Truth: Is It Relative or Absolute?
Posted: Monday, November 24, 2008
by John Waddey
firstcenturychristian
Modern thinking says, "What is right depends on the situation." Many believe "there is no body of eternal unchanging truth;" that "truth is relative and may vary from group to group or from time to time, having no objective standard." Is this right or wrong? There are two standards of morality; man's and God's. History demonstrates that man's morality is governed by a changing code of relative values. This is because every code of human law falls short of absolute justice and equity. Whatever human intelligence designs regulates must fall into the class of relative values. No human authority can tell us how to act so that the greatest good will come to the race. God's laws are absolutely perfect. As creator of all, He knows what is best for the whole of mankind. Being all wise, He knows, without experimentation, what will work for the best. He sees the end from the beginning. His laws are not relative. They need no revising. God has two kinds of laws. Natural laws and spiritual, moral laws. The laws of nature are absolute, and unchanging. The law of gravity is as true now as in the beginning, in America as in China. God's spiritual laws are as absolute and unchanging as the laws of nature. Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:35). "The word of the Lord abideth forever" (I Peter 1:24-25). "Every scripture inspired of God is profitable for teaching for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work" (II Timothy 3:16-17). "The faith... was once for all (times) delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3). God's "word is truth" (John 17:17). His word is final and complete. We are warned, "Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee and thou be found a liar" (Proverbs 30:6). Today, conduct once considered wrong is excused. Every one and everything is blamed except the offender. This is the new morality. "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man but the ends thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12). God's absolute standard of right and wrong must be accepted if our nation survives. All lying is wrong (Revelation 21:8). Stealing is wrong (Ephesians 4:28). Sexual relations out of marriage are wrong (Hebrews 13:4). Taking God's name in vain is sin (Exodus 20:7). Modern morality is really a system of immorality. You ask, "How can I know right and wrong?" God's voice is the absolute authority. Jesus is the example of perfection. The Bible is the absolute Code of Truth. Read it. Believe it. Obey it. Be Saved!