We have all heard the saying, "the truth hurts." What may seem to be a cliché copout is so true. No one likes to be told they are wrong when they really are but is that not exactly what the Word of God does to us? It exposes our sin. It shows our shortcomings and failures. It is a light in the darkness. We call this “conviction.” It is that feeling in our soul that tells us we just messed up. That feeling is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the light that reveals our sin. When we face the truth we are confronted with two simple choices: accept it or deny it. The choice is ours but so are the consequences.
Accepting the truth of God's Word is a most humbling experience. We stand face to face with the creator of the universe who is just and able to send us into eternal suffering. But we also stand next to the Son of God who is gracious and merciful, pleading our case to the Father. And we fall face down at the foot of the cross. The human mind cannot comprehend the death of Christ. How could one man’s death pay for the sins of all mankind? (This is debatable with those of the Calvinist persuasion.) Christ demands that we lay down our opinions, thoughts, desires, dreams and life at his feet. This hurts. It is a call to deny self and accept Christ (Matt. 16:24-26). It is recognition of the inferiority of our flesh and the superiority of Christ. Giving up our lives to Christ is no easy task but why should we give less than what He gave us? Paul says, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). Our lives belong to Christ because we have accepted the truth of God’s Word.
Accepting truth is not for the faint of heart. Accepting truth and standing upon it daily is guaranteed to bring persecution on oneself. Jesus blesses those “persecuted for righteousness’ sake” for the kingdom of heaven will be theirs (Matt. 5:10). Even Jesus was persecuted. He preached the message of the messiah from the Old Testament and was accused of blasphemy. We as American Christians do not understand persecution in the context of Scripture because we will never face such opposition. We will never have to choose to give up our faith or die or have secret meetings. We are almost totally free from persecution. But we do not even withstand the softest persecution from our friends. We downplay our beliefs to blend in with our surroundings. The truth should be the foundation of our worldview and theology. If we stand on God’s truth the world will surely try to knock us down. But, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13).
Accepting the truth ultimately brings us to salvation. The truth reveals to us that we are sinners in need of a savior. Rom 3:23 says that, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” It is in the very moment when are face down before the cross that we accept the truth of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins. When you were face down in the midst of your sin, remember how you felt when you were confronted with this truth. You probably felt horrible didn’t you? The Holy Spirit had revealed the truth of sin in your life and you accepted it. But what amazing truth it is that Christ died for us while we were helpless and weak. The truth of sin hurts but the truth of Christ’s death is liberating! We no longer have to bear the burden of our sin for it has been paid for. But we are not to “continue in sin so that grace may abound,” as Paul writes in Rom 6:1. Remember that, “to live is Christ.”
The truth does hurt sometimes but we must endure the pain of truth just as Christ endured the pain of the Cross. Is the pain worth the prize? Absolutely.
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