The Sound of the Trumpet:  To preserve, publish, proclaim, plant, protect, and propagate the Abrahamic
Faith.  A publication of the Carolina and Georgia Conferences of the Churches of God of the Abrahamic Faith.
Sincerity, Morality, or Truth:  Which is more Important?
By Harry Sheets



JUST how important is truth in the plan of salvation? Does it really make much difference what we believe? Isn't sincerity much
more to be desired than truth? Isn't right living the deciding factor in salvation, rather than truth? These and other similar
questions, are frequently encountered in conversation with people. Sometimes, we fear, these questions are asked by those
who want to dodge responsibility for studying God's Word. Many other people are earnest and sincere and are really seeking
information. Perhaps these questions have been bothering you, so we would like to consider the importance of truth.

Jesus at the Well
Jesus, when talking to the Samaritan woman at the well, said to her: "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we
know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in
spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and
truth. " (John 4:23, 24, R.S.V.).

Let us analyze this teaching of Jesus. Jesus indicated that there was a time when God accepted blind worship, if such worship
was done in the spirit of worship, or with proper frame of mind. Apparently, this was what many of the Samaritans were doing.
They were worshiping without true knowledge. Jesus told the woman that the time had arrived when it was neccessary to
worship in spirit and truth. No longer was blind worship sufficient. Truth was made a necessary ingredient of worship.

Paul, furthermore, tells us that the Father is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and truth. Then he adds this
uncompromising statement, "Those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. " Worship in spirit, or sincerity of mind, is
not enough, neither is it sufficient just to have the truth. When one has the combination of sincerity and truth, then he can
worship as he should. Paul recognized the importance of truth when he warned the Galatians against following another
gospel. So strong was his conviction, that he pronounced a curse upon anyone who would preach any other gospel. Paul
would be considered narrow-minded today, but, since he spoke by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we must accept his
statement as the only correct and safe one to follow.

The Word of Truth
In Acts 17:11, Paul praised the Bereans for being "more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with
all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. " Searching the Scriptures was their
only safeguard, for in this way only, could they be certain of believing the truth. James 1:18 tells us of God, "Of his own will
begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures. " It is through truth that we are
begotten as sons of God. Belief in a falsehood cannot possibly make us sons of God. When we have studied until we know we
have the basic truths of the Bible, then we can say with Paul in Romans 8:16, 17, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our
spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we
suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."

David tells us, in Psalm 96:13, that when the Lord comes He will "judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his
truth. " To be on the right side of the judgment, we should know the truth. Jesus said, "The truth shall make you free. "

In the first chapter of Romans, Paul accused the Gentiles of being sinners before God. One of the specific charges that he
made against them was that they "changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature, more than the
Creator, who is blessed for ever. " Turning truth into falsehood is a human trait. Paul, who was sent to the Gentiles, accused
the Gentiles of such practices, and Jesus, who was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, accused the Jews of
"teaching for doctrine the commandments of men. " These false teachings were believed, followed, and defended for truth.
The people who believed these falsehoods are not going to be excused in the day of judgment. Paul warned the Romans that
the judgment of God would be "according to truth" (2:2).

The Gentiles paid a frightful price for turning the truth of God into a lie. Notice the words of Paul in Romans 1:24, 26,
"Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies
between themselves. . . . For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections. " Read the rest of chapter one of Romans for
the sordid picture of what happens to people who depart from the truth of God's Word.

Worship God
The beginning of the downfall of the Gentiles was their willingness to worship the creature more than the Creator. Which are
you honoring the more, the gift or the Giver ? Remember, we are told to worship God in spirit and in truth. Are you doing it?

Paul wrote a grave warning to Timothy of what would happen in the last days, saying, "The time is coming when people will not
endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will
turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths" (2 Tim. 4:3, 4, R.S.V.).

How true that is today! People reject the teachings of the Bible. They are not studying to see if what they believe is in
harmony with the Scriptures. It has been said, and I believe it would be true, that if Jesus were to return to the earth and start
out as an itinerant preacher, the same as before, preaching the same pure gospel, He would be rejected by this generation
as surely as He was by those who lived two thousand years ago. The gospel Jesus preached is seldom preached today, and
when it is preached, it is rejected. People do not want sound teaching today, any more than they did in Jesus' day.

Paul warned the Thessalonian brethren of the coming deception. Paul speaks of one "even him, whose coming is after the
working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish; because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them
strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness " (2 Thess. 2:9-12).

Last-day people, given over to judgment because they will not accept and believe the truth! In contrast, notice the words of
Paul for the faithful, "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth " (2 Tim. 2:13).

What a contrast! One group was given over to deception and judgment because they would not believe the truth, and the
other group was sanctified by the Spirit because they believed the truth.