Like a journey to a distant city such as Philadelphia, your journey in life has a final destination: Heaven or Hell. And like a physical journey, the path to your eternal destination is not randomly chosen. We just can’t pick a random road and say that it will take us to Philadelphia, that's impossible and foolish. A person must have an objective knowledge of the directions to reach their final destination. You see, only one road leads to Heaven and that road is only accessible through faith in Jesus.
Jesus is the only way to salvation and eternal life with God. While this may sound like some kind of exclusive claim, it's not. It's an exclusive offer of hope that is offered to all people. It's an all-expenses paid, 100% free gift from God! You don't have to do anything. In fact, there is nothing that you can do to earn salvation.
This message of hope and salvation through Jesus is not limited to any race, culture, or ethnic group. It's available to all people. The love of God, as revealed in Jesus, extends to all of humanity, and it is through faith in Him that we are able to have a personal relationship with God and be reconciled to Him.
Objective Truth and Christianity
The Bible presents objective truths that are true for everyone, regardless of their personal beliefs or subjective opinions. You see, Christianity is not a subjective truth that’s true for some people, while not true for others, but rather a set of objective facts. That’s because the events recorded in the Gospels can be examined like any other historical event.
If you’re interested in exploring the historical reliability of the book of Acts and its implications for the existence of Jesus — Acts of Evidence.
For many people, feelings and preferences matter more than facts and truth. They reject objective truth as they override truth with their subjective beliefs. For example, when someone says, “I am a good person,” they are basing this on their own moral code, personal opinions, and perceptions, rather than objective facts. These claims are often influenced by cultural and societal norms, personal experiences, and individual biases. They are not based on objective truth, and can’t be verified or proven. When it comes to our destination, subjective claims do not carry any weight or authority.
The Bible teaches us that everyone has sinned. That we all miss the mark and fall short of God's glory. Here's an objective truth that most sane people agree on — None of us our perfect! It is in our imperfection that we do wrong, and our wrongdoings are what separate us from God. None of us are able to live up to the perfect standard that God requires. This is not dependent on personal opinions or perceptions, but rather on the Word of God. It is not based on our own subjective assessment of ourselves, but rather on the authoritative standard set by God.
That being said, Christianity is not just a religion of facts and objective truths. It is also a personal relationship with a loving God. Through personal experiences such as reading the Bible, God the Father draws people like to Jesus in an irresistible way that is meaningful and relevant to them. Their subjective beliefs are then formed through their relationship with Him, and their own personal experiences through Him shape their new identity in Him. God the Holy Spirit aligns their path in life to God's path, creating a unique and transformative experience for each individual.
This balance between what is objective and what is subjective, is important in understanding the nature of truth in Christianity. On one hand, objective truths such as the many found in the Bible, provide a foundation for faith and belief. These truths offer us a starting point for understanding God's nature and who He is.
The source of truth in Christianity is Jesus. Through a personal relationship with Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, a person comes to understand and experience the truth found in the Bible. The objective truths presented in scripture become more meaningful and relevant as a person connects them to their personal experiences with Jesus. The balance between objective truth and subjective experiences with Jesus lead to a deeper understanding of the truth that is found in Him.
Jesus is the embodiment of truth. It is through Him that we come to know and understand the truth.
Subjective Claims and Self-Deception
Personal truths and subjective claims can also be based on our own self-deception. It's easy to compare ourselves with “bad” people who seem worse than us. And in our comparison, we think that we are good people. But this comparison isn’t actually objective. Sure we may not all be as “bad” as an axe murderer, but not being an axe murderer doesn’t actually make you a good person! And it doesn't change the fact that God's standard is 100% perfection. And we all miss the mark and fall short of that perfect standard.
God has provided us with clear and objective truths through the entire Bible. And it is through the Bible, God provides an authoritative foundation for our subjective truths.
God is not a God of disorder or confusion but of peace, and He wants us to understand and accept His truth. This is why He has given us the Bible as our objective truth. The subjective truths of Christianity are founded in the objective truths found within the Bible. For example, the subjective truth of having a personal experience with Jesus is founded in the objective truth of Jesus' death and resurrection and that He is our mediator.
Satan’s Deception Leads to Confusion
Satan, the deceiver, is always ready to take us down the wrong road, the road that leads to destruction — to Hell. He will try to make us believe that there are many ways to God, that God is not real, that we don't need to follow Jesus, or that there is no Heaven or Hell. But the Bible makes it clear that there is only one way to salvation and that is through faith in Jesus. Satan uses confusion as a tactic.
