JIM DEFERIO·SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2015

Self-deception is an interesting topic and one that can lead into other topics like substance dualism, evolutionism, demonization, and epistemology, but what I’m interested in is the deliberate attempt by many to justify bad behavior (sin) so that they can live “guilt-free” with their sin. In doing so they are also trying to deceive others (family, friends, class mates, even GOD).

First, when we stand in God’s courtroom one day none of us will have any excuses for our sin. In the NewKJV we are reminded at least three times that we have no excuse for sin (John 15:22 / Romans 1:20 / Romans 2:1). We all have the light of creation, the light of conscience, the light of experience, the light of rationality, and many also have the light of special revelation – the Bible. WE ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE!

God is a righteous and Just Judge who will judge in righteousness, truth and with complete knowledge of us. No plea bargaining allowed, no playing the blame game, NO EXCUSES.

PSALM 9:7-8
“But the LORD shall endure forever;
He has prepared His throne for judgment.
8) He shall judge the world in righteousness,
And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.”
ACTS 17:30-31

“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
31) because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
God already knows EVERYTHING about us. He sees us 24/7. He sees us under the covers, above the covers, in the closet, out of the closet, and He sees what we look at on our computers and smart phones. So men, get the porn off your computer and read the Bible. Women, get rid of that filth like the Twilight series of books & movies and Fifty Shades of Grey. You can’t deceive God! You’re deceiving yourself if you think you can!

PROVERBS 15:3
“The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
Keeping watch on the evil and the good.”

HEBREWS 4:13
“And there is no creature hidden from His
sight, but all things are naked and open to
the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”

Jesus Christ said to ASK, SEEK, and KNOCK (Matthew 7:7). It says in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 to “Test all things; hold fast what is good.” It says in 1 John 4:1 that we are to “not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God”. Self-deception may take the form of deliberate ignorance. Hey, we can all just plead ignorance, can’t we? Nope. Not in light of the above verses and also this one:

2 TIMOTHY 2:15
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to
God, a worker who does not need to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Jesus rebuked James & John and said to them, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of” (Luke 9:55). Some speak as if they are speaking for God but they are of another spirit and are deceiving themselves. (Concerning the end of Luke 9:55, see the Note below.)
Self-deception is a mental disorder (I mean this as “stinking thinking”, not an “illness”) that occurs in saint and in sinner. We have NO EXCUSE and the sooner all of us realize this the sooner we will end self-deceptive and self-destructive behavior and thoughts.

SOME VERSES ABOUT SELF-DECEPTION

1 CORINTHIANS 3:18-20
“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among
you seems to be wise in this age, let him become
a fool that he may become wise.
19) For the wisdom of this world is foolishness
with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise
in their own craftiness’;
20) and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of
the wise, that they are futile.’”

GALATIANS 6:3-5
For if anyone thinks himself to be something,
when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4) But let each one examine his own work,
and then he will have rejoicing in himself
alone, and not in another.
5) For each one shall bear his own load.”

JAMES 1:22-25
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers
only, deceiving yourselves.
23) For if anyone is a hearer of the word and
not a doer, he is like a man observing his
natural face in a mirror;
24) for he observes himself, goes away,
and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25) But he who looks into the perfect law of
liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful
hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be
blessed in what he does.”

JAMES 1:26-27
“If anyone among you thinks he is religious,
and does not bridle his tongue but deceives
his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
27) Pure and undefiled religion before God
and the Father is this: to visit orphans and
widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself
unspotted from the world.”

2 PETER 2:12-14
“But these, like natural brute beasts made
to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the
things they do not understand, and will utterly
perish in their own corruption,
13) and will receive the wages of unrighteousness,
as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the
daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing
in THEIR OWN DECEPTIONS while they feast with you,
14) having eyes full of adultery and that cannot
cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a
heart trained in covetous practices, and are
accursed children.”

1 JOHN 1:8
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

***** NOTE on LUKE 9:55
“Many mss ([D] K Γ Θ Ë1,13 [579] 700 2542 pm it) have at the end of the verse (with slight variations) “and he said, ‘You do not know what sort of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy people’s lives, but to save [them].’” This variant is clearly secondary, as it gives some content to the rebuke. Further, it is difficult to explain how such rich material would have been omitted by the rest of the witnesses, including the earliest and best mss.” (from Greek NT scholar Daniel Wallace and others)