True(ish)
(John 14:6 NIV) Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
RELATIVISM – The belief that truth and morality is relative to the individual or culture. There is no absolute truth.
Common True[ish] Beliefs
1) God wants me
(2 Timothy 4:3-4 NIV) For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
Typical progression when we believe the bottom line is happiness
God wants me
Truth = whatever makes me
Happiness becomes the
Since God wants me happy, anything that doesn’t make me happy must be
Without knowing it, I begin to worship the god of
(Ecclesiastes 2:8-11 NLT) I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire!
9 So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me. 10 Anything I wanted; I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. 11 But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
We falsely believe: nicer things + peaceful circumstances + enjoyable experiences + the right relationship + the perfect appearance = HAPPINESS.
2) God
(Ephesians 5:3-8 NLT) Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. 4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. 5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. 7 Don’t participate in the things these people do. 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!
Our generation tries to use the bible to excuse sin.
(2 Corinthians 7:10 NLT) For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.
When we realize there is sin in our lives, we often try to:
Instead, we need to: