App
From the Desk of
Fred R. Coulter
The contemporary world in which we live encourages individual opinions, insisting that everyone’s opinion is of equal validity. On the one hand, a person may consider something to be true simply because he or she believes it to be so—even when the facts do not support such a belief. A second person, however, may hold to an opinion exactly opposite the first—likewise accepted as fact because he or she believes it to be true. A dichotomy results in which truth becomes relative. Carrying this process one step further, when a conglomeration of divergent opinions on a subject is accepted as true, because people believe them to be true, we end up with a cacophony of opinions—which is confusion! Everyone believes and does what is right in their own eyes. Consequently, the majority of people today do not believe that there is absolute truth to the exclusion of all other opinions.
When viewing all the religions of the world—including Orthodox Christianity—we see precisely the same thing. We find a panorama of complex opinions and beliefs about God, and a confusing array of speculative schemes of men who are eager to promote their ideas about the purpose of life and the plan of God. Because learned teachers of philosophy and religion use some parts of the Word of God, their theories have a smattering of truth that sounds persuasive. Still others follow the inspiration of demons, unknowingly venerating Satan the devil himself, who appears as an “angel of light.”
The result—billions of people have been deceived and wholly embrace religious falsehoods as foundational truth. Sincerely believing what they have been taught, they have dedicated their lives to false gods and false saviors through their devotion to idols, religious works, vows of poverty, life-long celibacy and virginity—all for the purpose of achieving a greater reward in heaven. Fully convinced that what they have been taught is the direct will of God—and with great sacrifice of worldly gain and even life itself—the obedient and dedicated have traveled the world over preaching their version of the Gospel, as they genuinely try to save others. Ordinary people have resolutely adhered to religious fallacies for fear of death and being forever delivered into the torments of hell. Horrifying many as well is the nightmare of being reincarnated into insects or animals because of an unworthy life. And increasingly, the world today is confronted by Islamic fanatics driven by hatred, who irrationally believe that the road to heaven is through holy jihad.
The Bible tells us: “God is not the author of confusion” (I Cor. 14:33). Therefore, we can conclude that the mainstay of all these religions, philosophies and teachings conjoined with their opinions about the purpose of life for mankind cannot be correct!
But where is the truth? Is it possible to find and understand it?
The answer is, Yes! It is found in the Bible—the true Word of God. Isaiah gives us the starting point: “And when they shall say unto you, ‘Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter’—but should not a people [rather] seek unto their God? Should the dead be sought on behalf of the living? To the Law [the Old Testament] and to the testimony [the New Testament]! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isa. 8:19-20, author’s version). In other words, if we truly believe God the Father and Jesus Christ and prove that the entire Word of God is true, then we can find the truth—the absolute truth of God. We can then begin to comprehend God’s plan for mankind as revealed by His Sabbath and holy days.
The Old and New Testaments combined comprise one complete book—the Word of God—the Holy Bible. To begin with, we need to understand certain fundamental truths about God as revealed in the Old Testament, which is the foundation of truth—the absolute truth of God. Here are a few scriptures that define the true God:
- The Lord God of the Bible is the true God (II Chron. 15:3; Jer. 10:10); the everlasting God (Isa. 40:28); the most high God (Gen. 14:20); the holy God (Psa. 99:9); the God of heaven (Psa. 136:26); and there is none other (Isa. 45:5).
- God is love (Deut. 4:37; 6:4-5; 7:6-9); God is merciful and gracious (Psa. 57:10; 130:8); God is forgiving (Psa. 51:1-4; 86:5; 103:3).
- The Law of God is truth (Psa. 119:142); all His commandments are truth (Psa. 119:151); His word is true from the beginning (Psa. 119:160); the Law of God is perfect (Psa. 19:7); the way of the Lord is perfect (Psa. 18:30).
From the New Testament we learn more of the truth of God:
- It is impossible for God to lie (Heb. 6:18; Titus 1:2); God is love (I John 4:8, 16). God loves the world (John 3:16); God is merciful (Luke 7:46-47; 18:13; I Pet. 1:3); God is forgiving (Luke 23:34; Eph. 1:7; 4:32; Col. 2:14; I John 1:7-10).
- Jesus Christ is God manifested in the flesh (I Tim. 3:16; John 1:1-3, 14); Jesus came to reveal God the Father (Matt. 11:27; John 14:28); Jesus is the Lamb of God, sent to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29, 36; Rev. 13:8); Jesus is Savior (Luke 1:47; 2:11; John 4:42; Eph. 5:23; Phil. 3:20; I Tim. 1:1; 2:3; I John 4:14); Jesus is full of grace and truth (John 1:14); Jesus is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the Ending (Isa. 41:4; Rev. 1:8, 11, 17; 21:6; 22:13).
- The Word of God is truth—Old and New Testaments (John 17:17; Col. 1:5; II Tim. 2:15; I Pet. 1:22); Paul and the apostles completed the Word of God—the commandments of the Lord (I Cor. 14:37; Col. 1:25; II Pet. 1:16-21; Rev. 1:11, 19; 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14; 21:5; 22:18-19).
Once we have an overview of the entire Bible, we can see the unity of the truth contained in both the Old and New Testaments—how it is intricately woven together through Jesus Christ and God the Father, forming the complete Word of God, to the exclusion of all other so-called “sacred books.”
In fact, the truth is personalized by Jesus Christ Himself Who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Also, Jesus emphasizes, “No one can come to Me unless the Father, Who sent Me, draws him” (John 6:44).
While some may consider this to be “spiritual snobbery,” it is not. In the Bible and the Bible alone lies the complete revelation of God’s plan.
Because God is love, He does indeed have an awesome plan and purpose for all mankind— a fantastic destiny of eternal life. Yet, because of the sins of man, God has concealed this vital knowledge in the writings of the Bible. But in these last days, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God has unveiled the secrets of His plan as contained in His Word—by His Sabbath and holy days. This knowledge is now available to those who truly love and obey God the Father and Jesus Christ.
May God the Father and Jesus Christ bless you with the spirit of understanding, that with confidence in Christ you may comprehend and take hold of the meaning and purpose of your life—“according to the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that is according to godliness; in the hope of eternal life, which God Who cannot lie promised before the ages of time” (Titus 1:1-2).
