Imagine living in a world in which deception is so prevalent that most people are unaware that they don’t know what is true or false about some really important things. That is the world in which we live.
Someone close to me was told that, regarding Osama bin Laden’s supposed capture, execution, and burial at sea, one thing is sure. We will never know what really happened. That is the way our world works. The powers that be seem to want us to become demoralized – always confused, wondering, and doubting.
Since age 19, I have believed that Jesus is who the New Testament says he is. After I came to that realization, I soon became convinced that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and an infallible guide regarding truth. It and the Holy Spirit, who indwells every born-again believer, guide us into God’s truth as we are able to bear it.
Jesus believed the Bible is God’s truth, and that is good enough for me.
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31–32 (NKJV)
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. John 16:12–13 (NKJV)
I have read and sought to understand and live by the Bible ever since, although quite imperfectly. I have learned a lot over the years, but realize that there is so much I do not know, and, of what I do know, I fall short of living up to it.
Before my experience of the new birth, I grew up in the Roman Catholic Church and attended parochial school from grades 3 through 8. That provided me with a great educational foundation and a decent understanding of God, the devil, sin, hell, heaven, Jesus’ death and resurrection, and other biblical truths. Nevertheless, no one in that church ever told me about the gospel except for one high school teacher. The Catholic Church deceived me into thinking that my salvation depended on keeping its rules and regulations instead of by believing the gospel message. Why would they do that? I have concluded that it deliberately positioned itself between me, God, and the truth in order to keep me forever under its control. That is how the devil works, and he has plenty of willing accomplices and organizations that do his bidding.
Jesus wants people to be free, but Satan does not. (John 8:32)
It was only after my girlfriend, who is now my wife of nearly 53 years, shared the gospel with me that I realized that the Bible says that all my sins could be removed and I could have eternal life as a child of God if I simply believed that Jesus rose from the dead and is the Lord of lords. I don’t mean to merely intellectually or mentally affirm the idea or agree doctrinally. I understood that I would need to truly believe from the heart, which was quite impossible for me. I had no ability to move myself from an agnostic position to one of faith because I did not know for sure if Jesus rose from the dead or not. I had no time machine to go back in history to the tomb to find out. But since I realized that, if Jesus did rise from the dead, it was the most important thing that ever happened, I did the only thing that came to mind.
It turned out that I did the wisest thing anyone can do: I asked God for help.
I asked Jesus, if he were real, to reveal himself to me in a way that would enable me to believe. I prayed a simple prayer to a God I wasn’t even sure existed. The amazing thing was that he heard me and answered my request! He extended great mercy to me because he understood that I was a blind man groping to find him.
His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. Acts 17:27 (NLT)
He revealed himself to me and graciously opened my eyes, ears, and heart to know him.
For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:8 (NKJV)
I will never forget the moment in the Spring of 1971 when, being alone late at night and pondering eternity, God, Jesus, the gospel, etc., I suddenly remembered having said that little prayer a couple of weeks earlier. I had completely forgotten about it, for which I am grateful, because otherwise I might have been struggling in my own way to find God. Having forgotten all about it, I had not been struggling at all, which left the door wide open for God to reveal himself to me. There in that small room on the Duke campus, God met with a confused 19 year old who desperately needed his help. In a flash, his presence filled the room and saturated my soul with joy. I knew that I was in God’s presence, but it did not scare me because in the same moment I knew beyond doubt that Jesus is real and who the Bible says he is and I belong to him. I cannot explain how God did that, but it happened. I suppose that being in God’s presence is enough to convert anyone from unbelief to faith. It certainly was true for Job in the Bible and for doubting Thomas.
If you have never experienced God’s presence personally, you cannot possibly understand. But perhaps my testimony will provoke you to ask God to do something similar for you. If you ask, you will receive.
For the first time in my life I understood what it means to be “born again.” For the first time in my life, I had a relationship with the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer who loves me personally. He gave me new meaning and purpose in life. From that point forward, God has been the most important “thing.” I have tried to follow him wherever he might take me and tell others that they, too, can know God’s love. Now some 55 years later, I look back in the knowledge that my journey has been less than stellar for sure, but, nevertheless, my wife and I have stayed the course. With God’s help we will continue to do so.
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians 1:6 (NLT)
When I was born again, God opened my eyes to spiritual realities that I had never before seen or understood. As I began to study the Bible, I started to see through some of the deception that had captured the Roman Catholic Church. I understood how they had traded the truth of the Bible for man-made traditions, just as had the Jews in Christ’s day and today. No matter how well we begin, Satan always works to get us off course or even completely wreck us.
During the first few years of my discipleship journey, I began to understand that a lot of what we were taught in school was in fact deception. I saw through the fraud of biological evolution and accepted the biblical account of creation. Some people mock at such childlike faith, but I have God’s truth on my side. I saw that entire nations have been captured by atheistic philosophies such a communism and the materialism of the West, but there was still so much about which I was in the dark.
It still had not yet dawned on me that Christ’s words in Revelation 12:9 are literally true. Satan deceives the whole world, and most people underestimate how deep it goes.
Years ago, I remember watching a movie called The Matrix and thinking how wonderfully it described man’s condition before the new birth, without which Jesus said that no one can even see the kingdom of God. It described the world system that blinds people to God. Surely the “red pill” offered to Neo was the new birth that opens our spiritual eyes. I little understood how much deception there is in the world.
Satan’s world system is so ingeniously designed that it keeps most people in the dark about very important things. The main thing Satan tries to hide is God. As I already mentioned, he tries to keep people from hearing the real gospel. He also works to hide God by convincing people to believe a completely false version of what the cosmos is like. God so designed things so that the heavens and earth testify to his character and power.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:20–21 (NKJV) The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. 4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, Psalm 19:1–4 (NKJV)
The deception of the world system is so convincing that, unless we believe that the Bible is 100% true, we will probably fall for it.
Most people seem to prefer to believe Satan’s false narrative to the Bible.
I only became aware of this deception at age 72! Can you imagine reading and studying the Bible for fifty-three years and not seeing that the Bible’s cosmology directly contradicts Big Bang heliocentrism and being okay with that!!?? As you can imagine, coming to this realization rocked me to the core and prompted me to repent for my unbelief and apply myself more fervently to the study of God’s Word.
Once we start taking God’s Word as seriously as we should, we begin to realize that Napoleon was right.
Many think that I am foolish to believe the Bible over what is called “science,” but that is what we should expect when we make the decision to believe God and not the world.
As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” 20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 1 Corinthians 1:19–20 (NLT)
The world system hates those who declare allegiance to Christ and the truth of the Bible. The truth sets people free, and Satan wants to keep people enslaved.
How about you? Have you made the decision to accept what the Bible teaches, even if it runs counter to what the world system says and may cost you? It is the only way out of deception. May God help us all to be true to him and his Word, no matter how great the cost.
