(Ver 1.0) This is an answer to two questions received recently about where the best resources are found for learning, knowing, and understanding what truth is. Do we need to go to a Bible school or seminary to find truth? Are there great printed books or are there great resource materials on the internet for knowing the truth. Are these materials and resources available for a cost or are there also some that are free?

We should all know going to any book, printed material, school, seminary, college, etc. costs money. If money is no object, there are several resources that could be recommended.  However, since the invention and rise of the internet in the 1990’s, called the information highway by some, the amounts of data that has been accumulated and is being made available is astronomically increasing at a staggering rate exponentially and most of this good information is free.  Praise the Lord!

There are some exceptions, but most of the information on the internet is free and that is great. However, the problem rises very soon for us to be able to discern correctly which resource is legitimate truth and which ones are designed to mislead you, program you, or even to eventually deceive and destroy your faith and belief in the True and Living God. With the new rise of Artificial Intelligence within Applications and Websites, this is also a potential troubling concern for some people to realize and ask a basic question about, who is trying to control what you see and know and why are they limiting the information and spread of free speech.

These are some of the things we will address from a Biblical World View perspective. Yes, we are firm believers that the Bible is the source of ALL Ultimate Unchangeable Truth because it came out of the mouth of God to be written down for us to learn TRUTH. If this belief offends you, you are potentially in the right place to learn how to know for sure if what you believe is true or not.

What is Truth?

What is Truth? Is it different for everyone? Does Truth change? Or is it just our knowledge that changes our perception of “Truth”. Or is there an “Absolute Truth” that will never change? If there is “Absolute Truth” where is it found? Let us start with one definition of truth. 

Truth is defined by some as “reality”. Truth is also defined by some to be “the state of things as they are”. Others define truth to be “facts”.

While all of that is good, it is all very subjective depending on what your basic groundwork of “fact” and “truth” is. If you are grounded upon the Bible, you are on a firm foundation. If you base your “fact checking” on the government, media, or internet, you are potentially being misled into believing “lies” to be “truth”.

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

According to Jesus, God’s Word is the resource for Truth. Who can argue with God?

Do You Hunger and Thirst for God’s Truth?

Psa 107:9  For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 

One of the key factors for learning truth is for us to possess a very strong hunger and thirst (internal desire) to seek and search for it. It would be like someone that was lost in the Sahara Desert and was dying of thirst. They would be in desperate search for this liquid substance to live. This is the attitude we must possess for learning God’s truth. Only His Words can give us spiritual eternal “life” (Jn 6:63). But to give diligent search for water is not passive, it requires work to search to find it:

Mat 7:7  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Mat 7:8  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Today TRUTH is not being presented everywhere you see and hear things. This hungry desire is based upon what Jesus said in Matthew 7:7-8. Here Jesus said we are required to do 3 things, 1) Ask, 2) Seek, and 3) Knock and it will be given, found, and opened to us (applying to many things, but certainly including knowing the truth). You may have heard of “Fake News” recently and this exists everywhere, and this revelation implies strongly that there should be a search for “Real News”. This applies to TRUTH also. There is “Fake Information” being presented as “TRUTH” everywhere also.

For the past 35 years I have been consumed with obtaining, knowing, and understanding all of God’s truth that I am able to receive.  In doing so I have discovered and confirmed without any doubt this book called the Bible is the most amazing, intelligently designed, and wisely written book ever. It could have only originated from a very powerful supernatural being living outside of time and who was able to view and personally influence the over 40 men that recorded the letters and words written on every page. This means God All Knowing and God Almighty. No other source is even remotely possible. 

This book called the Bible is also the all-time bestselling book in human history. The words have been translated into more languages than we are able to learn or know completely. This means this book has the potential power to radically save more than 8 billion people on the planet.  This also means the Gospel is going forth into all the world and Jesus could be returning any second.

How can I make this claim that the Bible is so amazingly designed? I was a computer software engineer for many years.  Working in this environment, God taught me at least three things through this incredible experience. These are 1) the reality of every intelligent design only comes from an intelligent designer, 2) there is a critical need to give attention to every detail found in the design, even the most minor ones, and 3) there are requirements, laws, and rules to maintain order, so that any information and data can be created, understood and for it to be made useful.

For example, any language that will be written must have a basic alphabet. Each alphabet letter has specific rules of design, including shape, size, sounds, etc. These are just fundamental rules to create an understandable book. If you have been reading this website long you are discovering the great order and meaning of the Ancient Hebrew alphabet letters having very significant prophetical meanings about the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, just like a complex software system did not create itself, neither did 40+ non-collaborating men create 66 books within over 1500 years of spread-out time span, and this just happen by accident.  Neither could all these men have created a book that harmonizes and reveals the most amazing information that is possible without an unexplainable outside influence. This just could not happen by chance. When discovered this created book could have only come from God who created everything. This is why Satan, and his world hates this book and have been doing everything possible to eliminate it from being spread and taught. No other book has been so extraordinarily band from nations, schools, cities, governments, etc.   

