Truth
A man is standing on a cart that is moving in a certain direction at a certain speed. On this cart there is a launch pad. The idea is to launch a ball while the cart is moving. When the ball is launched in the air, the man looks up and sees the ball go up and down. Another man is observing what happens from a distance. He sees the cart move, the ball launched, but to him the ball does not just go up and down. The ball flew in the same direction and speed as the cart. Both men argue saying that since the other man did not see what they saw the other is wrong. We have one event and two different stories. Which of the two men is right or wrong? What really happened?
Both men saw what they saw, so both are right. But, what they saw was based on where they were standing or positioned. It was dependent on their perspective. Their view was relative or subjective. Although, both thought they had an objective and absolute view.
Our lesson states that the Greek word for truth, aletheia, has two meanings. One is objective truth (actual facts, verity, or principle), and the other is subjective truth (truth as a personal excellence—a candor of mind that is free from affectation, pretense, dissimulation, falsehood, and deceit). An objective fact means a truth that remains true everywhere, independently of human thought, feelings, and tools or calculations capable of being skewed by subjective means. A subjective fact is one that is only true under certain conditions, at certain times, in certain places, or for certain people. Truth, then, is what we know, the objective "facts on the ground," as it were. But there's the subjective element of truth, as well, which entails how we individually respond to what we learn.
There must be the same two elements to the Gospel, since it is truth. There is an objective Gospel, and a subjective Gospel. The objective Gospel is the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ and what it means to us. How this objective truth in turn affects us, transforming us into the likeness of Christ, and how we express it to others is the subjective Gospel.
The objective Gospel is independent of us. It is true whether we know it or not. The subjective gospel is then dependent on us and only true when we know it. For the subjective gospel to be true in us it is dependent on us believing that the objective gospel is true. This can only be possible if the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Truth – reveals it to us.
Ellen White wrote about this,
… Paul teaches that believers are to be "sanctified by the Holy Ghost" (Romans 15:16). What is the work of the Holy Spirit? Jesus told His disciples: "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). And the psalmist says: "Thy law is the truth." By the Word and the Spirit of God are opened to men the great principles of righteousness embodied in His law (Maranatha 231).
The author of our lesson encourages us to look at another powerful insight:
"The preaching of the word will be of no avail without the continual presence and aid of the Holy Spirit. This is the only effectual teacher of divine truth. Only when the truth is accompanied to the heart by the Spirit will it quicken the conscience or transform the life. One might be able to present the letter of the word of God, he might be familiar with all its commands and promises; but unless the Holy Spirit sets home the truth, no souls will fall on the Rock and be broken."—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 671, 672.
What we see in the work of the Holy Spirit is both the objective and subjective aspect of Truth. The Spirit comes, and He testifies of Jesus and reproves " 'the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment' " (John 16:8). As it says above, the work of the Holy Spirit doesn't end simply with teaching us these truths. If we allow Him, our lives will be changed by our understanding of them. These objective and eternal truths will do us no good unless our lives are transformed by them, and part of that process (perhaps even the most important part) is for us, as she wrote, to be broken on the Rock (see Ps. 51:17). This is the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the true witness of Christ. He does not bring to us a subjective view of the events, but an objective view. He will then show us and guide us into how these truths will affect us subjectively. As always the question is, will we let the Holy Spirit do His work in us?
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Raul Diaz
www.wolfsoath.com
