FIVE POINTS CONCERNING TRUTH

Bob Myhan

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esus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31,32). It is essential therefore that we know the truth. And in determining the truth, we must keep in mind five fundamental points.

1

 Believing something does not make it the truth. This is illustrated by the account of Joseph in Genesis chapters 37-50. Ten of his brothers were jealous of Joseph and sold him into slavery. They then dipped it in the blood of a goat and allowed Jacob to conclude that a wild animal had killed Joseph. As a result of their dishonesty, Jacob believed for many years that his favorite son was dead. But those of us who are familiar with the life of Joseph know that he was alive in Egypt all that time. The point is that Jacob’s believing it did not make it true. Joseph was not dead, regardless of what Jacob believed or how he felt about the matter.

2

 Failure to believe something does not keep it from being the truth. Jacob failed to believe that Joseph was alive, but his failure to believe it did not keep it from being the truth. Joseph was alive, whether Jacob believed it or not.

3

 We must believe the truth in order to be saved. The Bible states this in plain language: “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess. 2:9-12).

4

 We must hear the truth in order to believe it. This, too, is plainly stated in God’s word: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher…? So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:14,17).

5

 We should honestly examine whatever claims to be the truth before rejecting it as error. Unless we examine such claims with open minds, we will never be sure whether they are true or not [at least not until it is too late]. However, since “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” these claims should not only be examined with an open mind, but with an open Bible, as well. When Jesus prayed to the Father on behalf of the apostles, He asked, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17). God’s word is the standard of all revealed truth, so it must always have the final say in any examination of that which is alleged to be the truth. If a specific doctrine is taught in the Bible, it is true whether anyone believes it or not. If it is not taught in the Bible it is not true regardless of who believes it.

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his writer believes that the immersion of a penitent believer in water is essential to salvation, but his believing it certainly does not make it the truth. If it is not taught in the Bible it is not the truth, regardless of who believes it. Most professed Christians do not believe that the immersion of a penitent believer in water is essential to salvation, but their failure to believe it does not prevent it from being the truth. If it is taught in the Bible it is the truth, whether anyone believes it or not.

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ear reader, if you are concerned about your eternal welfare, you should honestly examine any purported truth, [whether popular or not] with both an open mind and an open Bible. Follow the example of the noble Jews in the first-century town of Berea who “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). &

TRANSLATIONS #1

William Sexton

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ften there is confusion over translations. We need to have a good understanding relative to what is involved, in order to practice wholesome religion.

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hat word which is of God came to man by inspired men, speaking and writing as they were "moved by the Holy Spirit." That one book of words is for all men and women of every nation, telling them that salvation through Jesus Christ is available to each one on the same terms!

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hat word was first spoken and then written in a language other than English, therefore, for English speaking people, the Bible must be translated. This series of articles is about that process, and the products we have today claiming to be translations.

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n connection with different languages, let us look at the second chapter of Acts briefly, noting verses 1-8. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came on the apostles and "filled" them, enabling them to speak "with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Now, there were people in Jerusalem "out of every nation" V. 5. These apostles, who had received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit were all Galileans, and thus could not naturally speak and communicate in the Galilean language to all the people of other nations (languages). However, the Spirit enabled these Galileans to speak so as "every man heard them speak in his own language," V. 6. The people who witnessed this were impressed in two ways. 1) This was evidence that they (the apostles) had the power of God. Being able to speak in a language which they had never learned through study was evidence indisputable that God was working through them; 2) They were able to communicate the message of salvation so the epopee from other nations could understand it – “Every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born, " V. 8 was the expression of that amazement and wonder.

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aul in 1 Corinthians chapters 11-14 speaks of the spiritual gifts which enabled men to act in a way needed at the time but which they had not been equipped naturally by training and the regular process of learning. Among those gifts was the ability to speak in "tongues." The gift was the ability to speak other languages that the speakers had not learned; the purpose was to communicate the message of salvation and facilitate development in the Lord's church, in its infancy! There was also the gift of interpretation --listening to one language, and speaking it --conveying the message--in another language.

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od pointed to the fact that His message of salvation is world-wide, to be preached to "every creature" (Mk. 16:15-16). Therefore, necessitating translations. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew while the New Testament was written in Greek. For all people who do not speak Hebrew and Greek, if they are to be able to read and understand the Book, consequently must have a translation of the Hebrew and Greek into the language they can read -- in our case English.

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rom the preceeding then I hope we can see the need for translations. At the same time, then we surely see the need for accurate translation, one that is truly a translation (a re-production) of the original message in our tongue, language. Surely we can see the possibility of having something that is called a translation, but be filled with prejudices and opinions of the translator(s). &