To Encourage You

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.”

Identity.  It’s such a critical issue and fundamental to life itself.  Throughout history many people have tried to pass themselves off as someone other than who they are, typically with malevolent intent.  We know about spies, some of whom are nothing more than traitors.  Criminals so often change their names, change their appearance, and change the story of their history in an attempt to escape justice.  And then there are those who live the lives of the hypocrite, passing themselves off for someone other than who they really are.  We see this in adulterous marriage relationships, churches, government, and just about every other area of life. But who’s behind it all? Who’s the master identity thief?  Who’s motivating all the deception? 

Well, the verse above lets us in on a little secret. The master deceiver of them all is Satan, and he does his dirty work disguised as “an angel of light.”  He enlists many people in his deceptive practices and we are told in 2 Corinthians 11 that some of these people disguise themselves as “servants of righteousness,” which is another name for people active in religion.  Satan could care less who you think he is.  He’s perfectly fine if you call him Jesus, or Allah, or Buddha, or any other name but his own, as long as you’re using these names as a victim of his deception.  And he’s perfectly fine if you call yourself a follower of God, using names such as a member of “the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints,” “Jehovah’s Witness,” or some other such name.  It’s all a matter of deceptive identity, of which Satan is a master. He’s even deceived about himself, for it was Satan who said, “I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14), the sin for which he was cast from heaven.  He even tried to deceive Christ by offering to give Him all the nations of the world “if you will fall down and worship me (Matthew 4:9).” 

But Jesus is undeceivable.  However, He, unfortunately, is the only One.  The Bible tells us “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it” (Jeremiah 17:9)? And it tells us “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6-8). Such confused people we are. We are hopelessly deceived about who God is, who Satan is, and who we are.  We are so blind. 

So, is there any hope?  Thankfully the answer is “Yes!”  God has revealed the Truth about all of these things in His Word. It is truly “a lamp to our feet and a light to our path” (Psalm 119:105).  Without it, we are confused beyond hope concerning our, and God’s identity. 

So do you want to know the truth?  Do you want the truth to set you free, i.e., free of deception, confusion, and sin?  It’s all available for us in His Word, for His Word IS TRUTH (John 17:17), and it is by that Word that we come to know Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life.  And no one will ever know the the true identity of the Father, except through Him (John 14:6).