Let’s say at work you go into your yearly performance review with high expectations. You’ve worked hard all year, met all of your goals, and exceeded expectations on multiple projects. You know that this review will be an assessment that is reflective of your performance and that you will receive a positive review.
However, when you sit down with your boss, you’re confused by the negative feedback you receive. Your boss tells you that you have issues with your communication skills and work ethic. Your boss says that your work did not align with the company's vision and values and that you are not a team player.
You’re confused and disappointed. You argue that you’ve always had a good working relationship with your colleagues, but your boss disagrees with you.
Your boss's judgment of your performance was based on their own subjective beliefs and values, rather than an objective assessment of your work. Despite your hard work and dedication, your performance review was ultimately a reflection of your boss's personal opinions and biases.
In contrast to the subjective nature of your boss's perception of your performance, which leads to confusion, the objective claims of the Bible are rooted in historical facts, eyewitness testimony, and the authority of God. Unlike your performance review, they are not influenced by personal opinions or biases, but rather by the pure truth of God's Word.
And most importantly, unlike your boss's judgment, God's judgment of your final destination is not subjective. Rather it will be a completely fair and objective judgment based solely on objective truths. Knowing that God's judgment is objective and fair, you can trust that your final destination is secure when you place your faith in Christ. And you can trust that the security of your final destination rests not on your own efforts or achievements, but on the perfect sacrifice of Christ, the grace of God the Father, and the transformative work of the Holy Spirit.
Subjectiveness leads to confusion because it is based on personal opinions and beliefs, which differ greatly from person to person. This results in different people interpreting the same situation or information in very different ways. In contrast, objectiveness is based on facts and evidence, which are not open to interpretation and provides a clear and unbiased understanding. Objectiveness leads to clarity and peace because it removes the confusion and uncertainty that subjectiveness often brings.
Satan tries to confuse people as he spreads misinformation, suggesting that there are many roads leading to Heaven or that God and Jesus do not exist. He encourages you to believe that your personal beliefs and perceptions are the ultimate truth. However, this leads to harmful ideologies, such as a person who in their perception of reality, that their race is superior. We cannot simply create our own reality that suits us. This is Satan's goal. The objective authority of the Bible makes it clear that there is no superior race, that no people are truly good, and that there is only one way to salvation, which is through faith in Jesus.
You Do You
"That is my ambition, to have killed more people, more helpless people than any man or woman who has ever lived … Can't I set my own rules? Who owns me? I own myself." — Jeffrey Dahmer
The tragic story of Jeffrey Dahmer serves as a heartbreaking and sobering reminder of the potential consequences of a mindset without objective truths. Jeffrey Dahmer, also known as the "Milwaukee Cannibal," was an American serial killer and sex offender who murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. He committed these heinous crimes while operating under the guise of his own subjective truths, which allowed him to justify and rationalize his actions.
The idiom "you do you" is often used as a way to encourage people to be true to themselves and live their lives according to their own beliefs and values. However, it implies that one's personal beliefs and perceptions are infallible and should not be questioned or challenged.
In the "you do you" culture of today, we are taught that we need to respect the beliefs and values of all people regardless of objective truth. When we don’t know the condition of a person’s heart or what literal skeletons they may be hiding, blindly encouraging people to live their lives according to their own beliefs and values is beyond dangerous.
Love, on the other hand, is founded on objective truths. It is not permissive, but rather it calls for discernment and accountability. Having a "You do you" mentality is the opposite of love, even making your heart just as objectively guilty as the person whose distorted personal truths cause harm. We must approach with caution, compassion, and accountability, recognizing that there may be unseen "skeletons" lurking within a person's heart and that love truly speaks truth from an objective standpoint in a loving and compassionate way.
It is easy to look at Dahmer and view him as a monster. We must remember that he was a human being who was influenced by his own subjective beliefs and values. Dahmer's actions were heinous, and he committed horrific acts of murder and sexual abuse.
Jeffrey Dahmer is obviously an extreme example that falls on the far end of the personal morality spectrum. But, we can’t ignore that it is a spectrum and we all fall somewhere in that same spectrum with none of us achieving perfect goodness. We are all sinners regardless of what we subjectively or objectively view as wrong.
The Bible teaches that the only way to be saved from the judgment of sin and death is through faith in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose again to give us eternal life. This is not a subjective or personal truth, but an objective fact, and it is the only road that leads to Heaven. By placing your faith in Jesus, you will be reconciled to God, forgiven of your sins, and receive the promise of eternal life.