What is Truth?
“What is truth,” Pilate asked Jesus in John 18:38. Here we are, more than 2,000 years later, and people are still asking the same question. But Pilate had an opportunity to do something unique, something that he completely ignored. When he asked, “What is truth,” the One standing before him, the One to whom he addressed that question, was the same One who only a short time before had declared, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6, emphasis added).
Pilate asked the Truth “What is truth,” but he didn’t stick around for an answer. It would appear he didn’t really expect or want an answer to his question. What might have happened if he had?
According to the dictionary, truth is “conformity to fact or actuality; a statement proven to be or accepted as true.” Or, as the 1912 Webster’s dictionary put it, truth is “conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be.”
But we want to look at Truth from a different angle, not “what” it is, but “Who” it is. And, while we cannot directly address our question to the Truth face to face as Pilate did, we do have His written word (John 17:17) in which He gives the information we need so we can know the truth about the Truth.
We will begin with Roger Nicole’s excellent chapter in D. A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge’s Scripture and Truth in which he describes the relationship of each member of the Trinity to truth.[1]
First, he explains that “The Father is the ‘true’ God over against all idols or false gods”:[2]
- John 17:3 – Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:9 – They tell us how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.
- 1 John 5:20 – He is the true God and eternal life.
Further, God is the one who is truthful, as Scripture reveals:
- John 3:33 – God is truthful.
- John 7:28; 8:26 – He who sent me is true…. He who sent me is trustworthy.
- Romans 3:4 – Let God be true, and every man liar.
- Revelation 6:10 – Sovereign Lord, holy and true….
Next, Nicole explains, “Not only the Father, but also the Son is related to the truth:
- He came to witness to the truth (John 18:37);
- He was full of grace and truth (John 1:14);
- He is called faithful (or holy) and true (Revelation 3:7, 14; 19:11);
- He said, “I am the truth” (John 14:6).[3]
And finally, “the Holy Spirit is vitally interested in truth”:
- He is called the Spirit of truth (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1 John 4:6);
- He will guide the disciples into all truth (John 16:13)’
- He too is called “the truth” (1 John 5:6).[4]
Nicole wraps up this section of his chapter by saying:
“The close connection between Satan, darkness, and lying on one hand, and between God, light, and truth on the other hand (cf. e.g., 1 John 1:5–10) is probably the basis for a use of the word truth as connoting not merely conformity to fact, but that pattern of living that conforms to the revealed will of God.”[5]
It should be clear that not only is the Trinity, individually and collectively, true, truthful, and trustworthy, God puts a premium on His followers living lives that display truth. Our truthfulness both positively and negatively impact God’s message to a watching world, as these verses confirm:
- 1 John 1:6 – If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.
- John 3:20-21 – Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
- Galatians 5:7 – You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?
- 1 Peter 1:22 – Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.
- Romans 2:8 – But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
- 2 Peter 2:2 – Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
- 2 John 4 – It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.
- 3 John 3-4 – It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
If you were to ask the question today, “What is truth,” the answer is that God Himself is truth. It is His nature to be true, and He cannot deny Himself. That same truth is true of each member of the Trinity.
Contrasting that, you have the picture of one who denies and refuses the truth in favor of “doing his own thing.” Scripture describes him and his followers with these words:
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
At this point, you have a choice to make. Will you follow the One who is true? The One who will always tell you the truth? Or will you follow the one who is a liar and the father of lies? Joshua issued this challenge to Israel, “Choose this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15.) His response was, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (verse 15). What say you?
