The Belt of Truth
Protection against Deception
Truth is foundational, which is why it is the first piece of armour.
We have seen that the devil (slanderer) majors in lies. Jesus called him the father of lies, and said that when he lies he speaks his native language (Jn 8:44). In this battle of the mind, the most important thing for you to do is to know the truth. (This study will show the vital role which biblical truth plays in using each piece of armour.) Knowing the truth enables you to recognise the lies, and to distinguish between the mixture of truths, half-truths and lies with which he will try to deceive you.
Learning the truth starts with Jesus.
Jesus answered: I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. (John 14:6-7 NIV)
…Jesus said: If you hold to my teaching, you really are my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. (Jn 8:32 NIV)
And there is only one way to know Jesus. You have to read your Bible!
You cannot afford to ignore it or neglect it. We live in a post-Christian world. There is no way of absorbing Biblical values via our culture. On the contrary, many things which the Bible holds in abhorrence have become an accepted part of our culture. The Bible is no longer an integral part of our education, and even if you did have some form of religious instruction at school, and even if you did attend Sunday school, that is no substitute for regular Bible reading and study. If you do not own a Bible, or have never opened the one on your bookshelf, or if you have allowed your Bible to gather dust on your bedside table, you will not be armed with the truth. The only way you will know the truth is to read the Word, meditate on it, and learn it till you are able to quote it to the enemy when he sneaks up behind you and whispers his lies.
One of the biggest lies that the slanderer has used with great effectiveness against Christians is the teaching of the Sovereignty of God. This is the teaching that everything is under God’s control and therefore everything that happens is God’s will or His permissive will. In other words, everything that happens to you – good or bad – is either part of God’s direct plan for your life or He ‘allows’ it because you will learn from it.
This is simply untrue!
God is certainly sovereign in the sense that He is first in importance, and that there is no one like Him: eternal – without beginning or end; omniscient – all knowing; and omnipotent – all powerful. He is our Creator and He holds together the universe by the integrity of His Word. (Hebrews 1:3c) But He does not control human beings. As we have seen in the first study, He gave mankind dominion over the earth (tragically ceded to Satan) and He gave man the freedom to choose.
We also know that God is not just good. God is goodness itself. (1 John 1:5) God does not just love, God is love! (1 John 4:8)
What makes us then think that God will do things to His children, which if we did them to ours, would be considered child abuse? Can you imagine allowing your daughter to be raped in order to teach her something? Can you imagine allowing your son to be murdered because you know that great good will come of it? The very idea is preposterous. And yet you will hear Christians sighing resignedly because a tragedy is God’s will and we must just accept it and one day we will understand. Balderdash and poppycock!
It is this teaching (together with the wide acceptance of the theory of evolution) which is responsible for so many in the western world turning from God to atheism.
How often don’t you hear atheists asking: If God is real and is supposed to be so good, how come He allows babies to starve to death by the millions? And how often don’t you hear Christians wondering why it is that bad things happen to good people?
How amusing the slanderer must find it when we hold God responsible for the consequences of the Fall – sinful man making sinful choices and a world which is in constant travail (Romans 8:22)!
Another common lie is that God is angry with you. When we examine the Breastplate of Righteousness and the Shoes of Readiness, you will see why this is a lie.
When you become aware that you are under attack and you recognise that you are being fed a lie, do exactly what Jesus did. You face the slanderer and you address him directly:
Away from me, you liar! I will not listen to you. God is my loving Father and He wants nothing but good for me. You, Satan, are the source of all bad things. I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. He is my way, my truth and my life!