Your Defense Against Beautiful Lies

The Bible records that sin came through deception—Satan, disguised as a wise serpent, told Eve a crafty lie and she believed him. See Genesis 3. But the only way for a lie to survive is by telling more lies. To his lie “You will not die!” Satan added a whole string of deceptions that laid the foundation for his systematic attack on truth.

The wages of sin is not death, but a higher existence: Satan promised Eve that eating the forbidden fruit would give her godlike powers and accused God of withholding an exhilarating experience from His earthly children.

Nothing has changed. We are surrounded by a culture that scoffs at those who seek to live godly lives and glamorizes those who live in open rebellion to God’s commands. When celebrated sinners die, they are visualized as enjoying eternal bliss in the presence of God.

A soul exists apart from the body and lives on after death: All pagan religions teach that man has a dual nature—an earthly body and an eternal soul that lives on in some form after the body dies.

Pagan cultures sacrificed to appease the dead, believing that they existed in the realm of the gods and could influence the outcome of events on earth. The Hebrews were forbidden to do this and were warned that these were sacrifices to demons. See Deut. 32:16, 17.

The unbiblical view of an eternal soul even made its way into Christianity through early church fathers who retained high regard for pagan Greek philosophers like Plato and Socrates.

Eternal torment: Many pagan religions share a common theme of eternal punishment for the wicked. Sadly, by the fourth century, the dominant Christian view of hell included a vengeful God who delighted in burning sinners.

A chance to get it right in the next life: Belief in an immortal soul has led to the lie that we can be purified from sin after death. Another lie is that our soul comes back around in another life form and has a chance to better its existence in the next reincarnation.

The possibility of helping the dead transition to a higher life: Adding to the lie of purification in the next life is the lie that the living can aid in this process. Through this false teaching, elaborate cults have sprung up in Christianity that claim to control the keys to heaven and hell.

The possibility of communicating with the dead: Perhaps the cruelest lie is the one that claims we can communicate with departed souls. The sad reality is that human nature prefers a direct sensory experience over a logical examination of the Bible. In this way Satan will deceive the vast majority of earth’s inhabitants, for they have abandoned their only shield against deception.

The Bible predicts that Satan will send false Christs and false prophets with messages of deception at the end of time. See Matt. 24:24. The only way to ensure that we will not fall for beautiful lies is to search God’s Word for His beautiful truths and to believe them despite every physical evidence to the contrary.

We are not left to struggle on our own in our search for truth. Jesus promised us the aid of His Holy Spirit. See John 16:13. I pray that you will make this search the most important quest of your life.