Let God be true . . .

Georges Braque, a painter noted in cubism, said: “Truth exists; only lies are invented.” He may have been referring to his art without realizing how his statement illustrates the contrast between God and sin.

God is TRUE, without any falsehood or lack of faithfulness, fidelity or trustworthiness. He is accurate and valid in all He says and does. On the other hand, sin always involves a lie that is either believed in ignorance or followed in defiance thinking I know better than God — and that puts me in opposition to what is true, right, and good.

How is God true? He is true to His whatever He says and to His promises. History verifies it. God even invites us to test that He speaks truth — through His prophets and His Word:

Deuteronomy 18:21–22. “When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously.”

Proverbs 30:5. “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”

Compared to idols, God proves Himself as true. Jeremiah 10:10 says this: “But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.” Idols cannot shake the earth nor show indignation against sin. They are not alive and their only power is in the false ideas in the minds of their worshipers.

The NT made the same connection. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 speaks of how joyfully sinners “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.”

Some people question truth by calling life an illusion and nothing is true. The Bible does contrast this life with the next but never calls it an illusion, only a ‘shadow’ of the life that will last forever:

Hebrews 9 & 10 “For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf . . . . For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.”

Although the Word of God has been picked at, dissected and dismissed, David and other psalmists knew that whatever God said was true: “O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.”

Two more examples: Psalm 18:30. “This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him” and Psalm 119:142. “Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true.”

Jesus declared, “I am . . . the truth” and John agrees: “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” and “Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.” Christians realize that Jesus is the ultimate test; He, as God the Son, proves the truth of God and demonstrates God’s true nature.

Jesus says of Himself in John 7:18: “The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.” He later said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” and He prayed in John 17:3, “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Knowledge of truth cannot be separated from life. 1 John 1:6 says it well: “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” He knew this because God’s commands are true, Jesus is the true light seated on the throne of God and making all things new, and because he knew that what God told him was “trustworthy and true.” To not believe what God says makes Him a liar — a most horrible thing to claim of One who continually proves this is not so; God is true and Jesus is the truth. I need to focus there, not on doing things my own way no matter how good they might seem. This starts in the mind as the NT says: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” and from that foundation come words and actions that honor the One who is true.