The Work of the Holy Spirit

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The Source of Truth

John 16:5-15

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth.”

                  Philosophers throughout the ages have constantly wrestled with the question of truth. Henry David Thoreau famously stated, “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” But this is the one thing that seems most elusive. To determine truth, people turn to humanity for answers. Some turn to science, where truth is determined by scientific discovery and verified outcomes. Others turn to the collective opinions of man. To determine morality today, we take a poll, and what the majority believes to be true becomes truth. However, God warns us that humanity is ultimately incapable of determining the truth because we are governed by selfish desires and sin, so we will distort the truth to achieve our own ends. The Bible warns us in Psalm 116:10-11 and Romans 3:4 that every man is a liar. From the Garden of Eden, the first sin involved believing a lie. The ultimate lie is the self-lie that I can determine what is true and correct. So, if we are incapable of fully determining the truth, where can we find the truth?     

The answer to the question of truth is not found in us but in God and His revelation. Paul affirms that God is the source of all truth. He is the one who possesses all truth and the one who determines truth so that in Him, there is no falsehood or lie. In Hebrews 6:18, we read, “So that by two unchangeable things (His character and His Word) in which it is impossible for God to lie.” If God is the source of truth and we are naturally corrupt and sinful so that we distort the truth, where is our hope? Jesus provides the answer in John 16. God has not left us to flounder in our own self-deception; instead, He has sent His Holy Spirit to guide us in the truth. The Holy Spirit does this in three ways (vs. 8). First, He brings His convicting presence into our lives so that when we believe a lie and pursue what is false and sinful, He convicts us and reveals the lie (vs. 9). Second, He reveals the truth to us by continually pointing to the righteousness of Christ (vs. 10). As we read and study God’s word, He reveals to us the righteous standard of God so that we might obey Him. Last, He convicts us of judgment by revealing our sin so that we might recognize our need for grace (vs. 11). He does this by revealing the truth to us as we study and read His word.

In our culture, we have become so accustomed to the lie that we no longer believe in the truth. People today distort the truth and twist it to their own end. It has become so familiar that we accept it, so truth now becomes what I want to believe. We live in the age of confirmation bias, where we can search the internet to obtain confirmation of what we want to believe. Thus, we now create our own truth. Our greatest threat to our pursuit of truth is ourselves. Therefore, we must recognize that truth can only come from God as He has revealed in His word. However, in our sin, we can even distort the Bible. To prevent this, we need to surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit so that He might guide us in the truth. We do this by first making Scripture the unshakable foundation for truth. Second, when we approach scripture, we must do so with an attitude of surrender so that we are governed by what it says rather than distorting it to what we want it to say. Last, we must prayerfully ask the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us by revealing our own self-deception and revealing the truth to us. When we do these things, we can be assured that He will disclose the truth. In a world of lies and falsehood, we must recognize that there is only one source of truth: God and what He has revealed in His Word without error or falsehood. Every time you open the Bible, start with a prayer of surrender, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the lies you believe and to open your understanding to the truth of God’s Word.

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