Pilates’ sarcastic gibe “Quid Est Veritas?” (John18:38) about truth has lasted through the centuries. It remains in scriptures as a phenomenal reply to our Lord; yet, as we will see, it is the answer to everything.
Remember, Jesus and Pilate were sparring, as I believe Pilate wanted to release Jesus. As Pilate regally asked Jesus about His kingship, His reply was, “You say rightly that I AM a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice” (John 18:37). Pilate then replied, “What is truth?” He then washed his hands and eventually turned Jesus over to the chief priests and elders to be crucified.
I was a little stumped after this, but I knew the ending or conclusion to the article. I was just blanked on how to continue, as a writer’s stone wall was there. Time to stop and pray. Every Christian writer knows the Holy Spirit as a divine thesaurus and helper. In my writings, He has bailed me out many times, and He did it again as He only advised one word: “the.” Suddenly, everything fell into place. Everything would have changed if Pilate had asked, ‘What is the truth.’ The reason is that TRUTH was standing right in front of him.
As the Godman, rather than having righteousness or virtue, Jesus is personified with them. He confirmed this in John’s gospel as He proclaimed, “I AM the Way; the Truth; and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
Notice the article, the, before the attributes of Jesus. It defines exclusivity and the significance of derived power designating a specific effect. In this case, there is only one way for salvation to occur. No other religion, cult, or holiness can prevail to a heavenly entrance. Jesus is the only WAY. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Salvation, therefore, relies on accepting that Jesus Christ died for you as you reform your life. There is no other religious leader or cause that guarantees a heavenly life. In contrast, whoever does not accept the death of the heavenly Father’s Son is playing with fire, the eternal kingdom of darkness headed by Satan. Some believe that going to church merits a heavenly reward. Attending church without accepting the death and resurrection of the Son of God only merits an ‘attaboy.’
Jesus is the TRUTH. Therefore, He embodied TRUTH such that it was visible before the people. Truth as a quality became something visible, something tangible as TRUTH stood before Pilate.
Jesus as TRUTH reveals that it is eternal. Therefore, whatever God teaches is absolute truth. The Ten Commandments were given to mankind to affect a righteous life like the Savior of mankind. Likewise, the scriptures are wholly truthful. They are not like a pick and choose buffet dinner. As given by God, the Bible is not something you can accept as truthful except for certain verses. I know someone who says Jesus would never just appear in clouds above earth in the Rapture. They also said they were not sure about the Rapture. When I referred to some scriptural passages about the Rapture, it did nothing to confirm the God-given truth to them. It is evident that they reserve the right to believe or reject the inspired word of God yet accept all religious teachings from Rome.
After the election of Nov. 6, 2020, one of the forgotten words is truth. With the media removing talks, comments, speeches, and conservative material, you have to wonder with Pilate, “What is truth?” The sole dependable source is the Bible.
Scripture seemed to qualify the elections as ‘Turn from your evil ways and reform’ and also the retort as ‘We will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ You can see the 2021 elites with eyes raised shouting, ‘We did it our way, not your way!’
Jesus is the life. By accepting Jesus as Lord, you are then filled with His Spirit in this life to guide you. Our job is to reveal His righteousness and help build the kingdom. Some might think this is unattainable; therefore, we need to closely examine the life of Jesus. Perhaps they are unaware that Jesus put aside His Godhead and became a normal human being. He did not receive power until the Holy Spirit came upon Him (as He was baptized by John the Baptist). Furthermore, it is incredible to realize that we can become like Jesus in building the kingdom.
Refer to Acts 1:8 when he told His followers they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. This happened in the upper room when the Holy Spirit did come upon them (Acts Chapter 2). For anyone accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, they will receive the Holy Spirit. Regardless of the ministrations of the Spirit, some believers, both new and some traditional folks, do not have surety about two areas. One is at the beginning, and the other is at the end. Being familiar with the scriptures would satisfy both questions.
The first is, “Am I really saved with all my sins forgiven?” The Bible is quite adamant that you realize the verse, “I will remember their sins no more,” is the proof of the power of the blood of Jesus. Refer to Isaiah 43:25; Jeremiah 31:34; Micah 7:19; and Hebrews 8:12; absorb this word of God. The other question concerns salvation and will I make it to heaven. Again, scripture comes to aid questionable believers to realize we possess eternal life since we believe in the name of the Son of God (1 John 5:13).
So far, everything sounds great, but it isn’t. The problem is that we live in a secular world that is striving for a One-World government and religion directed by Satan and led by the anti-Christ. The forthcoming era called the Tribulation is hardly tiptoeing to a beginning. But, before moving to the Tribulation period, we need to reflect on recent years. Our analysis will be based on scripture since God has already outlined acceptable versus non-acceptable lifestyles.
“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detested to Him; These are haughty eyes; lying tongues; hands that shed innocent blood; a heart that devises wicked themes; feet that are quick to rush into evil; a false witness who pours out lies; and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16-19).
Notice that lying is inherent in these maladies. With this in mind, what can we say about the modern media except they fomented a new genre, the Fake News. Again, scripture explains what happened as, “The tongue of the wise pours out knowledge, but the mouth of fools spurts forth folly” (Proverbs 15:1).
Matthew Chapter 24 and the Book of Revelation reveal life during the terrible time of the Tribulation, which includes the deadly actions of the anti-Christ as well as the final wrath of God for unbelievers. In the Matthew gospel, where Jesus talks about the coming conditions, note His initial warning about not being deceived. This is repeated throughout the New Testament. As an example, take in the strong statement, “Let no one deceive you” (1 John 3:8). Regardless of the warning of Apostasy in the church, it is already a reality… Be sure your church is Bible-believing and practicing.
Where are we during this End-Time era of persecution and faulty religions? Throughout our Christian walk, we have been taught that God is love. He proved it by dying for us and redeeming us from our sins. However, with the Tribulation coming, His incredible love is manifested once more by completely removing His church. It is the time of the Rapture when believers will escape the horror of earthly happenings.
Warning: If you are suspect of the reality of the terror, consider the exact words of Jesus Christ. “For there will be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21). Pray then to truly accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who will reform your life. It is the ticket to the Rapture.