In his book, The Moment of Truth, Steven Lawson makes the clear argument that truth exists, it’s reliable, and it reigns supreme. He clearly establishes his points from the pages and authority of holy Scripture. The book is a published collection of sermons that reads more like a book than a sermon—and has a clear developmental flow throughout the entire book. There are three clear divisions, “The Reality of Truth,” “The Rejection of Truth,” and finally “The Reign of Truth.”
As our culture celebrates lies and rejects absolute truth, Lawson does an excellent job of demonstrating the failure and folly of such a position. While his point is established by the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word—Lawson does a great job of weaving into the chapters relevant cultural examples from creation, popular atheists, and other culturally relevant examples to illustrate his point. In demonstrating the foolishness of rejecting divine truth, Lawson writes:
One astute philosopher has said that we are raising a generation of “moral stutterers.” Others call it “moral illiteracy.” Yet another observer says, “There is a hole in our moral ozone.” This has produced an imploding world in which abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, pornography, transgender identity, and all manner of lewd behavior are practiced and approved of. This abandonment of moral values can be traced back to the rejection of the truth. When absolute truth departs, everything is up for grabs. Tragically, modern man now has feet firmly planted in midair. [1]
The excuses of modern man is planted deep in the moral decay of the depraved mind and conscience. The natural man cannot discern the things of the Spirit of God. The depraved mind refuses to receive truth. Lawson points to believable truth as he appeals to Jesus’ position of Scripture as he quotes from Luke 16:17 and Matthew 4:4. He quotes James Montgomery Boice as stating, “the most important reason for believing the Bible to be the written Word of God is the unmistakable teaching of Jesus Christ Himself, who held the Bible in highest regard.” [2]
In defense of reliable truth, based on evidence of a divine Creator, Lawson writes, “There is only one reasonable, rational explanation for the creation of the universe, and it is the existence of a Creator. Everyone should know that out of nothing, nothing comes. There is no impersonal force or random explosion in outer space that could have created everything out of nothing, much less with the perfect design it all possesses.” [3]
As Lawson brings the book to a close, he demonstrates that the reign of truth results in two clear developments—people who worship God and those who will forever reject God and be judged by truth at the judgment. The final two chapters contrast one another well and make a clear point that we want to be worshipper of God rather than those who are judged by God. When truth is received it results in worship but when rejected it results in judgment. Lawson quotes R.C. Sproul as stating, “Modern man is betting his eternal destiny that there is no final judgment.” [4]
In conclusion, Lawson does a good job of appealing to people to point people to Jesus Christ. He writes:
What responsibility we have to go to our families, friends, classmates, and colleagues with a sense of urgency to share the love of God in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. How shall they escape if they neglect so great a salvation? How compulsory it is for us to go into all the world and to preach repentance before God and faith in Jesus Christ. how we must be used by God to reach others so that they may embrace the reality of truth in the word of the cross, rather than one day having to face the final retribution of truth in the final judgment. [5]
Final Assessment
I believe this book is worthy of your attention in our age of cultural relativism and our age of confusion. People today are more likely to embrace a lie than they are the truth about God. This book establishes the truth based on God’s Word and then points people to their hope in Christ. This book is about the reality of truth, but Lawson doesn’t divorce truth from the good news of Jesus Christ.
I find this book easy to read and extremely relevant. I would recommend it to anyone in the church and it would be vitally important for high school students, college students, parents, and pastors. You can order the book at the following locations:
I was not asked to provide a positive review of this book, so the opinion expressed in this review is simply my opinion based on my reading of the book.
- Steven J. Lawson, The Moment of Truth, (Sanford, FL: Reformation Trust, 2018), 6.
- Ibid., 57.
- Ibid., 109.
- Ibid., 213.
- Ibid., 230.
