The Truth Will Set You Free
Lent Day 23
“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
— John 8:31—
Knowledge is a requirement for belief. When people talk of invincible ignorance, they often imply a deterministic view of the truth. They describe the truth as something that will necessarily break the will of man and bring him to his knees. In other words, if a sinner accepts the truth, then he knows the truth. If the sinner rejected the truth, then he never knew the truth.
Today, we think of knowing the truth as proven by some kind of assessment. As if those who can write out theological doctrine in fancy language are going to pass the exam at the pearly gates and be welcomed with open arms. But this is not the case. We will be judged on what we said and what we did. In other words, our belief in Christ will be revealed by what we do and say. And we cannot obey Christ or reject Christ if we do not know what he taught.
So why would Jesus say that the truth will set us free? Most of the time, we think of truth in terms of obligation or a kind of moral slavery. But that is depressing! Think of a time in your life when you were wrestling with some doubts. Maybe it was a job, a potential spouse, what school to go to, the degree you should study — whatever it might have been— remember when you suddenly knew what to do? How freeing was that! How exciting it was to know the adventure that truth had brought to your door. Now the only thing to do was to follow it.
Knowledge of the truth is freeing. That is because it tells us what to do and what to avoid. Is it any wonder that the Devil frequently plants seeds of doubt, trying to get us to question what we know?
The Devil is the ultimate gaslighter. He is always trying to get us to question our sanity for following Christ. “You know, if you were doing the right thing, do you think this would be happening to you right now?”; “Do you really think that God wants your kids to suffer for the Gospel?”; “Did God really say not to eat of the tree of life?”; “Did Jesus really say, ‘eat my body and drink my blood’?”
Since becoming Catholic, Christian relativism has become much more apparent. Many friends of mine have suddenly become much less dogmatic in their beliefs about what they believe Christianity teaches. They will recognize that truth is knowable and that we must submit, but then when you ask them about a moral or theological dogma like female priests or pastors, IVF, or even abortion, they are unsure of their position. Some may think this is not important. For example, women priests, who would care about that? It seems like an old issue, not one we should worry about today.
But scripture is clear that “not many of us should be teachers” because they will have a harsher judgment. If a Christian is unsure about the doctrine of the priesthood, then he is “neither hot nor cold,” and he is unstable in his belief. As a result, people could suffer from this kind of doctrinal indecision or instability.
…The ignorant and unstable distort [Paul’s writings] to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures.
— 2 Pt. 3:16
The truth brings a stabilizing effect, and it is proclaimed by the Church. When a person, continuing our example from above, decides to accept the Church’s teaching on male-only priests, it illuminates his path, frees his time, and he is now able to identify safe churches and doctrinally sound churches to attend. If a person remains unstable in their position, they will find it much more enticing to research and study this question rather than worshiping God as they ought. Thus, the Devil gains a foothold and entices us to kneel before the altar of knowledge, rather than the altar of life. Once one doctrine is settled, another doubt about what Christianity really teaches raises its head. But this is not what the Christian life is all about. The Christian life is about obedience and worship in spirit and truth.
When you become Catholic, suddenly you realize exactly what your priorities ought to be, what God desires for you, and how he intends to be in a relationship with you. Now, your study becomes more about action than alleviation of doubt. You start to think, “How do I live this now?”— not “Is this moral or immoral, is this doctrine true or is it a heresy?
In summary, when you come into the Church, yes, there are bad teachers, but the light of God is still radiating from within her, and Christ is truly present on her altars. And when you receive the truth, bodily and spiritually, your whole life is changed, and now you have the strength and freedom to go on the adventure of eternity.
— DR