Second, when you begin to pay attention to every detail of the Bible you begin to realize the extreme intelligence of the designer.  For example, in a computer software language that is used to create written programs and applications, they all have rules and details of structure. Every detail in the Bible’s design matters, exactly like every detail in a software design.

For example, a very old computer language called COBOL, created English like statements. For example, “ADD CURRENT-INPUT-VALUE TO TOTAL.” is a very readable English computer statement based upon simple readable and understandable rules. To be used by a computer it must be “compiled” into machine language to convert what we can easily read into what the designer of the machine’s rules can process. Uh oh? This sounds like the Bible significantly.  Do you remember these statements in the Bible:

Isa 55:8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 

What we observe in the Bible are two conflicting rule systems. God’s thoughts and ways are so much higher than a human. We can also see our natural thinking ways are an enemy to how the Spirit of God sees everything. God’s Laws and yes, God operates under self-imposed rules, limitations, constraints of behavior and moral character that a natural unsaved human does not normally conform to. For example, Numbers 23:19 says “God is not a man that He should lie”. This means humans potentially lie continually, where as God will never do this.

Therefore, understand that there are differences of rules, and laws found in the Spiritual design of the Bible that need to be learned with the help of God the Author, for us to begin to understand what was written.  Missing one spiritual rule, is like missing one specific “period” in one certain statement of the computer COBOL language that could cause the entire intended meaning to change. Therefore, like COBOL teaches us that every single letter and punctuation brought meaning to the designer’s design, so it is with the Bible.

Every computer system has imperfections and weaknesses. These are called “bugs” in computerese. But the Bible was written by God to give man the right of freewill choice. This designed choice gives unsaved humans the illusion of flaws causing those to not understand it, but to those who want to know the truth, the details are made known to us by God personally living inside of us to open our ability to understand. This alone proves it is the most amazing book ever.

The Bible is a book written from the level of an omniscient being speaking to people who know nothing in comparison. Yet we can grow in the knowledge of its content and meaning with His help through our very diligent study. This is why most people don’t have a clue what this book says or means, because it is written by the most intelligent Spirit, and we are all barely like 2-year-old children in comparison.

The third reality I learned from the experience with computers and with studying the Bible, is the requirement to understand there are rules behind everything that is written to make any of it understandable, useful, and working in our life. Think of a box of alphabet letters like the game Scrabble pieces. If you shook them out and scattered them on a board in random order, what words would you spell. In most likelihood, none. Therefore, to create understandable and meaningful words we must follow the rules of the language, and this requires intelligent design. So, it is with the Bible.

Just like an ignorant 2-year-old would not understand a complex software system written in Java, so the Bible is the same for someone that does not want to know God.

The Bible students that asked the questions and left the comments are like many others today that have the drive, hunger, passion, and desire to grow to know God’s actual truth. In comparison, there was another recent commenter that said the Bible studies on this website were not read entirely because they are too long.  This could be an example of someone that could be partially committed to learning God’s Word, because of being too distracted by the cares of this world.  To find the truth, Jesus said very clearly that we must “continue” in the Word, until we know the truth. This means no one but God fully knows the truth, and we must continue without stopping, making it our priority.

What I have noticed about successful Bible study are that people that were fully committed to know and hear from God spent whatever time was necessary to hear from God, because it was that valuable and necessary to them. Personal time spent has a much more valuable return on investment, than all the money that could be spent for materials. 

For example, check out in Matthew 15 when Jesus was teaching nearly 10,000 people. He stood there teaching them for almost three days and they were so hungry for the Words that He shared with them that they no doubt slept on the ground and had not eaten in three days.  And then notice how this spiritual hunger example, compares with someone that does not want to spend a couple of hours to read or listen to one Bible lesson. Who is hungry? Are you that hungry that if Jesus was speaking outside of your city, you would walk out to hear him teach for 3 days? Who has this deep desire to know God and His truth.  If you had any comprehension how many hours were spent hearing from God to write these lessons, and how much time it saved you from doing the same, a couple of hours is nothing to possibly learn one new thing that you have potentially never seen or heard before.

What are Good Bible Knowledge Sources?

What are some good sources for learning God’s knowledgeable viewpoint of His truth?  Where and how do I gain the knowledge of God’s Truth.  Number one is from the personal reading and studying of the Bible which is the source of all truth. But second is to be led by the Spirit because it is God who authored the entire book. And never forget that He is the Spirit of Truth (Jn 14:17) who leads us into all Truth (Jn 16;13). Without His help we will never find the truth because the human carnal mind alone is just like a two-year-old that is just incapable of seeing and understanding spiritual truth. Thank God, He gave us a helper named the Holy Spirit.  

