Truth is Absolute, Not Relative

Amos 7:7-9: "This is what He (the Lord) showed me (Amos, the prophet): The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. And the LORD asked me, 'What do you see, Amos?' 'A plumb line,' I replied. Then the Lord said, 'Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. The high places of Isaac will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined; with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.'"

There is a prevailing philosophy in our world today that truth is a matter of subjective reality for the individual; that is, what may be "truth" for one person may be noticeably different for another. Perceptions of "right" versus "wrong" are seen by these proponents as a matter of cultural conditioning and situational relevance. They would argue that a person's understanding of the "rightness" of something is predicated upon one's social setting and his evaluation of the "fittedness" of a decision in light of its context.

God's Word is diametrically opposed to such foolish conclusions. In the above quoted excerpt, the prophet Amos receives a revelation from the Lord holding a plumb line. In carpentry, a plumb line is the measurement that is used to assure that a building is built straight and level. It is the only true standard of measurement to assure that a structure is built properly. To not follow this line would lead to the crafting of a faulty building that is structurally unsound and subject to collapse. No carpenter in his right mind would attempt to build a structure without making certain that a building is measured true to plumb; to merely guess at the plumb of a structure is to invite disaster for the building; in fact, the structure is subject to condemnation for its faulty workmanship.

God used this analogy with Amos to reinforce that there is only one true "plumb" as the measure for man's life in relationship with God, and that standard is found with God Himself. The "rightness" of a situation is not predicated upon the individual's notions of right and wrong; rather, it is determined by the expectations that God, as the Sovereign Creator, has for His creation. When God set the plumb line before the people of Israel in their wickedness, He found them not to be "straight" and were thus subject to His judgment. The standard of God had been violated and thus brought God's responsive wrath.

We need to resist the world's philosophy that asserts that "right" and "wrong" are determined by the relative convictions of the decision maker. In actuality, there is only One True Maker of "right" and "wrong" and He is the Lord! We need to be conscious of His Divine "Plumb Line" which is given to us through the propositional truths of His Word, the Bible. Contained within its pages are the unaltering truths by which we must abide if we expect to meet God's standard of righteousness.