We Have Been Lied To

We Have Been Lied To….humm that is a pretty provocative concept. I find it interesting that I have received only 2 types of reactions to this title: 1) those who understand that the enemy’s whole purpose is to get us to believe a lie; thus, posing as an angel of light He has introduced all manner of error and wrong belief into our lives (all cloaked in nice sounding religion) to keep us from living by faith, and 2) those who internalize this title to believe that I have said that those in the church have intentionally lied to unsuspecting believers. This is an interesting segmentation and it seems to underscore the fundamental starting place of this book. We have been deceived and are still being deceived. And the very nature of deception means that those who are deceived do not know it. The enemy has been so successful in blinding our eyes to the truth that we will even read into things, like this book, words and concepts that are not only not said, but which are the exact opposite of what is being said. It’s as if any information we receive must pass through these fixed filters before it enters our minds and the filters distort the subject matter according to the bias of that filter. It is a remarkable thing to see this in action.

THE ENEMY has worked tirelessly to pervert the truth and deceive us into believing lies because faith (which according to Hebrews 11:6 is the only way by which we can be pleasing to God) requires us to actively believe the truth. Each of these 3 components is fundamentally necessary to live in biblical faith.

Faith = Actively + Believing + the Truth

 TRUTH – If the enemy can get us to believe a lie, then in that area of our lives we will not be able to live by faith. In fact, we can believe a lie with our whole heart and with all the passions of a man or woman who is destined to die for what they believe; but if it is not the truth then it is a complete and utter waste. Oh sure, it may make for good reading in a story about epoch achievements of humanity, but it does nothing to bring us into alignment with the will of God.  BELIEVE – We can also know the truth, but if we do not believe it we will still not live by faith. We must be convinced that it is true. The Jews who failed to enter the Promised Land knew the truth about God but were not willing to believe that truth (at least not at the moment of decision); thus, they refused to cross over into the Promised Land. As a result, they died in the wilderness because of their unbelief. ACTIVELY – And finally we must actively believe. By this I mean that we must be willing to bet our lives on that truth. Mere belief is not enough for in James 2:19-20 we are told that even the demons believe and shudder, but they did not bet their lives on this truth and instead chose to follow a lie that had eternal consequences.

So getting back to the title, is it possible that you have been lied to? One way to know is to consider whether or not you are actually day-in-and-day-out experiencing the promises of God in your life. Jesus promised that His burden on our lives would be light and easy and that we would find rest for our souls. He promised that we would be free and our lives abundant. He promised that we would be full and satisfied and therefore not hunger and thirst for anyone or anything else. Is this your experience? If not, then like me, there is a good chance that you have either unwittingly swallowed the lies of the enemy and are living in a certain amount of wrong belief or else you have refused to actively believe the truth because you don’t like what it says, it is too risky, too intangible, or so on. But either way, this means there are areas of your life where you are not living by faith and that is a problem that Jesus wants to remedy.

Let’s talk

Steve Villanueva