Lies begin as half-truths and work their way to full lies before we can blink an eye. Lies come without warning. They dig deep into our psyche, bearing roots, until it is too difficult to weed out the lies from the truth. Charles Colson wrote in his book Lies That Go Unchallenged, “When the serpent told Eve that if she ate of the fruit from the tree she would become like God, knowing good and evil, he spoke a half-truth rather than an outright lie.” Half-truths are cunning, sweet to the ear, attractive, and seemingly harmless. Half-truths are rarely confronted because they sound normal; they make sense.
Some lies are told to cover sin. Others are told to help us make sense of the world. Again Colson, “Scientific and technological advances have improved our quality of life in some respects, but our sense of the sanctity of life, the traditional family, and the moral standards of our society have all suffered greatly.” Lies have permeated our society until we have become devoid of truth. Truth is relative. Truth is choice. These are lies. The truth is in plain sight; God loves. Believers can be pragmatic Christians. They use pragmatism to infiltrate their right and wrong belief system instead of solely focusing on the gospel. Slowly their belief system changes. The gospel begins to change because part of it doesn't work for them. We must accept the whole gospel. Many believers will enter into eternity and Jesus will ask them to leave because they never knew Him. Some people think they are Christians when in fact they are not. They walk like a Christian and talk like a Christian but they are not. These people do not accept the gospel as truth. "...To the chosen lady and her children whom I love in the truth - and no I only, but also all who know the truth - because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love." 2 John 1-3 NIV The truth connects all believers. We love because we are loved. When we accept the truth, we become children of God. And the love of God will never leave - "will be with us forever." We can rest assure that we are loved no matter our circumstances, no matter our actions. In a world where our actions determine who we are and how we are accepted, Christ loves us despite our actions. Unconditional love, a concept that is hard to grasp, is the foundation of the relationship God wants with his children. We can not do anything that would separate us from love of God once we have accept the whole truth. |