When Beliefs Change, Has Truth Also Changed?

One of the most frequently traveled roads in the life of our minds is the road that proclaims "whatever I believe is true." Some individuals would give a little room for a difference of opinion by saying "well, at least it is true for me." These statements, while declaring an often held belief, are based on a false starting point. The real direction our minds should go is when something is true or is the truth, do I believe it?

I have spent most of my life in the southern portion of the United States. Suppose while living in Texas I decided to take a driving trip to New York City. However, the only highway that I am really comfortable driving is Interstate 10. So if I believe that I can drive only on Interstate 10 and reach New York City, does that make my belief true? Check the Interstate Map System. Interstate 10 begins in Santa Monica, California, and goes 2460.34 miles to the I-10 and I-95 interchange just northwest of downtown Jacksonville, Florida. Along the way it runs from California through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and into Florida. While I may believe that I can drive only on Interstate 10 and arrive in New York City, my belief is wrong. However, if I gave up on only driving on Interstate 10 to get to New York City and realized that a person can drive from the south to New York City (true), I could find a road or series of roads that would take me there. When I start with the truth, I can find the way that I can fully believe and hold to.

Now, let's put this process in place to consider spiritual truth. Some people believe that God doesn't exist. Others believe that God may exist but He has no interest in us and death is the end of all life as we know it. By believing that either of these statements is the truth, one finds ways to try to defend or prove their belief. The problem is that each of these statements begins with a false premise rather than the truth.

Believing that the earth is flat doesn't make it so. Believing that the universe just came into being because some things ran together and created an explosion doesn't make it so. Where did those "things" come from that supposedly ran together? The Bible not only tells us that God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), but that God created it from that which did not exist until He spoke it into existence (Hebrews 11:3).

In our world today it seems to me that if a person speaks something believing it to be true, the result is that others are expected to believe that it is true. When this takes place, we experience the infectious lie that belief alters truth. In any discipline, if this fallacy is introduced, two plus two no longer equals four and the earth is flat and all of the universe revolves around our planet. But belief does not negate truth. Truth should be that which reinforces, controls, and corrects our belief system.

The deeper we go in our studies in mathematics, sciences, archeology, and history, the more we discover that the truth that is revealed in the Bible is that which becomes the foundational base for our spiritual beliefs. God is the creator. God's creation is so complex and intricate that we cannot duplicate it. Oh, a scientist might say that he can take certain materials and put them together with the result appearing to be what God did. However, the scientist begins with the materials that God created; the scientist does not recreate those basic materials.

Perhaps one of the great mistakes we make in this realm is when we begin to worship the created rather than the Creator. Whether we worship nature, man, or what man has assembled, we have chosen the wrong direction in understanding truth. We may believe we are worshiping correctly in choosing nature or man or our constructions but we are wrong. The truth is that God is God - Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of that all exists. He instructs us through His word that we are to worship Him alone - that is truth. The truth is not changed because we belief we should worship something or someone else other than the Lord.

There are many who try to alter truth today by lies, deceit, or inaccurate statements or data. Satan tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden by altering God's instructions. Satan tempted Jesus with changing the truth enough to make it sound plausible when in actuality it was no longer God's truth. Satan is still using this type of deceit to try and get people to claim that whatever they believe is the truth even though it stands in opposition to God's truth.

Here is the bottom line - "Belief does not change the Truth; Truth must be the foundation for our Belief." What are you holding onto as a belief in your life that is in opposition to God's truth as He revealed it through the Bible and the life of Jesus? This week would be a great time to hold up God's truth and see if the words and declarations of men match God's truth or if the words of men need to be rejected.