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Truth is subjective, but it is not relative.
Heart (as used in the Bible) – the innermost part of the mind, where truth and reality dwell.
Subjective – existing in the mind; belonging to the person thinking rather than to the object thought of; originating within or dependent on the mind of the individual rather than an external object; of or relating to reality as perceived by the mind, as distinct from reality as independent of the mind; influenced by an individual’s state of mind. World Book Dictionary
(According to the definitions above, if there is an objective truth we cannot know it, because simply by our knowing it in our minds, it would have become subjective).
I have often heard people speak about the Bible, or the truth of God or of Jesus Christ by saying something like this: “We need to just believe the Bible as it is written;” or “It’s the Word, the Word, just believe the Word;” or “It’s not what you think that matters, it’s what God says in the Bible that matters.”
Well, here’s some of what God says in the Bible (I could write hundreds of verses which similarly declare the subjectivity of truth).
I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean (tainted with sin) of itself; but to him that reckons any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. (Romans 14:14)
Sin is subjective.
Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. (II Corinthians 9:7)
Pleasing God is subjective.
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them. (Hebrews 10:15)
The law God writes in your heart is subjective.
And be not conformed to this world; but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)
How you prove that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God is subjective.
Doesn’t it seem that the mind, or heart of man is a very important aspect of the truth of God? Where is truth if not in the heart of man? On the pages of a book? Not really. Yes, truth is what God reveals…
Sanctify them through Your truth; Your Word (logos) is truth.
(John 17:17)
It doesn’t say “Your Bible is truth.” The only truth you can know is where God’s Word has come and taken root in your heart.
So then faith comes by hearing (“getting it”) and hearing by the word (rhema) of God. (Romans 10:17)
Logos is what God communicates. Rhema is what man’s heart “hears.” It’s not that God speaks a single truth and that what you hear may or may not be what He is saying. No, God is continually communicating the truth of Himself and of all His creation, like the wind is blowing all over the earth continually. That is the logos of God. But where the wind hits you, making you feel warm, or cold, or perhaps it pushes your sailboat through the water, or flies your kite, or causes the bubbles you’re blowing with your grandson on the front porch to go floating off into the bushes … that is the rhema of God. That’s the truth of the wind to you.
And though the understanding of truth is quite subjective, that truth carries a similarity in every person who receives it. That similarity is found in Christ’s love.
That same wind might be causing the odor of a campfire to be smelled by someone; or causing rain to splatter against a windshield; or making waves on a lake where someone is boating. The wind is the same, but what it is “speaking” to each person is unique, making its truth quite subjective to the one who “hears.” Though it is unique to each individual who experiences it, the winds also carries with it a similarity in each experience, so that those who experience it can relate to one another
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body (is) fitly joined together and (is) compacted by that which every joint (relationship) supplies, according to the effectual (spiritual) working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:15, 16)
Perhaps God speaks to you through a sunset, letting you know how much He loves you. But to another, whose father died in a car crash at sunset, God perhaps would not communicate His love to that person by a sunset. Or maybe He would. God fills the heart of man as only He can, and it will not necessarily feel, or look, or sound the same each time in each person. One person gets quiet and goes off alone. Another runs out into the street and shouts for joy. Same truth, same God. Who is right? Only Christ.
So when someone says, “We just need to get back to the truth of the Word of God,” I know that what they’re really saying is, “We just need to believe the Bible according to how I understand it.” And that is quite impossible, because God does not speak the same thing or the same way to each person. No, the truth is quite subjective, as subjective as each heart in which God is writing the law of His Christ.
There is not another person who has ever lived who is exactly like me or you! No one has had the same experiences and interpreted and weighed and been influenced by them the exact same way as each of us. No one has had the same upbringing and sum total of life experiences as you and me. And even if they did, it is impossible that they would have been affected exactly in the direction and to the degree that you have been or that I have been.
So when God’s love becomes His rhema in my heart, I am understanding God and His love in a unique, totally subjective way; one which speaks to me, one which is able to take root in my heart and life, allowing me to express it in a powerfully individual manner. And if you are open to my expression of God’s love, it will affect you in a totally unique, subjective way!
You are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. Who also has made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. (II Corinthians 3:3, 6)
Did Jesus expect us to live by an outward, objective truth? Or did he expect us to live by how the truth of God affects us? Take a look at Jesus in the wilderness, where Jesus is learning to recognize and deal with his adversary, the devil.
And the devil said unto him, If you be the son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him , saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word (rhema) of God. (Luke 4:3, 4)
That’s it! Each of our walks with God in Christ is as unique as our understanding of the truth of God which has been communicated to us by the spirit of God. It is the same spirit doing the communicating of truth, but how that truth feels, looks, acts, expresses itself in each person is truly subjectively unique.
You may think, “But the truth itself exists outside of ourselves and thus is not subjective.” Ah, but does that truth exist outside of God? And therefore all the truth; any truth that we will ever encounter in life from now through eternity; is how God sees it and understands it and expresses it (making it the ultimate in subjectivity)… which truth is only found in the spirit of Christ. Which is why is written:
That in the administration of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him. (Ephesians 1:10)
Any and all truth we will ever experience is subject to Christ, and can only be found in the spirit of Christ. Christ is the subject of all truth that can be known and all truth that can be known is subject to him. Truth is not a set of facts, or a body of knowledge; rather, truth is a spiritual reality, found only in and by means of the spirit of Christ.
But when it, the spirit of truth is come, it will lead you into all truth; for it shall not speak of itself; but whatsoever it shall hear, that shall it speak; and it will show you things to come (which weren’t in existence then, but are today). It shall glorify me (Jesus); for it shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. (John 16:13, 14)
Yes, truth is subjective; but it is not relative. Truth is a spirit that comes and reveals Christ within your heart. It also exists outside of you, but you can only know it by its revelation within yourself. Enjoy the truth of the spirit of Christ in you. A truly unique, subjective experience that will make you whole.
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Other related studies:
Loins Girt with Truth
God’s Point of View
Some Truths about Truth
Truth vs. Reality
