What makes something true?
I would hope to hear all Christians say "Scripture." Beyond Scripture, is there anything else that helps us know that facts or ideas are true? I would say so. Reason, logic, experience help us dictate what is true versus what is untrue, or a lie.
Scripture is the Word of God. God doesn't lie, therefore His Word is true. Simple.
Reason and logic are similar. Reason teaches to draw conclusions from factors, "this because of this." Logic analyzes the patterns of reasoning so a conclusion is properly drawn from a set of premises.
Experience is a measure of truth that we, as humans, use more often than we might think. Our decisions about whether we do something or not are based on prior outcomes of past decisions.
Although these are all valid factors on how to arrive at truth, I really want to stress the importance of Scripture here. This is a big deal. Experiences are nice. Reason and logic are great tools of deductive reasoning that help an individual grow in knowledge of why and what they believe. Regardless, nothing compares to the deep level of truth in and of Scripture. If we gather in a place where no Scripture is read and the ultimate goal is some spiritual experience, there is a problem. God calls us to worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). Jesus said this TWICE in this passage. In Jewish culture, when anything is said TWICE that means it’s a big deal. Jesus said there would be worshipers to worship in spirit and truth and that the Father seeks these people. Then in verse 24 Jesus repeats this yet again, those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. The key word here is "must," this is not an option. It is a command. Later on in Scripture, the author of Romans says that the people of Israel were in unbelief, and look at what was happening: "For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge" (Romans 10:2). There was too much passion and not enough knowledge or there was too much experience and not enough Scripture.
In life we know that there needs to be a balance in almost everything we do. A basic example is eating and exercising. We eat delicious foods and we know that in order to burn the calories and maintain our weight, we need to exercise. This is how our lives should look: balanced. There is definitely an experiential moment when talking about the Truth. That is, we are sinners, Jesus came to live a life we couldn't live, died a death we should've died, and now we can be reconciled to God the Father. This truth should rock us to our core. For those of us who have trusted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, we have been redeemed! That's something to celebrate.
How do we know this is true? The Word of God says it is. We should worship according to the truth of the Gospel. We are commanded to worship in spirit and in truth, not doing so is disobedience.
