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BE NOT DECEIVED!
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What is the biggest problem the human race faces today? If you ask 100 different people that question, you might get 100 different answers! There are indeed some huge problems out there. If you ask me, however, I would answer in one word – DECEPTION.
Granted, I could also give another one-word answer – sin. But deception is what caused the original sin of disobedience to God. Eve believed the deception of the devil. She said, “The serpent deceived me” (Gen. 3:13). Sin and death entered the world, and a host of evils followed.
THE SOLUTION – TRUTH!
If deception is the biggest problem, what is the solution? TRUTH! We know that God’s word is truth, so we look to God’s word for some light in the darkness, some clarity in the confusion. Truth was a major concern of Jesus, and he spoke about it often. The word occurs 25 times in John’s gospel alone. Consider these few verses, for example:
“The truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
“I am the way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14:6).
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…” (John 16:13).
“Father, sanctify them in truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).
“For this was I born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37).
Especially when referring to the “end times,” Jesus made a strong point of saying “Take heed, lest anyone lead you astray” (cf. Matt. 24:4; Mark 13:5; Luke 21:8). Jesus is the truth sent from God, and he does not want us to be deceived.
DO NOT BE DECEIVED REGARDING SIN
When I looked up the phrase “do not be deceived” in the New Testament, I noted that it was used a number of times in passages concerning the misuse of sex. The sexual function was created good by God but, like so many things since the Fall of the human race, has been distorted and perverted by the devil to tempt and ensnare many into sin and disobedience against God.
The New Testament has some very strong warnings against sin, especially sexual sin. Observing the prevalence of sexual immorality in the world around us, it would seem that many are, in fact, deceived regarding the seriousness of this issue. For example, consider these quotes:
--1 Cor. 6:9-10: “Do you not know that the unrighteous ones will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who practice homosexual sex*, nor thieves, nor coveters, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (*The text has two Greek words which I have combined into this phrase.)
--Galatians 6:7-8: “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit reaps eternal life.”
--Ephesians 5:5-6: “For this you know, realizing that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous person, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”
It is clear from these passages, as well as others in the New Testament, that sexual activity is only for those in a valid marriage between one man and one woman. Outside of that exclusive marriage covenant, the use of sex is against God’s will and plan.
ST. JOHN PAUL II
Thanks be to God for St. John Paul II and especially for his teaching on “Theology of the Body.” He gives us a positive understanding of the great gift of sexuality and its wonderful role in God’s purpose and plan.
St. John Paul II draws our attention to the Good, the True, and the Beautiful – all of which have their source in God and God’s holy plan. That is why sin – in this case sexual sin – is so terrible. It is a distortion of God’s good order and a perversion of the beauty that God has planned in wisdom. It is an offense against wisdom and the truth.
The question is, if you know that a particular sinful behavior will keep you from inheriting the Kingdom of God, why would you persist in that kind of behavior? The answer – deception! The devil is an expert at using the world and the flesh to deceive us and tempt us to sin.
“BUY THE TRUTH AND SELL IT NOT”
It is not always easy to find the truth or know the truth, but if we are truly committed to searching it out with a clear mind and an open heart, the Holy Spirit will make known the truth of God’s word to us. And when we find the truth, we dare not depart from it. Proverbs 23:23 says, “Buy the truth and sell it not.” It’s important to hold on to the word of truth that God has given to us.
St. Paul warns us in Romans 1 not to “suppress the truth” (cf. Rom. 1:18). And in Romans 1:24-25, he talks about those who “exchanged the truth about God for a lie,” and were given up “in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.” Not something you ever want to have happen!
Years ago, Bishop Nick D’Antonio, of happy memory, quoted a passage – Isaiah 5:20 - that aptly describes what is happening around us today. It is a graphic description of the inroads of deception into our culture and society, which has turned morality upside down and inside out: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Woe indeed! We are already able to witness the results of this “immorality revolution.”
THE PRAYER OF JESUS FOR US
Let us take consolation in the prayer that Jesus offered to the Father for us at the Last Supper: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.” O Lord, please consecrate us the truth…Amen and amen!
