Some have said that ours is a post-truth culture. That objective facts (if there really are any) are increasingly giving away to subjective personal belief. That your truth may not be my truth and that, within limits, there needs to be space for all truths. (Doesn’t that sound like a truth). So, as I read the Lord Jesus’ words this morning, they sound somewhat old-fashioned and out-of-sync with our world. Praise God!

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

(John 8:31-32 ESV)

And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. That’s a promise to claim. That’s an anchor to tether yourself to. The truth, even in a post-truth era, brings freedom.

In a day when truth is masked, manipulated, or just plain manufactured, it can be hard to simply trust in what is truly true. But it is the way of Jesus’ disciples. And, it’s possible when His followers abide in His word.

Being anchored to the truth from above helps us trust in committing ourselves to walking in what is true below. Accepting as objective the transcendent realities communicated through God’s word is what filters that which is so often subjective here below. Being skilled in the unchanging “word of righteousness” and having our “powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Heb. 5:13-14) allows us to walk in a humble confidence as we navigate the ever evolving wisdom of this world. Even when we don’t see immediate benefits from walking in truth. That’s the freedom of believing in the God whose word is true.

If doing what we do, standing how we stand, and deciding what we decide is founded on abiding in His word, though we may still get some things wrong, we will be free. Free to walk by faith. Free even to fail. For even when we get it wrong, the blood of Jesus cleanses and restores, and the work of Christ being formed in us continues.

The Son has set us free and we are free indeed (Jn. 8:36). He has asked the Father to sanctify us in the truth, to make us holy in the truth, and He has declared that God’s word is truth (Jn. 17:17). And for those who seek His precepts, who pursue His word as truth, they “walk freely in an open place” (Ps. 119:45 CSB).

Truth-based freedom in a post-truth culture. Who knew?

His disciples.

Amen?

By His grace. For His glory.