The Devil is a (Good) Liar
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. -John 10:10 ESV
We all know somebody who is a very bad liar. Try as they may, they just can’t pull it off. Maybe they have a tell. Maybe it’s that the details are so outlandish that what they’re saying just can’t be true. Or maybe we just get that feeling in our gut that they’re being untruthful.
But then there are those people in our lives that are really good liars, the ones that convince us, the ones that seem so genuine. Their deceits seem airtight, fact driven, and believable. These are the people to really watch out for. Before you know it, they’ll have you investing your life savings in a scheme, convince you to destroy a relationship, or maybe even endanger your life.
You’ve heard the saying, “The devil is a liar,” but of the two types, he’s the latter. He whispers in half truths, often convincing us that the voice we hear is our own thoughts. He masks himself as someone trustworthy and safe. He leads us to distrust what is actually trustworthy and safe.
Recall his deceit in the Garden of Eden, where he did not approach as an enemy of God with harsh words, but with sweet sounding words that tempted the first man and woman. His lies did not seem outlandish to them because they were based in truth, twisted to make them appealing. Adam and Eve would likely not have been tempted by an outright lie, something that seemed so far from what God had spoken. Instead the enemy acknowledged God’s command and then “explained” what God “really” meant.
THIS is where we fall into the enemy’s trap. It’s not that he leads us to to not believe in God, but that he leads us to believe the wrong things about God. He doesn’t undermine the Lord by explicitly contradicting his Word, but by implicitly doing so through cunning. This is why we have to be careful.
So, how do we avoid the trap? How do we make sure we’re following the right path? Discernment is fine-tuned by becoming more and more familiar with what is true, and then we can more easily spot a lie. Jesus said that He is the Good Shepherd and that those who are His sheep know His voice and won’t follow a stranger (John 10:1-18). The way to know what’s a lie is to know the voice of the one who gives truth.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. -John 14:6 ESV
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. -John 8:32 ESV