What do you think the opposite of the truth is? A lie, you may say. Yeah, a lie is the opposite of truth in a way. But the true opposite of truth is evil. We see this from 1 Corinthians 13, where Paul talks about the nature of love. In verse 6, it says, “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” (NIV).

Love, or God I should say, rejoices with truth and is not delighted in evil. Anything evil can be the opposite of truth. Truth is God’s standard for life, and that truth is Jesus Christ. And a life lived in any other way than the truth is just a variation of evil, for the opposite of truth is always evil.

In Ephesians 6:13, it is Paul’s invitation for how to live as a winner in spiritual warfare, mentioning every piece of armor a Christian must have when in battle with the evil one. One of the pieces of armor mentioned was a belt of truth girded around our waist. Just as a belt has the nature to hold up tightly all of our clothes on our bodies, so does truth hold together all our spiritual armor on the spiritual battle days.

We live in a world where there is this concept called the relativity of truth, which supports the coexistence of different truths together. I am free to believe what I think is right regarding any and everything, and someone else who thinks the exact opposite can coexist with me in peace. This way of life we have embraced in the name of modernism may be functional for existence in the carnal world, but for us Christians, there is only one true way of life called Jesus (John 14:6).This truth is the only truth that erases all the prior truth-seeming concepts that shaped our former lives.

By accepting this new truth of salvation that is in Jesus, we are empowered by the Spirit of the Lord to live a life of true righteousness.

The concept of the truth of Jesus stands in contrast to the many truths that arise as trends throughout life. The current trend of truth is “self,” which places the self at the center of life and encourages us to live according to its will. But the truth that we are invited to gird ourselves with is a truth that calls us to deny ourselves and live for the only truth that aligns with the standard of righteousness. As a saved person in Christ, I no longer live for the desires or will of my truth, but for what the Bible says to be true and right.

Although this new truth is bold by its nature, it is not as loud as our old way of life, which is always trying to soak us back into the counterfeit truths we used to live by. Evil is so loud that it seems like we will have the most fun when we are living for the world on our own terms of truth. It all comes down to this: evil has to be shiny and loud to attract us, for there isn’t much it can offer apart from empty shimmer. This empty shimmer is an illusion that guides us into deception with empty promises.

The world does this by distracting us for the most part, and shine is the easiest distraction we can be swayed by. If we are distracted, we lose our focus to reflect and understand that we are walking in deception, and miss the chance to get back on track.

Jesus didn’t preach a gospel so shiny that people couldn’t resist but follow. No, Jesus preached a gospel about self-denial, so rooted in the truth of God that many who first followed Him later unfollowed Him to pursue their own version of truth.

Truth is a reality, not a perspective. A perspective can be influenced by one’s own understanding of the world. As the saying goes, “We don’t see things as they are, but as we are.” But a reality is the truth, unaffected by anyone or anything shaking its ground. The only right perspective of who Jesus is, is the perspective of the Word of God.

When it comes to the topic of truth and relative truth, we must ensure that we are not following our own perspective of Jesus instead of the actual truth of Jesus, while thinking we are following Him. If we are following a perspective of Jesus that is not backed by the Bible, we are following our own version of Jesus, one that suits our way of life. And any version of Jesus that is not revealed through the truth of the Word of God is evil, for the opposite of truth is always evil.

In his sermon called Knock-off Jesus, Pastor John Bevere walks through the stories of many who think they believe in Jesus, when in reality they believe in a version of Jesus they created to validate their own standard or way of life. The nature of this “Jesus” varies depending on the nature of the number of people who like to follow Him. These people are just like the Israelites who exchanged the true image of God for the image of a golden calf while Moses was on the mountain with God on their behalf.

“…This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32:4)

This God called Yahweh seemed too scary to approach—His presence made the mountain burn. Or He seemed too complicated to understand—He had too many prerequisites before He would come. Or too slow to make His point—He had taken Moses, and it had already been 40 days. In situations like this, they found it easier and more comfortable to create a version of Yahweh that aligned with their old way of life. That turned out to be the golden calf that provoked God’s wrath.

Romans 1:22–23 says, “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles” (NIV).

First of all, these people claimed to be wise, and in doing so, they were acting in direct opposition to Proverbs 3:5, which says, “…and lean not on your own understanding…” By leaning on their own wisdom to decide what to worship, their understanding deceived them into exchanging the glory of the immortal God for something mortal.

Whatever their hearts desired, they shaped it into objects of worship, exchanging the glory of God for their desires and then validating those actions by labeling them as holy acts of worship. That is a dangerous place to be, because when we’re in that state, any attempt by the truth to convict us is filtered through our self-made version of Jesus, one that comforts us into contentment with our actions.

It is absolutely essential that we constantly compare our own conception of God against the reality of who God is as revealed in His Word. We can also be guilty of worshipping a self-made God.

When we see how many times the truth is mentioned in the Bible, we recognize God’s heart for us to walk in truth. Looking at how Jesus preached the good news of the gospel throughout His ministry, we can see that living in truth is not easy. The most troubling part is that we can be captive to the so-called “truth” of the world, under the grip of the evil one, yet still believe we are living in freedom.

That’s what happened in the time of Jesus: the Truth, personified, appeared,and they missed Him.

To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31–32). There is a way of life that once held us captive, but we break free from it by the knowledge of Jesus, for knowing the truth sets one free.

Living in truth requires a surrendered life to God’s truth, which often does not align with our personal version of truth. It demands constant self-denial and a willingness to rely on the truth the Bible defines as the right way of life.

Spiritual warfare doesn’t begin with a scary demon appearing at our door. It starts in the seemingly small ways the enemy tries to pull us away from living in the victory of Jesus. We can only be protected by having God’s truth wrapped around us, girding our waist. Knowing the truth leads us to walk in truth, and as we surrender our lives to it, no lie can stand against the truth of Jesus Christ.

1. Guzik, D. (n.d.). Romans 1 – The human race guilty before God. Enduring Word
2. Bevere, J. (2023, January 24). John Bevere | A knock off Jesus | Oceans Conference 2023 [Video]. Oceans Church.
3. Jeremiah, D. (2024, May 10). The girdle of truth | Dr. David Jeremiah | Ephesians 6:14 [Video]. David Jeremiah.