If
there is one thing sure in this media driven world we live in today, it is that
truth is under attack. It has been rightfully called an age of post-modernism
or an age of relativism. Put in simpler terms, we live in a day when many
believe there is no absolute truth. What is right for me, is not necessarily right
for you, is the mantra of our times.
The
Bible speaks a different message. It has a lot to say about truth. The
Christian faith is founded upon truth. Listen to the Biblical description of
who Jesus is by His own declaration in John
14:6, “Jesus said “"I am the way, and the
truth, and the life.” Jesus is the truth.
The
battle against truth began in the Garden of Eden. Satan’s temptation came
through his casting doubt on the command God had given Adam and Eve about what
trees they could and could not eat from.
Genesis 2:16-17
The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."
The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."
Satan
suggested Eve question the truth of what God had said.
Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
“Has
God said?” That was the question the devil put before Eve and it was just
enough doubt for her to deviate from the truth. And once truth has even an iota
of untruth in it; it becomes untruth. And in that little deviation from the
truth, sin entered the world and through it the curse of sin lives in all of
us.
You
see truth is pure. Truth has no imperfection in it. But once the smallest amount
of untruth mixes with truth, the purity is gone. Thus, by definition, truth
that is no longer pure, is no longer truth.
And this is the way that Satan
operates, even today. Just as Jesus states that He is the truth and operates
only in truth, Satan operates by deception. That battle for truth that began in
the very beginning of man’s time on earth, rages on today. 1 Timothy 4:1-2 speaks of this battle in the later
times warning us that, “the Spirit explicitly says that in later times
some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and
doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own
conscience as with a branding iron.”
Satan operates in deception and in
lies. He deceives us by surrounding truth with just enough untruth to draw us
in. But truth is pure and if we allow Satan to taint truth in the smallest of
ways, we end up in untruth. Truth is pure.
The solution to fighting the enemy
is found within the wearing of the spiritual armor as seen in Ephesians,
chapter six. We are to put on the belt of truth. And we are to use the Sword of
the Spirit to strike down the lies. 1 John 4:6 teaches us
that there are two spirits at work in our world and how we are to fight the
battle. It says that “We
are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not
listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
We must be masters of the sword; the
sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And the way to understanding the
truth of God’s Word is through the Holy Spirit, who is promised to all true
followers of Jesus.
John 14:16-17
"I
will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with
you forever; that is the Spirit
of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know
Him, but you know Him because
He abides with you and will be in you.”
The
Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. The devil is the spirit of untruth.
Truth is pure, and it must remain
pure otherwise it becomes untruth.
Psalm
119:159-160
Consider how I love Your precepts; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness. The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.
Consider how I love Your precepts; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness. The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.
I leave you with a short prayer from
the psalms. Make it your prayer this very day.
Psalm 86:11-12
Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And will glorify Your name forever.
Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And will glorify Your name forever.
Keep
truth pure, lest it becomes untruth.
If
there is one thing sure in this media driven world we live in today, it is that
truth is under attack. It has been rightfully called an age of post-modernism
or an age of relativism. Put in simpler terms, we live in a day when many
believe there is no absolute truth. What is right for me, is not necessarily right
for you, is the mantra of our times.
The
Bible speaks a different message. It has a lot to say about truth. The
Christian faith is founded upon truth. Listen to the Biblical description of
who Jesus is by His own declaration in John
14:6, “Jesus said “"I am the way, and the
truth, and the life.” Jesus is the truth.
The
battle against truth began in the Garden of Eden. Satan’s temptation came
through his casting doubt on the command God had given Adam and Eve about what
trees they could and could not eat from.
Genesis 2:16-17
The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."
The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."
Satan
suggested Eve question the truth of what God had said.
Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
“Has
God said?” That was the question the devil put before Eve and it was just
enough doubt for her to deviate from the truth. And once truth has even an iota
of untruth in it; it becomes untruth. And in that little deviation from the
truth, sin entered the world and through it the curse of sin lives in all of
us.
You
see truth is pure. Truth has no imperfection in it. But once the smallest amount
of untruth mixes with truth, the purity is gone. Thus, by definition, truth
that is no longer pure, is no longer truth.
And this is the way that Satan
operates, even today. Just as Jesus states that He is the truth and operates
only in truth, Satan operates by deception. That battle for truth that began in
the very beginning of man’s time on earth, rages on today. 1 Timothy 4:1-2 speaks of this battle in the later
times warning us that, “the Spirit explicitly says that in later times
some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and
doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own
conscience as with a branding iron.”
Satan operates in deception and in
lies. He deceives us by surrounding truth with just enough untruth to draw us
in. But truth is pure and if we allow Satan to taint truth in the smallest of
ways, we end up in untruth. Truth is pure.
The solution to fighting the enemy
is found within the wearing of the spiritual armor as seen in Ephesians,
chapter six. We are to put on the belt of truth. And we are to use the Sword of
the Spirit to strike down the lies. 1 John 4:6 teaches us
that there are two spirits at work in our world and how we are to fight the
battle. It says that “We
are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not
listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
We must be masters of the sword; the
sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And the way to understanding the
truth of God’s Word is through the Holy Spirit, who is promised to all true
followers of Jesus.
John 14:16-17
"I
will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with
you forever; that is the Spirit
of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know
Him, but you know Him because
He abides with you and will be in you.”
The
Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. The devil is the spirit of untruth.
Truth is pure, and it must remain
pure otherwise it becomes untruth.
Psalm
119:159-160
Consider how I love Your precepts; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness. The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.
Consider how I love Your precepts; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness. The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.
I leave you with a short prayer from
the psalms. Make it your prayer this very day.
Psalm 86:11-12
Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And will glorify Your name forever.
Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And will glorify Your name forever.
Keep
truth pure, lest it becomes untruth.
No comments:
Post a Comment