There is so much confusion about truth these days. Our society is fighting among itself trying to convince the other side they are right and they are wrong.

This feels and looks like war to me. Ideological and spiritual war.

A well-known quote, many attribute to US Senator Hiram Johnson, claims that truth is the first casualty of war. Variations of this sentiment have been around for centuries and has its base in the notion that we vilify our enemies and romance our friends. The US and Canadian media do a great job of vilifying Conservative Christians and our beliefs in the Bible as the truth.

The truth of God, even the inconvenient ones, are replaced with acquiesce to the cultural desires. Do what thou wilt has replaced the ten commandments.

We see this shift taking place in many societies around the world. Here in Canada, our culture values sexual identity issues above religious freedom. Definitions change to exclude traditional families and Biblical values.

The core of Christianity is being attacked as the Bible’s inspiration and truth is called into question. Even some so-called Christians are downplaying or denying the deity of Christ or the inerrancy of the Bible, or the need for the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Some say that Jesus is not God. Others claim that when the Bible said homosexuality is a sin, that is not meant for modern culture. Still, others believe that we will all go to heaven since God is love and therefore a loving God will not condemn anyone to hell.

I have read articles and watched televised sermons from some pretty big names in Christianity claiming some of these very things. They are as wrong and as hurtful as the prosperity gospel preached by rich pastors.

Just as poor Christians don’t have less faith than rich Christians or are not loved by God as much as their rich brothers and sisters, the other lies I listed above soften the minds of truth seekers.

The Gospel of John clearly tells us that Jesus is God. Just read the first chapter of John. Then there are all the references to Jesus being God in the Old Testament, especially Isaiah and compare them to the claims Jesus made about who he is.  You can start with Isaiah 43:10-11 and compare it with Revelation 1:17-18 and 2:8.

There are Bible verses such as in 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 that tell us all scripture is God breathed. If you don’t want to let the Bible interpret itself, then examine the prophecies of the Bible. You can see that the events foretold hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus are clearly laid out in books written centuries before it happened. There are other such prophecies that predict forthcoming events and throughout them all is a revelation of God’s truth and our relationship to our creator.

The idea that we are going to heaven is universalism. This means that Jesus was mistaken in all of his beliefs and statements about him being the only way to the Father. Not to mention all the New Testament writings that claim Jesus is our Savior have to also be untrue. In fact, the Old Testament prophecies have to be all lies as well when they speak about the forthcoming Savior.

Universalism says the Bible is wrong. It is culturally relevant but not true. Many churches today want to be culturally relevant and in a culture that devalues God and embraces sin, the danger is that we allow deceit and lies to enter into our relationship with God.

There us nothing more culturally relevant than the Gospel. It is the only path to the truth because it is the truth. Denying the truth of the Bible, the deity of Christ, and the need to follow Jesus leads us down the garden path of thinking it is God who is wrong.

Doesn’t this sound like the Garden of Eden all over again. The same temptation is there, “You can be like God, knowing good and evil.” Satan told Eve. She fell for it and sure enough she knew how to do evil. We have been doing evil ever since then. But we can never be equal to God. Our idols of self-worship, and the mantra of this culture, “Do what thou wilt.” lead to death.

Only one path leads to life. That path is Jesus. And that is truly culturally relevant.

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Andy Becker is a retired counsellor and author of The Travelers, a fictionalized account of spiritual warfare (available on Amazon) as is, Stupid Thyroid, a book he co-wrote with his wife, Stella. Andy and his wife, Stella, lead Lighthouse Ministry in North Central Regina, one of Canada’s poorest and roughest areas. He is a retired counselor, speaker, and writer. Andy Becker is working on his second book about spiritual warfare. His first book, The Travelers, is available at Amazon.com and Amazon.ca.