# What Is Bible Truth? Part Three

> 1 Timothy 3:15 calls the church of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth, and asks how we ought to behave ourselves in the house of God. This part takes up the one church built on that truth, the truth cast down to the ground in Daniel 8, God's commandments as the truth by which every soul will be judged, and the last great conflict between truth and error that is now being decided.

- Source: https://timeisathandlive.org/blog/what-is-bible-truth-part-three/
- Site: Time Is At Hand Evangelistic Ministries (https://timeisathandlive.org)
- Key scripture: 1 Timothy 3:15
- Topics: Bible study, faith, present truth
- Licence: free to read, quote and share, with attribution.

---

> **1 Timothy 3:15** — But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou
> oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the
> living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

## One church, built on the truth

According to the history of Bible Truth, God only has one church on earth.

> **Ephesians 4:5** — One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

Here is the Church of God. Our attitude and behaviour in the house of God will
testify if we are living according to truth.

Our attitude and behaviour in church will indicate if we are led by the Spirit
of Truth and if we are building on the foundation of Truth.

<figure>
  <picture>
    <source
      type="image/webp"
      sizes="(min-width: 80rem) 44rem, (min-width: 48rem) 60vw, 100vw"
      srcset="/images/blog/the-pillar-and-ground-of-the-truth-400w.webp 400w,
              /images/blog/the-pillar-and-ground-of-the-truth-800w.webp 800w,
              /images/blog/the-pillar-and-ground-of-the-truth-1200w.webp 1200w,
              /images/blog/the-pillar-and-ground-of-the-truth-1600w.webp 1600w"
    />
    <img
      src="/images/blog/the-pillar-and-ground-of-the-truth.jpg"
      alt="A painting of a single great marble pillar standing on bedrock in a dark landscape, lit by a shaft of golden light from above, carrying 1 Timothy 3:15 — the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth"
      width="1600"
      height="1000"
      loading="lazy"
      decoding="async"
    />
  </picture>
  <figcaption>
    <strong>Holding the truth up</strong>
    Paul wrote these words to Timothy about how to behave in the house of God.
    The church does not make the truth; it is the pillar that holds it up and
    the ground it stands on.
  </figcaption>
</figure>

## The truth cast down to the ground

According to Daniel 8:11, enemies would fight against the truth:

> **Daniel 8:11** — Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host,
> and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his
> sanctuary was cast down.

Daniel chapter 8 shows some of the brutal persecution inflicted on God's people
by Rome.

Pagan Rome magnified himself against Christ when they abused and crucified Him.
The devil influenced Pagan Rome against Christ and His followers. Christ is the
Way, the Truth and Life — to walk with Him is freedom — to know Him is life
eternal. But Satan wants Him and everything that He stands for out of the way.

> **Daniel 8:12** — And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by
> reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it
> practised, and prospered.

Daniel 8 says the Truth was cast down to the ground and evil prospered for a
while. Rome was permitted to continue its horrible acts against God's Truth and
His people until we reach an understanding of the conflict between Truth and
error and the nature of final warfare. According to the inspirational insight
of God, "there is an irrepressible conflict between truth and error. To uphold
and defend the one is to attack and overthrow the other." Everyone is now
deciding whose side to stand on in this last great battle. This is the greatest
battle between Bible truth and the traditions and dogmas of man.

<figure>
  <picture>
    <source
      type="image/webp"
      sizes="(min-width: 80rem) 44rem, (min-width: 48rem) 60vw, 100vw"
      srcset="/images/blog/it-cast-down-the-truth-to-the-ground-400w.webp 400w,
              /images/blog/it-cast-down-the-truth-to-the-ground-800w.webp 800w,
              /images/blog/it-cast-down-the-truth-to-the-ground-1200w.webp 1200w,
              /images/blog/it-cast-down-the-truth-to-the-ground-1600w.webp 1600w"
    />
    <img
      src="/images/blog/it-cast-down-the-truth-to-the-ground.jpg"
      alt="A painting of an ancient scroll lying cast down on the stone pavement of a ruined Roman colonnade at dusk, a thin ray of golden light still falling on it, carrying Daniel 8:12 — it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered"
      width="1600"
      height="1000"
      loading="lazy"
      decoding="async"
    />
  </picture>
  <figcaption>
    <strong>Cast down, but not for ever</strong>
    The same chapter that shows the truth thrown to the ground ends with the
    promise of Daniel 8:14: unto two thousand and three hundred days; then
    shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
  </figcaption>
</figure>

