Honesty Is the Lord's Policy

God is always honest with you. You may not always like what he says, but it's the truth. You may not want to hear it, but it's the truth. God "does not lie" (Titus 1:2). "It is impossible for God to lie" (Hebrews 6:18) because by nature he is the "God of truth" (Psalm 31:5).

Satan is never honest with you. What he says may sound appealing on the surface, but underneath it's dangerous and deadly. Even when the devil tantalizes your senses and tickles your ears, he's a deceiver. He twists and distorts the truth. When he lies, "he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44).

Truth in Living Color

God cares so much about truth that he gave us a walking, talking, living, breathing example of it. His Son came to earth "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Jesus frequently said, "I tell you the truth," or as some translations put it, "verily, verily (truly, truly) I say unto you."

Honesty was Jesus' policy even when it was unpopular. He refused to let the crowd manipulate his message or re-direct his priorities.

Jesus was honest with his enemies. He unmasked the Pharisees and called them hypocrites because that's what they were. He called Herod a "fox" because that's what he was. He challenged longstanding religious traditions that were doing more harm than good.

Jesus was honest with his friends. When the Twelve engaged in quarrels, he confronted them with the hard truth that in God's eyes servanthood always trumps self-promotion.

Jesus was honest with everyone. He didn't woo potential followers with sugar-coated promises of how easy their lives would be if they believed in him. He told them right up front about the cost of discipleship.

From the crimson blood of the cross to the nail-scarred hands of his resurrected body, Jesus is the truth in living color.

Truth in Black and White

Before he ascended to Heaven, Jesus promised his apostles that he would send "the Spirit of truth" and "he will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). According to Professor George Mark Elliot, the apostles' special guidance involved three main features:

(1) Accurate narration (they recorded what they observed without bias or error); (2) Careful selection (Jesus did and said thousands of things, but the Spirit guided the apostles to select and write exactly what their books needed to include, nothing more and nothing less); and (3) Direct revelation (we know "God so loved the world" because God chose to reveal this truth to those who wrote the Bible).

This process of divine guidance is what the apostle Paul was talking about when he said, "All Scripture is God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16). It's what Peter referred to when he observed that "prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21).

The inspired Scriptures give us God's truth in black and white. And for all those issues that are not black and white, the Bible explains how to deal with the "gray" areas as well (see Romans chapter 14).

Honesty is the Lord's policy. His "word is truth" (John 17:17). That's why honesty needs to be our policy too.