The Truth Project

Questions and answers for the first lesson.

Question: What did you see on this tour?

Answer: I saw several things. First, is the fact that absolute truth is found only through Jesus Christ and in God's Word, the Bible.

The people who were interviewed in the video did not have very solid, coherent, or convincing answers when asked, "What is Truth?"

Personally, I think that it is an easy question when one knows Jesus Christ and has studied (and comprehends) the messages that God is revealing in Scripture. Without that solid foundation, a person can be easily led astray and towards the "next best thing" - in their minds, that is - even if that "thing" is drawing them away from the God of the universe!


Question: Jesus stated plainly that He had come into the world "to testify to the truth" (John 18:37). Exactly what did He mean by this, and how is this claim connected with those other aspects of Jesus’ mission – for example, forgiveness, salvation, redemption, and healing – that we more naturally associate with the ultimate purpose of His advent?

When Jesus states that he came for the reason "to testify to the truth," it means that he knows, follows, and IS the Truth! Without Truth as a foundation, all of Jesus' other claims would not matter. Since Jesus Himself IS the Truth, and testifies TO the truth, we can TRUST him with our lives. Thus, what He has proclaimed as "the way, the truth and the life," can also be trusted. Forgiveness, salvation, redemption, and healing begins with our acknowledgement that we are sinful and in desperate need of the Savior! Repentance of our sin at the foot of the cross of Christ is the only way to be reconciled back to Father God.

Question: How does one’s concept of truth affect or determine one's concept of faith?

Answer: People can be deceived into believing anything - whether it is legitimately true or not. Christianity is both a reasonable faith and an evidential faith. We have the fact of history on our side that Jesus Christ lived, preached for 3 years, suffered for our sakes, died a death as our substitution for us and our sins, and rose again from the dead. He lives evermore and is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven.

The Bible tells us, "Without faith, it is impossible to please God." We do not know everything, but we certainly know enough because of all that has been revealed about Jesus in the Scriptures. The Bible testifies about, and points to - Jesus Christ - as the long-awaited Messiah in the Old Testament. Hundreds of prophecies have already been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. That fact alone gives us the confidence to believe that all of the rest of the prophecies will also be fulfilled at his Second Coming.


Question: What is the key point of distinction between the biblical concept of truth and popular cultural ideas about truth? How is this point related to the concept of insanity?

I loved hearing the fact that this study will show us that there is no direction/area in life where God has not spoken. That is a profound truth that people often overlook.

This study will be a tour of extraordinary worth! We will examine truth claims in logical order. When we turn and gaze upon the face of God through this study; we cannot help but to be deeply affected!

Jesus' truth claims do not play well in this "tolerant" world. But the fact is that the Spirit of Truth battles against the spirit of falsehood. This is the cosmic battle that has been going on ever since Satan was cast out of heaven and the fall of man occurred.

Satan's lies counter God's Truth. Ever since the Garden of Eden, Satan still uses his same old tricks against man - "did God really say?" Every lie is based on that phrase. What leads us down the path of lies?

Getting man to doubt God's Word.

Getting man to doubt God's goodness.

Getting man to doubt God's Holiness and Righteousness.

Getting man to doubt the reality of the need for God's Righteous Judgment of sin.

Getting man to doubt the reality of man's need for repentance because of sin.

Getting man to doubt God's Love for us.

Getting man to doubt that He sent His Son to take our sins away; as well as the penalty for sin.

Getting man to fall for the deceptions of Satan, the enemy of our souls, whose lies help keep us in bondage to sin.

Jesus came to "set the captives free." What a beautiful Savior we have! What a wonderful salvation message! There is a close link between salvation and truth. (see Eph. 6:14)

There is also a close link between sin and the issue of the raging cosmic battle for our souls. Every sin's goal is to turn us back to belief in the lie. Satan wants to keep us prisoners in sin. As Del dramatically pointed out in the video, Satan wants to keep us in "POW clothes." (also see Col. 4:5-6) (NAS)

Question: Read 2 Timothy 2:24, 26 and Colossians 4:5, 6. Why does Paul advise believers to be "gentle" rather than "quarrelsome" in their dealings with outsiders? How does our understanding of the Cosmic Battle affect the way we relate to non-believers?

