Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe, so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shining upon them (2 Corinthians 4:4)
I believe there are four reasons why most people are deceived so frequently in life.
The first is the matter of who is doing the deceiving. The Bible tells us that the chief prince and ruler of this world is Satan, the Master of Deception. The devil works overtime, trying to distort every truth we have received from God. He makes ugly things seem beautiful and foolishness seem wise.
Meanwhile, we gain comfort in the fact that after the experience of salvation, our souls are under God’s protection. Nothing Satan could devise can snatch us from the security of His grip.
The war is over, but spiritual battles and skirmishes continue to rage all around us.
Satan wants to convince you that he has not been defeated. He cannot take away your eternal life with God, but he can cause you great misery on this earth.
A second reason for our deception also involves the Great Deceiver. Satan’s lies can be more difficult to detect because he mixes in just a pinch of truth. Half-truths are far more deceptive than outright lies. In the garden, the devil actually quoted God’s Word; he did the same when he was in the wilderness with Jesus. But as always, he twisted the truths of God’s holy Word.
A third reason it is difficult to see through the world’s false reality is because sin distorts our reasoning and judgment.This is like wearing smudged eyeglasses—or, in biblical terminology, “we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror” (1 Corinthians 13:12). It is not only the “mirrors” which lie to us, but also our very reasoning faculties are corrupted.
A fourth reason for our deception is that the basic values of the world, which are so opposed to God’s values, are held before us so many times that they become persuasive. The world constantly praises the immediate, while the Bible speaks for the eternal. The world exalts the self, while the Bible exalts Christ.
Our only safe harbor is the Word of God. If we stray away from it, we will fall prey to the world’s delusions. Praise God that He gave us His holy, inspired, inerrant Word.
Today’s application: Remember that we are in spiritual warfare. Be reminded of your spiritual armor in our reading below, and keep your armor on at all times.
Additional reading: Ephesians 6:10-18.
By Bill Bright
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