Before I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit like occurred in Acts 2, I understood nothing that was written in the Bible.  After receiving this experience, He was the ultimate factor that changed me forever and He is our greatest asset to knowing the real Truth, because He is the Spirit of Truth that wrote the book (John 14:7).  

However, the revelation knowledge of the Word was not automatic just by being born again, and then receiving the Holy Spirit baptism. The Holy Spirit led me to ask for it, and this was what began an insatiable hunger and thirst for the greatest quest for knowing Him and everything that He has revealed for us to know about Him.

What happened one morning while I was praying in the Spirit. I found myself suddenly asking God for no reason to give me revelation knowledge of His word. Many months later I discovered this prayer was written in the Bible as a prayer that Paul prayed for the church at Ephesus. In Ephesians 1:16-23. I highly recommend everyone pray this prayer for themselves. Ask the Lord to give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

After praying this prayer, I noticed while reading and studying the Bible, the words, phrases, and verses that I read would suddenly just come alive to my spirit and leap off the page. I began to see things, know things, and understand things that I had never seen or heard before. It brought such joy, amazement and wonder that it is truly indescribable.

Notice what I said. The same exact words on the page did not change, it was me that God was changing through living inside me and helping me to understand what they meant to Him.  Remember God says His thoughts and ways of thinking are much higher than any lost unlearned and ignorant human.

The next greatest source for obtains the Truth of the Bible is by reading and listening to God’s called humans that are anointed by His Holy Spirit to be teachers of His Word.  I have listened to hundreds of different teachers and have learned something great from them all.  

I am one of those many teachers. I will never claim to be the most important one or the only one that you should learn from.  I am not the all-knowing God. No human knows it all like our God. God purposefully does not give all revelation to anyone.

Bible teachers are like natural doctors and physicians. They are often gifted in certain specialties while others are like general practitioners that try to help everyone grow stronger in the basic knowledge of the truth.   

Remember that no one except God knows 100% of the truth.  Therefore, when we are learning the Bible, we want to judge what a teacher says using two sources of guaranteed Truth.  These are the Bible and the Holy Spirit author that lives inside of us. That is IF you have made Him your Lord and asked Him to come live in your heart.

My favorite non-Bible quote is by Will Rogers. He said, “We are all ignorant, only about different things.”  Keep this in mind when learning from every Bible teacher, including me.   Never accept everything said to be Truth.  But also, never reject anything they say because you have never heard it or don’t believe it is not the Truth.

Prove with your own individual study if it agrees with what you can see the Bible says and what the Holy Spirit inside witnesses to you about what is being taught. He knows whether you do or not.  Become a Berean Bible student like Acts 17:11. They were open-minded and ever willing to learn something new. But they also confirmed what was taught with their own Bible study.  One Bible teacher said be as wise as old cows, eat the good straw and spit out the sticks.  Using this wisdom will allow you to learn from anyone that is truly anointed by God.

Using Modern Bible Study Tools

I have used the eSword Bible study software for almost 35 years.  Is it the best tool?  Probably not. But I chose it because I believe this is where the Holy Spirit led me.  Is it perfect? Nothing is perfect but God. I have found several eSword flaws, bugs, and things that need to be fixed.   This is true for all imperfect human created tools. Yet it had this advantage for myself and for those that studied the Bible with me.  It was free.  

Because it was given away for free, this matched my belief of spreading the Gospel.  There should never be any charges for teaching God’s word according to Matthew 10:8 and 1 Corinthians 9:18. Giving away the Bible and the Gospel for free makes it available to anyone rich or poor.

My current favorite version of eSword now is the Apple version.  Unfortunately it cost about twenty dollars when I purchased it.  I don’t know why the change from free other than the fact Apple charges software developers to use their OS platform whereas Microsoft was free.

The Apple version of eSword is easy to use and it has easy access to an ancient Hebrew language lexicon which is not currently available on the Windows version.  

As far as which Bible I study and write using, you can easily see the KJV Bible is my first and primary study version.  This because of two reasons. The first is that the KJV Bible is free. The second is that it is highly accurate once you learn the old English style of language. It being free eliminates copyright conflicts for publishing.  

There are other Bible versions that I use but only a couple that I will pay for.  One is the NASB and the other is the Amplified.  I like the free Young’s literal version also, but there are many other free Bibles available on eSword. 

Studying the original languages of the written Bible is absolutely essential.  Translators have made many human errors.  We must understand which word was inspired by God, what it means and how it is used in the entire Bible.  But also know God’s definitions of His chosen words overrule human definitions. Lexicons like Strong and Thayer can have mistakes and human traditions imbedded within them.

