Jesus do?". The Truth Axiom simply says that for all things to be true, they must be verified by the Truth...by the Scripture. Base arguements about this kind of fundamentalism questions the veracity of Scripture. I won't use this time to do what Josh McDowell and other Christian apologists have done so well. However, I will use the Truth Axiom here... At the beginning of the book of John, we are told that Jesus is the Word or the Logos. Scripture reminds me to come to Him as a little child...with simple reasoning...axiomatically. Jesus is the Word...the Logos...or the written Scripture. He is the living embodiment of what was divinely written. Jesus is the Truth ergo the Word is also the Truth. This simple axiom now explodes my understanding as all dicernment matters are passed through this filter. Now I have the whole canon of Scripture to use as my Truth measuring stick. Theonly way to negotiate through humanism and relativism is with the ruddr of Truth. We cannot begin to wade through heady topics without having as base to work from. Truth is not bread crumbs to which you find your way back. Truth is the cobblestones forever cemented ontothe path so cant lose your Way in the first place. This is how we will approach every topic in these postings. Truth helps us discern deceit. As our relationship with Truth grows so will our ability to discern Truth's voice from deceit. We become so familiar with our Beloved's voice and character, we recognize it even when we don't see Him. This is infinitely important. Where Truth is stark, clear and unmistakable...deceit is subtle, vague and conveluted. Deceit doesn't have to be exactly wrong...it just isn't exactly right. These are the subtle turns in theology that has fracture the Body of Christ into the inneffective denaminations which infest this age of Laodecea. They forever mark their territory...their paticular revelation of orthodoxy. This is the vague humanism that has crept into the "seeker-friendly" emerging church. It is a watered-down theology that over-emphasizes Grace and leaves out the conviction of the Law. At one time, "Turn or Burn" theology was just as erroneous. The "seeker-friendly" model is steeped with true aspects, but in its efforts to be relevant to the world has begun to take on the trappings of the world. Conviction is no longer a part of the equation...acceptance whereever you are is. Grace and Mercy are only one side of the algebra of Salvation and Sanctification. The (X) on the other side of the equation is Judgement and Conviction. Jesus reminded us that He came to fulfill the Law not abolish it. We will continue to look at how we have become so luke warm and tepid in our next post.