Truth is knowable. In 1970 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn won the Nobel Prize for Literature. In his Nobel lecture, he said, “One word of truth shall outweigh the whole world.” In another speech in 1978, he said, “…truth is seldom pleasant; it is almost invariably bitter.”
In 1978, he was dealing with the philosophical problems of “modern” culture or “modernity”. Today, as we have heard ad-nauseam, we live in a “post-modern” world. In the “modernist” system, there are no absolutes (an obviously self-defeating argument). In the “post-modernist” system, the statement has changed from “there are no absolutes” to a simple “I don’t know.” It is a know-nothing society. The cultural mindset, or way of thinking, has changed from a dogmatic, “truth cannot be known absolutely” to an “I’m really not sure,” vacillating mindset. This is evident in public opinion polls. The same question may be asked, separated by only a few months, with widely varying answers, but the winning answer is usually, “I’m not sure.”
In light of this confusing cultural phenomenon, it is interesting to note the schizophrenic nature of twenty-first-century Christians. Pastors and leaders still decry the error and weak-mindedness of cultural relativism and yet are dogmatically relativistic when it comes to the matter of Bible doctrine. Jesus Christ said, “…If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
According to our Savior, truth is knowable! In His High Priestly prayer of John 17, Christ prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Truth is a very real and tangible gift from God Himself to His disciples in the form of Holy Scripture and this truth may be learned and known and applied and taught and preached.
What is the truth that shall make us free? It is the truth of the Gospel. Jesus Christ became a man. He lived a sinless life and then died on a rugged cross. He was buried for three days. On the third day, He rose from the dead, alive forever more! Now, he is at the right hand of the Father, waiting for us to pray to Him. This is the truth of the Gospel. But this truth only sets us free when we accept it by faith. This truth must be mixed with faith in order for it to become effective in our lives. If we mix it with something besides faith, such as good works, then it is no longer the truth; it is deadly error. Today ask Christ to forgive you for being a sinner. Receive Him as your Savior, trusting Him alone for your eternal salvation, and then the truth that is knowable will become the truth that saves you.