O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

The Lord by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding He established the heavens. By His knowledge the deeps were broken up and the skies drip with dew. (Psalm 3:19-20)

He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER STONE. (Acts 4:11)

For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 3:11)

He said to him, YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)

I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6)

Introduction

What is the truth? A question posed by Pontus Pilate while looking into the very eye of truth. Yet this same question has been posed by philosophers for centuries, if not for millennia. For those of us who have been called to be in Christ, who make up the Body of Christ, the church, an answer to this question can be difficult for us to formulate at times. It is difficult even for some believers to find their way to stand on what has been revealed to them via the Scripture as the truth. Through the sinuous paths across the centuries we witness through the history of philosophy that the notion of foundational and absolute truth has been jettisoned, especially in this postmodern age in which we reside. We fold our hand in the presence of critics of absolute truth because we are at a loss, not only in how to respond to those who attack absolute truth, but also, and more importantly, how we are to live out our professed beliefs in the eyes of the world. Indeed our response should be witnessed both in what we say, and how we live out our claim.

The Search

The history of philosophy, especially epistemology, is replete with the various quests for the foundation on which all truth claims can stand. What readily comes to mind is Descartes’ I think therefore I am, or the logical positivists’ verification factor, or the empiricism of science as proffered in the Enlightenment. Modern day philosophers have forsaken the search for an absolute foundation for truth only to proclaim an absolute in its place: there is no foundation for truth, or there is no absolute truth. Postmodernism has seized the day with subjectivity as the root of all existence, proffering another absolute in the name of anti-foundationalism: humans create their own reality. Although I am deeply thankful for those in the body of Christ gifted to be apologists for the faith, (Carl Trueman, Mark Noll, James Sire, Francis Schaeffer, Os Guinness, Nancy Pearcey come to mind), I think as believers in Christ we can get too caught up in the need to win a philosophical argument while not attending to how we live out our faith in the eyes of the world. The epigrams that open this article are all from Scripture that provide us with the truth that God has given us to both stand on and live by. Yes, we need all the gifts that God gives to each believer in Christ. Again, praise Him for the gifted and passionate apologists. They are indeed fulfilling the greatest commandment to love God with all their mind. I wish and pray to think with their depth. They exhibit Biblical wisdom a its core. But we are not all gifted in that manner and to that degree. So what is truth? And how are we to live it out in this fallen existence?

Our Rock and Foundation

For those of us called to be in Christ we can take solid stock in the glorious truth that our Lord God is the creator of all things. Genesis 1:1 provides us with this glorious truth, and all that follows in Scripture stands on that beginning. Even more glorious is the Biblical picture that our heavenly Father relates to us not only as the creator but also as our rock and Redeemer. As such He is our Father. He didn’t merely wind the universe up in some clockwork manner, leaving it to run on its own, as the Deists preached in the 18th century. As our creator, we can rely – stand – on the truth of His power and glory. He brought the universe into being by the power of His word. Therefore, His infinite power speaks to the bedrock confidence that believers place in His redemptive work. The fact that He is creator of the unfathomable universe in which we live is not just a side note in Scripture. The very power that He is goes into our salvation, sanctification, and eventual glorification. His redemptive power is our life that has been placed on the rock on which we stand. His power to maintain and keep us to the day we come face to face with Christ is the very power by which He called the universe into being. In His hands we are safe. Our living out this redemptive truth via His power can be understood vertically and horizontally.

Vertically: Our Relationship to God

God is the bedrock truth on which we stand. Moreover, He has given us His word. There is great mystery and glory in this proclamation. We are told in John 1:1-5 that Jesus, the Christ is the Word that was with God from the very beginning. And that through Jesus, God created the world. That same passage tells us that Jesus is the light of the world. Christ is the light by which we live. Psalm 36:9 proclaims that in God’s light we see light. Hence, the Incarnated Christ becomes our witness – our example – as to how we are to live. His life, teaching, service, and atoning work provide the light that shows us how to live. He responds to Thomas (John 14:6) I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me. As God is our rock and Redeemer, the second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God, is the chief cornerstone (Acts 4:11-12) on whom God has placed those who believe in Him (Psalm 40:1-2). Hence, we are to look to God for what the truth entails and how to live out that truth in our lives. Moreover, God has given believers in Christ the Holy Spirit who will teach us all things as we read and study God’s word. The Spirit also intercedes for us in our prayers to and our communication with God. So vertically, our sanctification entails our growth in the revelation and knowledge of God. We are to live our lives out knowing Him. We do this through reading His word, engaging Him in prayer, and via our interaction with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus proclaimed the greatest commandment to be: YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND (Matthew 2:37). This is our directive regarding our vertical relationship with God. He provides us the means by which we can grow in our knowledge of Him.

Horizontially: Our Relationship with Others

Jesus’ response to the scribe lawyer in Matthew 22:37-40 fleshes our more detail regarding the greatest commandment. He states the second greatest commandment is YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. While the first and foremost commandment defines our vertical relationship with the Father, the second, defines our relationship with other human beings created in the image of God. Although our primary relationships as believers will entail our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ, this commandment speaks to how we are to relate to all human beings. This commandment is also explicated in the Golden Rule (Matt. 7:12; Luke 6:31). And it is explicated in Jesus’ parable concerning the Good Samaritan. These foundational truths given via God’s word provide us the guide as to how we are to live.

The How of God’s Truth

The believer in Christ answers the question what is truth in claiming that the Triune God is the truth. That being the case, what does it mean for how we are to live that truth out? Loving our neighbor as ourselves is a tall call indeed. We cannot do it apart from God’s direction and the grace He supplies via the indwelling power of Christ and the Holy Spirit on our inner being. The life of Christ in all His teaching and actions is our example. The Decalogue, the Sermon on the Mount, the Good Samaritan, the atoning work of Christ, are just a few of the proclamations we can use as guideposts for how to live the way God would have us live. Christ, the Servant, is the example par excellence.

Conclusion

As I stated earlier, it can be difficult for us to respond to critics of our faith. We all need to understand better how to do that. Again, that is the reason that I’m so deeply thankful for the apologists, some of whom I listed above. They are exercising the gift that God gave them, evidencing their work to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind. Each of us as a member of the body of Christ must seek out what our gift(s) is/are and live those out in the world. The church must become the beacon of light that draws the world to it, both by what believers proclaim and how they live. In so doing, we must stand on the bedrock truth that is God Himself, looking to the power of the Holy Spirit to guide us in how to better understand and then live out the truth God has given us.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D/April 14th, 2026

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT