In a culture that constantly reshapes truth like a fashion trend, many wonder where the firm foundation for belief and practice can be found. The modern mind, bombarded with relativism, often asks, “What is true?” Yet Scripture declares, “You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32, ESV). The recent review of Bruce A. Little’s Why Truth Matters: Francis Schaeffer on True Spirituality, Christ’s Lordship, and Inerrancy invites us to revisit a twentieth‑century voice who warned that without Christ’s lordship and the inerrant Scriptures, all knowledge collapses into uncertainty. Read the source article.
Humanity’s Broken View of Truth
Before we can appreciate the remedy, we must diagnose the problem. The Bible paints a stark picture of humanity’s fallen condition.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23, ESV).
Our sin has not only corrupted our hearts but also distorted our intellect. The psalmist cries, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9, ESV). In the modern era, this deceit manifests as a split between the “lower story” of scientific fact and the “upper story” of meaning, morality, and beauty—a split that Francis Schaeffer identified as the result of a worldview that rejects a sovereign God.
When the Bible is relegated to a mere historical document, or when truth is treated as a personal preference, we lose the objective standard that grounds both knowledge and ethics. The result is a culture that values efficiency over holiness, and relativism over revelation.
Christ’s Person and Work: The Only Ground for Truth
The gospel offers the decisive answer. Jesus Himself claimed exclusive authority over truth:
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, ESV).
Because He is the incarnate Word (John 1:1, 14), His life, death, and resurrection validate the Scriptures as trustworthy and infallible.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17, ESV).
Christ’s lordship does not retreat from the “upper story.” Rather, He reigns over every sphere of life—science, art, politics, and personal ambition—because He is the Creator of all that exists (Colossians 1:15-17, ESV). In Him, the “upper” and “lower” stories are unified: truth is not a luxury for the spiritual elite but a reality that informs every decision, from the laboratory to the living room.
Francis Schaeffer’s insistence that true spirituality means “a moment‑by‑moment life of faith grounded in the inerrant Word” echoes the apostolic call to live under Christ’s authority in every arena (Ephesians 5:1-2, ESV). The gospel does not ask believers to abandon the world, but to redeem it by submitting every thought and action to the King of kings.
Living Out the Lordship of Christ
How does a believer apply this high‑calling in a world that constantly pulls us toward compromise? Below are practical steps rooted in Scripture.
1. Ground Your Thinking in the Inerrant Word
- Begin each day with a passage of Scripture, asking the Holy Spirit to illuminate its truth (Psalm 119:105, ESV).
- Test every cultural claim against the biblical narrative; if the claim contradicts God’s revealed truth, reject it (Acts 17:11, ESV).
2. Submit All Vocation to Christ
- View your work as a ministry field. Whether you teach, code, or care for a family, ask, “How does this honor the Creator of all?” (Colossians 3:23-24, ESV).
- Reject the temptation to use “secular techniques” that compromise biblical ethics (Romans 12:2, ESV).
3. Cultivate True Spirituality
- Practice continual yielding: daily repentance, prayer, and obedience, not a one‑time decision (Luke 9:23, ESV).
- Engage the community of believers for accountability, remembering that “iron sharpens iron” (Proverbs 27:17, ESV).
4. Defend the Faith with Grace
- When confronting relativism, speak the truth in love, pointing to the hope found in Christ (1 Peter 3:15, ESV).
- Share the gospel narrative, not merely arguments, because the heart is changed by the story of the Cross (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, ESV).
The Gospel Proclaimed
All our efforts to hold to truth are futile without the power of the Cross. Humanity is broken—
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23, ESV).
—and stands under God’s righteous judgment. Yet God’s love is displayed in the sacrificial death of His Son, who “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age” (Galatians 1:4, ESV). He rose again, conquering death and confirming the reliability of His promises (1 Corinthians 15:17-20, ESV). By trusting in this work, we receive forgiveness, are adopted into His family, and are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live under Christ’s lordship in every sphere of life.
Therefore, let us reject the relativistic allure of the modern age and cling to the unchanging truth of God’s Word. May the gospel of Jesus Christ be the foundation upon which we build our knowledge, our morality, and our art, so that every thought and deed brings glory to Him who is “the truth” (John 14:6, ESV). The invitation is simple: repent of the lie that truth is optional, place your faith in Christ alone, and walk in the new life He offers.
