Standing on Truth and Righteousness

In our postmodern society, objective truth couldn’t be MORE important, yet it couldn’t be LESS valued!

We see a 30-second video and immediately comment, share, react—propagating it as truth without context, without investigation, without asking what occurred in the full situation.

Yet Paul says that to stand against the schemes of the devil, we must have the “Belt of Truth” buckled around our waist and the “Breastplate of Righteousness” in place.

THE ROMAN MILITARY BELT: Understanding the Metaphor

• Beyond its practical uses, it was a powerful symbol of status as a soldier
• Being deprived of the belt was considered severe punishment and disgrace

.

ESTABLISHING BOUNDARIES: Three Aspects of Truth

• Truth Revealed (The Word of God)
• Truth Required (The Gospel We Proclaim)
• Truth Incarnate (Jesus Christ Himself)

.

TRUTH REVEALED: The Word of God (John 17:17 (NKJV))

“Things are not always the way you perceive them…sometimes you have a perspective, but you don’t have the truth.” – Pastor Kenneth Bryant

The Word of God IS truth. This is our objective, external, unchanging standard.

Feelings are not a reliable measure of truth.

“Do we accept our feelings as truth or do we accept God’s word as truth?” – Pastor Kenneth Bryant

.

TRUTH IS REQUIRED: The Gospel We Proclaim

The crucial distinction:

“It’s not true because I believe in it—I believe in it because it’s true!” – Pastor Kenneth Bryant

Truth is the most important attribute of our faith (1 Corinthians 15:14, 19 (NKJV))

This isn’t just philosophical—it’s the foundation of everything:

• The truth of the Incarnation: God became man
• The truth of the Cross: Christ died for our sins
• The truth of the Resurrection: He rose from the dead
• The truth of the Gospel: We are saved by grace through faith

Without objective truth, Christianity collapses. With it, everything else makes sense.

.

TRUTH INCARNATE: Jesus Christ Himself

But beyond Christianity’s claim to truth, the Founder—Jesus the Christ—claimed to BE the truth! (John 14:6 (NKJV))

Jesus doesn’t just teach truth. Jesus doesn’t just represent truth. Jesus IS truth.

Loving Jesus Means Loving the Truth

If Jesus IS the truth, then we cannot separate our love for Him from our love for truth itself.

You cannot say “I love Jesus” while being indifferent to truth. You cannot say “I love Jesus” while embracing lies. You cannot say “I love Jesus” while treating truth as negotiable or relative. (2 Thessalonians 2:10 (NKJV))

To love Jesus IS to love truth:

• When truth is uncomfortable, we embrace it because we love Him
• When truth costs us something, we hold to it because we love Him
• When truth is unpopular, we proclaim it because we love Him
• When truth confronts us, we submit to it because we love Him

We cannot be casual about truth.  This is why we must buckle the belt of truth tightly around our waist.

Loving Jesus and loving truth are inseparable.