## Every word of God is pure

The plain Bible Truth of God is now being questioned and critiqued, but
Proverbs 30:5 says:

> **Proverbs 30:5** — Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that
> put their trust in him.

## Thy law is the truth

Those who trust God will also obey Him and keep His Commandments.

> **Psalm 119:142** — Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and
> thy law is the truth.

> **Psalm 119:151** — Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are
> truth.

The "Ten Commandments" are a transcript of God's character. They form the
"constitution" of heaven and earth.

<figure>
  <picture>
    <source
      type="image/webp"
      sizes="(min-width: 80rem) 44rem, (min-width: 48rem) 60vw, 100vw"
      srcset="/images/blog/all-thy-commandments-are-truth-400w.webp 400w,
              /images/blog/all-thy-commandments-are-truth-800w.webp 800w,
              /images/blog/all-thy-commandments-are-truth-1200w.webp 1200w,
              /images/blog/all-thy-commandments-are-truth-1600w.webp 1600w"
    />
    <img
      src="/images/blog/all-thy-commandments-are-truth.jpg"
      alt="A painting of two plain tablets of stone on a mountain summit above the clouds, radiant light pouring down on them from an opening in the sky, carrying Psalm 119:151 — Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth"
      width="1600"
      height="1000"
      loading="lazy"
      decoding="async"
    />
  </picture>
  <figcaption>
    <strong>Written by the finger of God</strong>
    Exodus 31:18 says the two tables of testimony were tables of stone,
    written with the finger of God — the law He gave in His own hand.
  </figcaption>
</figure>

They are God's guiding principles to humanity. No one is exempted from them.
By them shall every soul be judged.

> **James 2:12** — So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the
> law of liberty.

## The last great conflict

The last great conflict between truth and error is but the final struggle of
the long-standing controversy concerning the law of God. Upon this battle we
are now entering — a battle between the laws of men and the precepts of
Jehovah, between the religion of the Bible and the religion of fable and
tradition:

- Between the true Sabbath and the false.
- Between principalities and power — against the rulers of the darkness of
  this world — and the powers of heaven.
- Between science that is falsely so called, including AI, and the power of
  God's Holy Ghost.

> **Ephesians 6:12** — For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
> principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
> world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

> **1 Timothy 6:20** — O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust,
> avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so
> called.

This battle is real, and we must now decide whose side we will fight on.

---

The series began with [What Is Bible Truth?](/blog/what-is-bible-truth), which
opens with Pilate's question in John 18:38 and answers it from Scripture: truth
is of God, Christ is truth made visible, and Bible truth must be known, must
transform us, and must be rightly divided. It continued in
[What Is Bible Truth? Part Two](/blog/what-is-bible-truth-part-two), which
turns on 2 Peter 1:12 — why Bible truth must be kept ever before the people,
what it does for those who walk in it, and why it cannot be known without the
Spirit of truth.

If this study has raised something you would like to talk through, the team
reads every message: [ask a Bible question](/contact/bible-questions), or
[send a prayer request](/contact/prayer-requests).

On the church as the pillar and ground of the truth,
[The Church and Its Mission](/end-time/the-church-and-its-mission) traces what
the church is and the mission she was called out to carry;
[Daniel Chapter 8](/studies/daniel/chapter-8) works through the little horn
that cast the truth to the ground and the 2300 days until the sanctuary is
cleansed; and [The Three Angels' Messages](/end-time/three-angels-messages)
sets out the final call to keep the commandments of God in the last great
conflict.