Suppressed Truth
The Reality of Truth the truth
There is a distinction between two ways to view truth: absolute truth (absolutism) and realism.
Two Distinct Views of Truth
1) Absolutism - Things that are true for all people all places and all times.
It is: Objective - It is defined by something other than the subject. From the Biblical perspective, it is defined by God not the individual or group
Universal- It is for every person every place – it doesn't change from person to person or place to place. Constant - It is for all times – it doesn’t change from day to day. It is God centered. It is characterized by the affirmation, "God is my Lord and Master, He tells me what is the right thing to do" He determines truth.
It affirms that God is the judge of what is right and wrong. It is not depended on the approval of the recipient, "It doesn't matter what you think"
2) Relativism -Things that are for a select group, during a set time, and in set places (this is really cultural truth). It is: Subjective - It is defined by the subject. The group or individual defines the rules. Situational - It is dependent on the circumstances, thus changes from person to person and place to place. Inconsistent - It is not unchanging, but changes with the times and seasons.
It is person centered –It is characterized by statements like, "I'll decide what is right for me, nobody tells me what to do" It is determined by the person or a group of people who determine what is right or wrong, It is characterized by comments like "well, that might be right for you, but it's not right for me (us)" It is dependent on the belief of the individual or the group. It is characterized by phrases like "Ya, but I don't believe that"
So, What is truth? This is life’s ultimate question. It’s the question, Pilate asked Jesus (John 18:37-38) How one answers the question regarding spiritual truth could affect their eternal existence. Every world religion claims to have the truth or aspects of the truth, some even try to combine all religions into one truth. The question remains, which one is right? How can I know the truth? The statement Jesus made to Pilate gives some clarity to these questions and identifies how to respond to truth (John18:37).
Truth is Definitive. Jesus says, he “came to bear witness to the truth.” He didn’t say a truth, but the truth. Truth is definitive in that there can’t be multiple truths. There is a standard for truth and it is by that standard that truth is verified. An inch is an inch, by the standards of measurement. Official time (for all devices) is Greenwich Mean Time. True time is verified by the measurable standard for time. The law of non-contradiction (A+B=C but cannot also = D) attests that there can only be one truth of thought and practice. Just as there is truth in measure, time and math so there is truth in spiritual matters. Although some would hope so, all spiritual roads do not and cannot lead to heaven. Their teachings cancel each other out. Thus the law of non-contradiction will not allow this idea.
Truth is Distinguishable.
You can distinguish the truth from what is false. Truth to be absolutely true must be true for all times, for all people and in all places. Truth doesn’t require belief to be true. Truth exists apart from belief. I may not believe in gravity, but if I jump off a 10-story building the effects of gravity will be true regardless of my belief. Jesus he came to bear witness to the truth. Throughout his teaching Jesus spoke of the truth (John 4:24, 8: 32, 8:40, 45-46, 14:6, 16:13, 17:8, 17). He did this to distinguish his teachings from all other world religions and set himself apart as the truth of God. Consider how the major world religions view Jesus:
Jesus is a prophet who lived a good life, but didn’t die on the cross. Jesus never rose from the grave because he never died. Jesus is not the way to God.
Jesus is a good moral teacher who enlightened many and died for what he believed in. Jesus is one of many ways to know God.
Jesus is God in human flesh. His death on the cross paid the penalty for sin and secured eternal life for those who follow him. He rose from the grave to prove He was telling the truth. Jesus Himself claimed to be the truth and the only way to God. (See John 14:6)
Satan is the father of lies. There is no truth in him (John 8:44-47). He despises the truth and dispenses lies that are often masked as half-truths (Gen 3:4ff).
Truth is Detectable
You can know truth. It is not hidden or elusive, it is knowable (Rom 1:19). Jesus said, “everyone who is of the truth.” He said this to affirm that there are those who know the truth, God’s truth is knowable (Rom 1:18-19). During His life he clarified in His teaching how this truth can be known.
It is Accessed only through God’s Word In John 8:31-32 Jesus taught that if you abide in His word (the Bible) . . . you will know the truth. In John 17:17 Jesus says God’s word is truth. This statement excludes all other religious documents as being truth.
It is Acknowledged only by God’s Spirit In John 16:13 Jesus says the Spirit of Truth will guide you into all truth . . . whatever He hears He will speak. This excludes any other voice from proclaiming truth.
It is Appropriated only by God’s son In John 14:6 Jesus says He is the way, the truth and the life no one comes to the father but through Him. This excludes any other person as being the truth or the way to the truth.
It is Acceptable only in God’s way In John 4:24 Jesus states that those who wish to worship God must do so in spirit and truth. This excludes all other forms and manners of worship. Only worship in and through Jesus Christ, the truth is acceptable to God.
