"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." (cf. 2 John 4).
"For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie," (cf. 2 Thess. 2:11).
"Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people's hearts, and they will learn the truth," (cf. 2 Tim. 2:25).
"I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth," (cf. 1 John 2:21).
"But those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger," (cf. Romans 2:8).
If we are deceived by the devil, we believe his lies (the father of lies) and do not live according to the truth but walk in darkness. This means we are not in touch with reality, which is according to the truth. In the last days, many shall "believe the great lie" and fall prey to Satan and his deceptions. "They refuse to love the truth and so be saved, (cf. 2 Thess. 2:10). Satan has held them "captive to do his will" and has blinded them (cf. 2 Cor. 4:4). But "those who know their God shall be strong and resist him," (cf. Dan 11:32). We can be capable of many crazy things once we practice deception and do not admit or acknowledge the truth and follow the way of lies.
We can be deceived by conspiracy theories and any such lie of the devil that the ignorant, naive, and foolish are subject to. It may be traced to when a person only believes what his leader tells him or his tribe says: this is a phenomenon of today in our tribalistic society. In the Jim Jones cult of the Peoples Temple, the cult of death that committed mass suicide, they boasted that they needed no Bibles because they had Jim Jones! No one Bible was found at Georgetown.
We must realize that God the God of truth and Jesus is the personification of truth itself coming to bear witness of the truth. Science is a gift of God to know things but not the only way to know truth! Also, the opposite to deny science can know anything is a lie and not according to the truth. Ultimate trust in anyone but God is idolatry and God is jealous! Prayer is our first call for help! We don't ignore science nor act recklessly or dangerously but our first resort in healing through prayer is to call upon the LORD as Asa refused to do in his foot disease he sought not the aid of the LORD but only the physicians (cf. 2 Chron 16:12).
CAVEAT: We become like those we admire and believe; trusting or believing liars will eventually make you one; a child of liars. People see themselves in others and forget that God is the one to emulate, not mankind; Jesus is our Exemplar and Role Model of truth and truth-speaking even to power when it takes courage.
When we don't put God first and make Him our priority, we invite idolatry and worship of a lie; exchanging the truth of God for a lie and suppressing the truth. Then we become all the more susceptible to lies! We must all have our allegiance tested. We will never be satisfied with a false god or faux deity. Only the truth can set us free(cf. John 8:32)! We can know it and the truth is in Jesus (cf. Eph. 4:21). If your foundation isn't in the truth you will be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine and taken in by the wiles of the devil. If you only believe what your leader says or approves, what happens when he is gone; you will search for another authority figure to believe.
The whole idea of the heart of Protestantism is to be able to have the right to dissent, disagree, and protest. We are not slaves to church dogma and especially to state propaganda, that deals in misinformation. Only a framework or truth and sold Christian worldview will prevent brainwashing and giving into what the devil wants you to believe. We must repeatedly ask ourselves to whom we owe our allegiance; is it God alone? In sum, we can see deception and lies as the motive and source of idolatry from the God of truth. Soli Deo Gloria!
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