Deceiving and being Deceived

But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13 NKJV)

Distinguishing Between Truth and Error

I have already stated in an earlier meditation that it is hard to distinguish between truth and error today. But what is bothering me is that Satan (the father of lies) attributed deception to the Lord. We read that the scribes and Pharisees came to Pilate after the crucifixion and said, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ “Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first (Matthew 27:63-64 NKJV).”

The first deception that the Lord was charged with apparently had to do with His claim to be the Son of God. The last deception had to do with the claim that He would rise from the dead. Satan the great deceiver made sure that people thought the Lord was the deceiver. Of course, many people think that to this day.

The Lawless One

In a coming day there is going to be a “lawless” one who will deceive the people with lying wonders. Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 2, “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 NKJV).”

Notice, those who perish did not receive the love of the truth. That word love is significant because apparently the people who follow the lawless one, do not love the truth. That is, they believe lies that they know are lies. But the “lawless one” will deceive with power (might), signs designed to convince the Jews, and lying wonders that will convince all of those who have rejected the Lord. Yet the Lord is the only One who always tells the truth. We read it is impossible for Him to lie (Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18).

The Power of Words

There is great power in words. That is why the Lord is presented to us in John 1 as the Word. In His incarnate person, He has expressed to us who God really is. People who listened to Him marveled at the gracious words that proceeded out of His mouth. He always told the truth and His truth is clear but loving. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18 NKJV).“

We believe what we want to believe. No amount of logic or reason seems to make a difference as to what many people believe when it comes to whom and what we believe. This applies to medicine, politics, and particularly to spiritual issues. But I can assure people of this. Whom we believe does make a difference. When it comes to practical things, we may lose our wealth, our health and our relationships by not being discerning with regard to those we believe. But when it comes to spiritual things, we can lose our souls (the eternal part of us) by believing the lies of Satan rather than the truth of Scripture.

It Matters

Recently I heard an ad for a bank. The punch line was, “It matters whom you trust!” It certainly does. I trust the Bible. I don’t trust everything that people tell me the Bible says since I seem to read a different Bible than many who call themselves Christians. But when the plain sense makes sense, I believe God. And when I preach the truth of the Bible to others, I am not deceiving them if I stick with the context of the passage, and if I let the plain sense make sense.

Let us not be a party to this matter of deceiving and being deceived!

Bruce Collins

Meditation for the week of October 6, 2024