We are to view outsiders as captives - that is what we were! Therefore, we must be gentle in our witnessing to those still under the curse of Satan.

Admittedly, this can oftentimes be difficult to do. Those who are under the power of deception are not easily brought out of it. In many encounters that I have had with non-believers, I am often told by them that I am "speaking another language" to them.

A huge part of the reason for this is the fact that without Christ indwelling the heart, the Bible is difficult to discern. Those not born again in Jesus Christ do not have the guidance of the Holy Spirit who "leads us into all truth."

For example. In the last post (Oprah's False Religion), recall that Oprah thought, in her own mind, that the idea that God is a "jealous God" was appalling to her. Since this did not sit well with her and such a thought bothered her so intensely, she ended up altogether rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ. She desired to find another way (or, many ways) to her own feelings and concepts of God. I would suspect that it probably had a lot to do with her feelings towards being tolerant.

I don't think that Jesus was being tolerant when he proclaimed that he is "the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." However, Jesus spoke the truth! He IS the Truth!

When Oprah stated, "God is jealous of me?" she unequivocally displayed her lack of proper biblical exegesis, hermeneutics, scholarly interpretation, and understanding of why God tells us that He is a jealous God.

What is the first commandment? Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

God is not "jealous" of Oprah. Consider this! He is jealous for her!! Why? Precisely because He does not want ANYONE to perish! He wants all to come to salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. Naturally, God does not want any of His children turned towards false gods, religion, or any other idols.

Question: Isaiah 44:17 equates an idol to a lie. People bowed down to a block of wood - asking it to "save them." Idol worship often leads to insane things! How foolish is it to bow down to a block of wood?

As was pointed out in the Oprah example above, a lie can lead one to idol worship! What is Oprah's target for worship? I'll let you answer that question.

Insanity is "the loss of touch with reality." People in such a state believe that the lie is real. This is a description of common insanity.

The ultimate source of truth is God. Col. 2:2-3 (NAS) asks us will he not care for you - oh you of little faith?

The truth claims of God gives us hope, trust, and faith. Jesus talked about us having "the faith of a child."

The video showed incredible faith in a child at the end of a diving board at a pool. We see him overcome his fear - faith overcomes our feelings - we grab hold of Him! We grab hold of Jesus! We hang onto Him!

Just like that child who overcame his initial fear and jumped into the pool towards the waiting arms of his loving mother, we are to trust the God who loves us! Doing so, connects our faith to our emotions. We can trust Him with our lives - now and in eternity!

Question: Dr. Tackett poses the question, "Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?" How can we know what we really believe?

My answer to that first question is YES! Completely! I know it's real because Jesus is real. God's Word is trustworthy and true. Nothing else in the world matters but to be reconciled back to our Creator who loves us!

I know what I really believe because I have been studying the Bible for over 20 years. It is the inerrant Word of God which points towards Jesus Christ from Genesis to Revelation.

Besides the trustworthiness of the Bible, I have also had divine encounters and personal, spiritual experiences over the years that have cemented my confidence in knowing that what I believe is really real and true!

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Dear The Truth Project small group members. Please feel free, if led to do so, to share your individual answers to these questions!

Dear visitors and commenters here at Talk Wisdom . Please feel free, if led to do so, to share your individual answers to these questions! Even if you have not seen the video, you can still share your thoughts on these matters based on your own private Bible reading and studying!

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[Note: I am including each of "The Truth Project" blog posts in my other blog called, "The Way of God in Truth." This way, anyone can access the posts easily without having to search for them here at Talk Wisdom.]