Embracing the Truth

“I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me” (Psalm 119:30).  In the previous verse, David asks God to keep him faithful to His law and to protect him from all false ways.  Our choosing the way of truth is an effect of God’s grace.  No one will decide to follow the truth and reject error who has not first experienced the drawing power of God’s grace.  Jesus Himself said that “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44).  The Lord comes to us in mercy and truth.  In His mercy He doesn’t deal with us in the way our sins deserve.  All that He does to draw us to Himself is done in mercy.  He draws us by the truth, by revealing to us the true way to happiness.  The way by which we come to Him is what the gospel reveals.  It is the glorious way of true religion, as opposed to all the false ways of human invention.  When people turn their back on the true God, they are endless in seeking out false gods.  God has permitted many disputes in the world about the way of truth and even different opinions within the church.  I think one reason for this is so that those who do embrace the truth will do so with a strong grip, with a settled conviction after carefully searching the evidence, and with deep affection.  No person can be saved without fully embracing two things: first, that God is the ultimate and final goal of life, and second, that Jesus Christ is the only way of attaining that end.  The first implies that we must subject our sinful wills to His, and the second implies that in ourselves we are helpless to do so.