The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Emily M. during the 2007-2008 League.
Truth: A Study in Scripture
What is truth? This question has baffled many, and the answer has eluded all of the ancient philosophers and the modern agnostic. Even some Christians can't quite put their finger on it. For most of my life I had defined truth as "that which is not a lie." With time, I came to realize that this definition wouldn't work unless I could define a lie. Since I could only define a lie as "that which is not truth," I came back to where I had started; my reasoning was going in circles. So truth must be something more solid than a mere moral theory. What gives truth its foundation? Jesus. In John 14:6 (NIV) Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life." Jesus does not represent truth; he is truth and all truth comes from him. We know that the bible is also absolute truth. Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV) "All scripture is God breathed." and in John 17:17 (NIV) it says "Your word is truth." In Psalm 119:160 David says that "The entirety of Your word is truth." So we can rely on God's word entirely, because it is truth, and as Jesus tells us in John 8:32 (NKJV) "The truth shall make you free." How can truth make us free? First of all, there is Jesus, who is truth, and who died to set us free spiritually. Secondly, truth will also make us free as citizens of earthly government. Zachariah 8:16 (ASV) says ".judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates." Now, in the time that Zachariah was writing, decisions and important judgments were handed down by the elders at the city gates; it served as the local government. So if we want peace in our government, we must have leaders who seek the Lord and make judgments based on the Word. Many Christians believe that we shouldn't be involved in government, but according to the book of Zachariah, we will have no peace if we don't. The Lord told the Jews in Jeremiah 5:1 (NIV) "Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city." This was written in a time when Israel had turned away from the Lord and was following other gods, and the Lord said if there was a single man in all Jerusalem who sought truth, He would forgive the entire city. How many times have Christians said to themselves, "We need all the sinners and unbelievers in America to repent and ask forgiveness if we want our nation to be forgiven." While it's true that it is our mission to reach the lost, we often leave out our part. We as Christians need to humble ourselves and pray and we need to seek the truth. If we don't, we will miss a part of God, His nature, and His word. What is truth? It is God, and it is as big and as infinite as God. My human heart and brain could never understand it all; so I only ask like David did, "Let your loving kindness and your truth continually preserve me." Psalm 40:11 (NKJV)
