Accepting The Truth
[By Trent Cross]
How does one know they are ready to accept the Truth? The Truth I am referring to is Jesus, as He states in John 14:6. Well, the only way I can speak about this is from my personal experience and the testimonies of others, those in our lives and the examples we have in scripture. To start, we know that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17, NASB). We must hear the word of Christ in order to know the Truth. That does not mean we need to wait for someone to tell us, although that may be the case. We have access to God’s word virtually everywhere. That is where faith would begin. How could you have faith in something you don’t know about? Allow me to share a few examples of scripture with you for your consideration.
In Matthew 4:18-22, we see Simon (Peter), Andrew, James, and John all immediately leave what they were doing in order to follow Jesus. In Acts 16, we read about Lydia. We read her heart was opened by God while paying attention to the things spoken by Paul. We see later in the same chapter of Acts the story and conversion of the jailer. Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him and his household. What do all these examples have in common? They all heard the word of God (Jesus is the Word, John 1:1).
What does this have to do with accepting the Truth? In order to accept the Truth, you must know what it is of course. Peter, Andrew, James, and John knew Jesus was as He said John 14:6. Otherwise, why would they have dropped their whole lives to follow Him? We see Lydia and the jailer also commit their lives to Christ after hearing the Word. I myself had heard the Word as a child while growing up in the church. So, it’s that easy right? We read it and we are good to go? Not exactly.
You must not only hear the Word but be a doer of the Word (James 1:22-25). In the above examples, these people, like you and me, not only heard the Word but decided to do something about it. They acted on their faith they had in Christ. They accepted what many will not, the simple Truth. Consider this passage from John 8:31-32, “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (NASB). It was this passage that allowed me to accept Jesus and what He had done for me. I mentioned I had grown up in the church, what I did not mention was that I had left the church because I was not ready to allow the Truth to set me free.
How does this all tie in together? Simply put, one must hear God’s word in some manner in order to know the Truth. It will not always be the same for each person, what matters is you hear it and then also decide to act on it. If you do not accept the Truth and act accordingly based on the Truth, you cannot be set free. Some may claim to accept Christ, but really, they haven’t for whatever the reason. They would be who James describes in the passage mentioned earlier – “he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was” (James 1:23-24, NASB). Know this, God’s word has the power to impact your life anywhere and anytime. If you hear it and believe it, act on it. Don’t think coming to the Truth has to happen a certain way. Once you hear the truth and you want to give your life to Jesus, you will be set free.