Here is the basic overview of things needed to find truth:

1. Being born again by the Spirit of God through hearing His Word, accepting it, believing it, and confessing Jesus as your Lord. Having Faith is the key to receiving from God in every step listed here.
2. Being filled with the Holy Spirit the author of the Bible who will lead us into all truth.
3. Asking God to reveal His truth.
4. Get a good Bible study tool like eSword on Apple.
5. Having a great hunger and desire to know the truth. This should be the drive for every search.
6. Having great patience when learning the truth. Like a child going to kindergarten to understand simple basics, know that there is much more that you do not know than you do know. Real deep Truth builds upon layers of other basic truth.
7. Make it a habitual desire everyday to spend time with God in His word.
8. In all Bible study have faith to ask God to lead you to what you need to know today that will help you prepare for tomorrow. Then open your Bible believing He is doing it.
9. Listen and learn from many called, anointed teachers of the Bible. But be led by the Spirit which one and when.
10. Have an open mind to receive things in the Word you never heard before.  But verify what is taught using your own study and witness of peace given by the Holy Spirit.
11. Know that all Bible teachers are not God and are ignorant of differing subjects.
12. Know also that Bible teachers are gifted by God to know certain subjects very well.  Therefore, we can learn great revelation from many of them even when we don’t agree with everything that is taught.  Ask God what you need to know and then be led by Him where you need to go to find the answers.

Bible Schools

Investing money into yourself to attend a great Bible school can save you a lot of time, because of the already designed plan to learn step-by-step. However, like any individual pastor or teacher that we can learn from, understand every Bible school also carries, potential bias of extreme truths.  In other words some Bible schools emphasize “Grace”, and others “Faith”, and others can teach only specific basic truths of salvation only.

Balance is the key to understanding God’s Truth. What you may need to know today, could be missed by one Bible school. Therefore, be led by the Spirit of God. He knows what you should do, where it should be done and when to do it.

Therefore, while I could recommend Bible schools, it best that I do not cause my opinion to sway your decision apart from the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

Conclusion

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Jesus gives us our final insight today on the most reliable source of “Truth”.  First, notice Jesus is speaking with “Believers” in Him. This means they have heard the message about Jesus and believed it to be “True”.  This fact brings about our first division to learning truth. Those that believe not in Jesus will never know the “Truth”.

Next Jesus further reduces the number that will know truth by qualifying that it will only be those that “continue” in His Word. This makes it very clear that “believers” can be deceived and not ever fully know the truth if they “DO NOT CONTINUE IN HIS WORD”. This is sounding a lot like the “Narrow” path that Jesus said led to life (Mat 7:14) and the wide path that led only to eternal damnation (Mat 7:13). Jesus made it very clear that there will only be a few that walk the way of seeking after life.  But there will be many that go to their own chosen way of destruction.

Now notice how verse 31 ended. Jesus said if you continue in my word then you will be my disciples indeed. The Greek word G230 translated as “indeed” of this verse is predominately translated as “truth”. This verse could have read “If you continue in my word, then you will be my disciples truly. This would be in opposition to “be my disciples falsely”. Do you see the severe consequences for not studying the Bible? This means the Bible is the only authority of “absolute truth”.  Do you see how our priority needs to change to become hungrier for the Word of God?

You should have learned today that I prefer “free” Bibles, “free” teachings, and “free” resources of truth. Paul confirms this belief in 1 Corinthians 9:18 when he said it would be an abuse of his power to charge for what he taught. This means go on the internet and search for subjects that the Holy Spirit is laying on your heart to learn. Take the time to read or listen to studies that offer an internal Spirit witness confirmation that this is someone that God has led you to learn from. Then trust that “peace” to continue to study more of their lessons and determine if they still bring you that same joy and peace. If they do this is the Holy Spirit agreeing that you are in the right place.

Remember what else Paul said about where he obtained his knowledge of the truth:

Gal 1:12  For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Notice that Paul who wrote 2/3 of the New Testament, claims he received almost everything directly from spending time with the Author of the Bible. Paul claims this knowledge of the truth did not come from any human, including the apostles. But obtaining this knowledge took Paul years to acquire and you can learn it much quicker by just reading the books that he wrote inspired by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. So, it is also today. God still anoints teachers, preachers, evangelists, etc.

Ask and then trust the Holy Spirit to lead you to the resources that are freely available today. There are too many available that can help save you hundreds of hours of isolated study. God has given “revelation” to so many on so many differing subjects. Many are available for free.

Thank you for taking the time to read this lesson. But also thank you for being led here first to find it. If this has been a blessing to you, share it with others. God Bless you and help you to hunger and thirst for the absolute truth of the Word of God.