It seems that more people are undergoing surgery than ever before.  It is not a pleasant experience.  Don’t they know that it will be painful?  Don’t they know that their loved ones will have anxious moments in the waiting room?  So why have surgery?    The answer is that people usually have some kind of pain or discomfort, or tests such as x-rays reveal that they have some kind of problem, and doctors tell them that the best solution is to have surgery.  It is not a pleasant thing to hear, but the alternative would be even worse.  Doctors know that it is important for the patient to hear the truth.  

If the doctors just told patients what they wanted to hear, that there was nothing wrong, it would sound like good news.  But if a patient really needed surgery and was not told, the consequences could be devastating.  So, even though no one wants to hear that surgery is needed, it is much better to know the truth, even when that means we must be told that we have a serious problem.

All of us have a serious spiritual problem called sin.  Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Our sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2).  This is referred to in the Bible as spiritual death.  The word death simply means separation.  Physical death occurs when the soul leaves the body.  Spiritual death is the separation of man from God.  Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.”

In Ephesians 2, Paul told the Christians that they had been dead in trespasses and sins, but they had been made alive through Christ.  Matthew 1:21 tells us that Jesus will save His people from their sins.  Regardless of what some people may believe, Jesus is the only savior.  He said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  Peter said in Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  No one else can save us from sin.  That is the truth (John 17:17).

In order to be saved from sin, we must obey Jesus.  In John 12:48, Jesus says, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him – the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.”  We must be doers of the word, and not hearers only (James 1:22).  Jesus asks in Luke 6:46, “But why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say?”  The only way to be freed from sin is to obey the truth.  Truth is important!  Don’t make the mistake of obeying the wrong orders.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”  This is just one of many such warnings found in God’s word.  When we accept spiritual teaching, we must make sure that it comes from God.  Don’t accept something simply because it sounds good.  Proverbs 14:12 warns of a way that seems right, but it ends with death.

Jesus said in John 8:32, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  We may not like to hear it, but only the truth will save us.  Peter tells us that we purify our souls by obeying the truth (I Peter 1:22).  It is important that we study the Bible to make sure the things we are taught are true.  Don’t accept anything but the Bible.

The Bereans “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so,” (Acts 17:11).  That is wise.  Only the truth will save.  If a person is led to believe he is saved before he obeys God’s commandments, and he dies in that condition, he will have learned the truth too late.  Those who believe and obey a lie will be condemned (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).  Make sure what you obey is what the Bible teaches.