The Enemy of the Truth

The truth is that you were born on this day and that is the truth, Happy Birthday.

There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.-Soren Kierkegaard

A famous quote from John F Kennedy when he was giving a commencement speech at Yale: For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie–deliberate, contrived, and dishonest–but the myth–persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the cliches of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. This would have been an interesting thought for the philosophers back in the first century.

The attack on the Gospel fits this perfectly, a lie and myth of someone’s opinion without any personal critical thinking. Paul is now getting down to the nitty-gritty with his friends because he knows the joy of living your best life in the truth.

Apparently, everything had changed. The Judaizers had convinced the Galatians that Paul was not a legitimate apostle. They said that his gospel, by excluding the law, was deficient. Who is that person in your life that is pulling or pushing you away from God? Rather than embrace Paul like previously, they treated him like an enemy because he preached the truth of grace. They were influenced by others who rejected the truth. They had become an enemy of the truth. The Gospel is the truth, it compels us to yield to the Holy Spirit and to the authority of God. Jesus is the way, the only way, to have your sins forgiven, and to have a right relationship with God. Jesus is the truth, there is no compromise, and the truth will set you free from legalism and other religious things. Jesus is the life; He gives new life to those who by faith believe that His way is the only way to have your sins forgiven and secure a place in God’s Kingdom for all eternity. If you reject the truth, you are an enemy of truth.

The truth will set you free, be liberated on this special day, Happy Birthday!

Mike R

  ’67 / ’83 Jacksonville FL