(The Answer Might Surprise You)
Are you ready for some philosophy?
There has always been one question humans wrestle with: the one or the many—the objective or the subjective. Is truth something objective—transcendent, fixed, outside of us—that we all must conform to? Or is truth personal and subjective, something each person defines for themselves?
Is there really an absolute truth we need to submit to? Or is truth something flexible, shaped by our experiences, feelings, and perspectives?
If truth is purely objective, it can feel restrictive—like being forced into a mold that doesn’t quite fit. Fun story, there’s a Greek myth about a villain named Procrustes who offered travelers a bed, but forced them to fit exactly. If a guest was too long, Procrustes amputated their legs. If they were too short, he stretched them with a hammer or rack. It represents any situation where reality, data, or people are forced into a preconceived mold and offered a one-size-fits all solution often destroying what makes them unique. And in the same way, objective truth can feel like something imposed on us, something we have to conform to whether we like it or not.
But on the other hand, if truth is entirely subjective—if everyone has their own version of truth—then what actually holds us together? Doesn’t that eventually dissolve into a world where truth loses meaning altogether? If everyone defines truth for themselves, then in the end, does truth even exist in any real sense?
Back in ancient Greece, the philosopher Protagoras said, “Man is the measure of all things”—that truth is whatever each person believes it to be. But this idea didn’t go unchallenged. Socrates pushed back on it in a really insightful way, he said: If all truths are equally true, then even the statement “truth is not subjective” would also have to be true… which contradicts the whole idea.
I’ve been pulled in both directions before. I’ve been in a legalistic religion where we’re told we better fit into the mold or we weren’t anything. And I also live in a world where some can’t clearly define what a woman is.
One side crushes you under rigid expectations—you’re constantly trying to measure up, constantly aware that you don’t quite fit. The other side leaves you unanchored—everything is fluid, everything is shifting, and nothing feels solid enough to stand on.
One demands conformity without relationship; the other offers freedom without truth. But what I’ve come to see is that neither of these is what Jesus offers.
So it truth one or many? Is it objective or subjective?
Jesus cuts the Gordian knot. He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Truth is not merely a principle to follow or a perspective to adopt—it is a Person to know.
Christianity is unique. All other religious founders basically say: “I know the way to eternal life and I can show you the way to get there. Here’s what you must do to be worthy.” You must live a particular kind of life and embody a particular kind of virtue and character to be worthy.
Or maybe you don’t believe in eternal life or heaven. But what about just wanting a happy life in the present? Isn’t that what everyone is pursuing? A better job. A better house. A better body. More friends. More followers. Don’t we all believe that if we just work hard enough, we can become our best selves and finally live our best lives? That if we could just get there, then we’d be satisfied? Our world is constantly flooding us with messages about how to live a better life—what to do, who to be, how to improve. And underneath it all is the same idea: Keep striving. Keep climbing. You’ll get there eventually.
But it’s not so with Jesus. In fact, Jesus said He came not to call those who think they’re righteous, but those who know they’re sinners. (Luke 5:32) Paul says in Romans 4 that God saves and justifies the ungodly apart from anything they do. Christianity says salvation is by FREE GRACE, not human effort.
Why? Because Christianity says you’re not saved by the way you live your life or the virtues you have, you’re saved by Jesus’s life. We can never truly fulfill the requirements of the law, or live out the ten commandments perfectly. Only Jesus does, and God requires perfection for salvation. Salvation is not earned by our virtues—it is received by faith in His life, death, and resurrection.
That’s why Jesus doesn’t say, “I can show you the way to eternal life.” He says, “I am the life.” Unless you receive His life as yours, salvation is impossible on your own.
John 6:27-29 – Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
Notice here the crowd asks Jesus what they must do to be doing the works of God and Jesus says, this is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent. He was essentially telling them it’s not through working, but through believing. Belief is trusting that Jesus has done perfectly what we could never do ourselves. Jesus is the only human to have ever lived the perfect life. Jesus has loved God with all His heart, strength, and mind when you couldn’t. Jesus loved His neighbor as Himself when you couldn’t. When you believe this, you have eternal life.
There are many people who think believing in Jesus is the first step to eternal life and then after that you need to continue climbing to reach the top. That’s not Biblical. Jesus didn’t come to be your good example to show you how to get to heaven, Jesus came to die for your sins to secure your salvation.
Another example is at the pool of Bethesda with the invalid man of 38 years.
John 5:6-7
Jesus asked him, ““Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”
What’s happening here?
Jesus asks the man if he wants to be healed. But instead of simply saying, “Yes, please heal me,” the man replies, “I have nobody to help me get into the water. I’d really love it if you would help me.”
If we’re honest, we’re often no different. We want Jesus to partner with us in earning our salvation. We pray, “Jesus, give me the strength to be a good person. Help me be good enough to be saved.”
But in doing this, we’re not acknowledging that Jesus is our salvation—the way, the truth, and the life.Instead, we treat Him like a tool to help us become better, happier, or more secure. We use Jesus as a means to an end.
We often pray, “Yes, Jesus, please help me get my salvation,” instead of saying, “Jesus, You are my salvation.” We look to Him to give us joy, significance, and security, rather than resting in the truth that He already is our joy, significance, and security. We don’t need to get into the water to be saved—if we have Him, we already have everything we need.
So is truth objective or subjective?
Jesus doesn’t fit neatly into either category. He doesn’t say truth is something abstract “out there,” nor does He say truth is something we create within ourselves. Instead, He says, “I am the truth.” Truth is not merely a principle to follow or a perspective to adopt—it is a Person to know.
In Jesus, truth is both objective and personal: unchanging and real, yet relational and knowable. He doesn’t force us into a mold, nor does He leave us to define truth on our own. Instead, He invites us into a relationship where truth is not just something we believe—but Someone we encounter, trust, and follow.
In Him, truth isn’t something that crushes our spirit or personality. It’s something that truly sets us free—not in a superficial way, but in a way that leads to eternal life and makes us whole. Truth isn’t a set of religious rules or a program for becoming your best self. Truth is a Person—the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ Himself.
When we believe in the One God has sent, we aren’t just looking for a good teacher to show us the way to salvation. We are trusting that Jesus is the One God sent to save us. Believe it and be saved! So simple and yet so profound!
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16
