The Knowledge of the Truth

"1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 6 For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." 2 Timothy 3:1-7

Knowledge and truth are not the same thing. A person may acquire a lot of knowledge about something, but it may not be truthful knowledge. All knowledge must submit to truth. If the knowledge in a person's life is not built upon a foundation of truth it will eventually crumble and fall. It may look impressive for a period of time, but it is not going to hold up with age or crisis.

You can't find the truth through knowledge alone. As Paul said in this verse, one may be always learning, but never come to the knowledge of the truth. Just because you know a lot, doesn't mean you know the truth. Truth is found only in the Word of God, and a person whose life is built on truth is one who will stand, not one who has simply acquired a lot of knowledge about a lot of different things.

Increasing in knowledge will not make you a good person. It will not change your heart or make you holy. Education may do a lot of good things, but it will not make a person righteous. We find a living truth in the Lord Jesus Christ which recreates the heart of the believer into one who is righteous before God.

This holds true not only for an individual's life, but for a society as well. An educated society is not necessarily going to be a righteous society, any more than a wealthy one is. Man tries to make everything fair for everyone, rather than submitting to the justice of God and it simply creates a mess. We will not have a good, holy, righteous society unless we submit to the truth--the Word of God--and live according to His definition of justice. When we try to make everything fair and everyone equal, than we end up with a "gray" and dull society with no life. God is not this way, He separates the light from darkness.

Truth is the only thing that will hold up. It is more stable than any law. It is true whether man chooses to live by it or not. Those who accept the truth receive eternity into their hearts, which will cause them to remain standing when man's attempt to prevail through his own knowledge fails.


John 1:14-17, John 14:6, Psalm 15:1-2, Psalm 40:11, Psalm 51:6, Psalm 119:142, 151, 160; John 16:13, John 17:17, John 18:37