The Truth is Decisive who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. You can surrender to and stand on the truth or you can suppress the truth (Rom 1:18) Jesus says to Pilate, “everyone of the truth hears His voice”. Thus there is a hearing with an intent to receive the truth and there is a listening with the inclination to reject the truth. Everyone must decide what they will do with the truth. But does everyone know the truth. Paul says that God has revealed the truth of himself to everyone (Rom 1:19)
The Revelation of Truth. 19 what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. So what is the truth that is revealed that is being suppressed by the ungodly and unrighteous? (Rom 1:20) So here is the truth that we suppress apart from God’s grace in our lives. There is a God. He is the Creator of all things and so not a god but the God. He is powerful — more powerful than all else, because he made all else. He is eternal because there was nothing outside him that could bring him into being. The truth is that the universe is radically God-centered: it comes from him, it exists for the display of his glory. And human life is supposed to be radically God-centered — not by working for God as if he were a needy deity, but by our being thankful to him and exulting in the grace that so much good comes to us, even amid terrible suffering. So here is the truth: God exists. God is eternal and infinitely powerful. God is the giver of every good gift. And therefore our reason for being — our chief duty, the end for which we were created, and the commandment written on every heart — is to display the glory of this great God every day, hour by hour, as we live in the exultation over his bounty to us. (Piper).
Universal has shown it to them This revelation of God is “shown to them” (Rom 1:18). The “them” relates to the “all” and “men”. The unrighteous men who suppress the truth. It is not distinguished by class, race or nationality. What may be known about God, the truth of God, is made know to all human beings everywhere (Ps 19), Here it probably is alluding to the Gentiles who had no knowledge of God except through his creation (Rom 1:20). The inference is that the Jews already knew the truth of God, but willfully rejected it by rejecting Jesus as the truth from God. (John 8:45-46). Men were given the truth of God. All men know the truth of God. (MacArthur) God has inlaid the evidence of the fundamental truth in the very nature of man so that no where is he without a witness. (Augustus Strong) It was not the pen of Moses that initiated the knowledge of the Creator. The vast majority of mankind, though they had never heard the name of Moses to say nothing of his book, know the God of Moses nonetheless. (Tertullian) The imagery here is of a man walking on earth as in a beautiful theater where the evidence of God surrounds him in creation. But the man is blindfolded (hearts were darkened (Rom 1:21)). No matter what is around him he cannot “see” till the “blindfold” of unrighteousness, (darkness) is removed. The problem is not the revelation, but the recipient.
Understandable is plain to them The revelation of God, his truth, has “clearly or plainly” been shown to them. GK phaneros which means to cause to appear, manifest with the idea of being made known. It is not just that God made his truth known to all men, but he made it clear as to what it is and where it is from. So, in a real sense there is no such thing as an agnostic (a –no, gnostic-knowledge). The knowledge of the truth about God is not only known, but plainly and clearly known. Paul makes it abundantly clear that not only is there a revelation that proceeds from God, but that it penetrates human minds so that they have a real knowledge of God (Sproul). Thus, all men already possess and perceive the knowledge of God, his truth. But the question is not do they have it, but what do they do with the truth that they possess?
The Repressing of Truth suppress the truth The unrighteous and ungodly do not want to respond in faith to the revealed truth of God. They did not glorify him as God or give thanks to him, but instead glorified the creature and took credit for what was owing only to God.” They exchanged God-worship for self-worship. They suppressed the truth that God is infinitely glorious and that we are totally dependent on him. (Piper). The term “suppress” (Rom 1:18), GK katecho, means something is held down, hindered, thwarted, and suppressed. It means to press down with force something that is exercising a counterforce, like a spring. It is also used people thrown in prison (incarcerated). The text is saying that the truth of God is, in some way pushed down, repressed, hindered, or stifled (Sproul). God is true, but we don’t want him in our knowledge, so we will suppress this truth. We will exchange it. Distort it. Hide it. Run from it. And finally, become blind to it. . . . part of our condition in suppressing the truth about God is that we become darkened. You don’t just hold it down because you see and don’t like it, but because you don’t even see it any more. (Piper).
The Response to Truth For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him We must exist to display his glory and not to compete with him for glory. And we must exist in absolute dependence on him. We do not supply him, he supplies us. And therefore we are to live in constant gratitude. The truth is that our reason for being is to be thankful for all he has given us and to display his glory by the way we think and feel and act. God has created a universe in which we get the blessings and he gets the glory. And the way God gets the glory is by our exulting in him as the all-sufficient Giver of all things. (Piper). Glorifying God and thanking God — this is godliness, when there is no glorification of God or gratitude to God the truth that has been revealed is suppressed. Unrighteousness is life orientation that goes with ungodliness — with rejecting the truth of God’s glory as central to your life (Piper) Why did they reject the truth and suppress the truth and not love the truth? Because they “took pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thess 2:10-12) When you love sin, you cannot love the truth. The truth is too threatening. It threatens to take away your illicit pleasures. Unrighteousness is a stronger affection for the pleasures of sin. It is loving sin more than loving God and his truth. So you see that the issue of truth is an issue of the heart before it is an issue of the head. When the heart is in love with self-exaltation and independence and the pleasures of sin, the mind will inevitably distort the truth or suppress the truth in order to protect the idols of the heart. What is needed is not just new ideas or more information, but a new heart. And a new set of passions and desires and pleasures. We suppress the Light of God’s glory and power because we love the darkness of our own independence. We love our sins, our self-determination, and therefore we suppress the Truth that God is God and that we are to depend on him and live for his glory. . . . this is why the wrath of God is being poured out. This suppression of the truth of his glory and his power and his deity and his goodness, because of our love affair with unrighteousness, makes him furious. And we should tremble. There is hope. Because we are unrighteous, and in our unrighteousness suppress the truth, our only hope is that the righteousness God demands from us would be freely given to us, namely, God’s own righteousness, to be received by faith (Rom 1:17) (Piper). All must receive or reject God’s truth.