Truth or Deception Psalm 32:2 (ESV) Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

2 Corinthians 10:3–6 (ESV) 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

Counterfeit versus Real in the Christian life Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. ESV

Deception versus Truth Psalm 32:2 (ESV) Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Prayer Psalm 139:23–24 (NLT) — 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

I. Deception

WHY DID ISRAEL WANT TO WORSHIP IDOLS The temptation to follow false gods because of short ‑ term benefits, good feelings, easy "rules," or convenience was always present. But the benefits were deceptive because the gods were false. We worship God because he is the one and only God. Life Application Bible ‑ Judge 3

Ways you can be deceived by the world

Believing that acquiring money and things will bring lasing happiness 1 Timothy 6:10 (ESV) For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Believing that excessive food and alcohol can relieve your stress and make you happy Proverbs 23:19–21 (ESV) — 19 Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way. 20 Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, 21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.

Believing that gratifying sexual lust will bring lasing satisfaction 1 Peter 2:11 (ESV) Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Believing you can sin and get away with it without any negative consequences Hebrews 3:12–13 (ESV) — 12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Believing you need more than God has given you in Christ 2 Corinthians 11:3–4 (ESV) — 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

Believing that the unrighteous people who refuse to accept Christ will go to heaven anyway. 1 Corinthians 6:9–11 (ESV) — 9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Believing...

What is truth?

Truth Defined? John 14:6 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 17:17 (ESV) Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

Truth lived John 16:13 (ESV) When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. Ephesians 4:15 (ESV) Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

Truth results Result of Truth is Faith Joy and Freedom come from walking in truth 1 John 1:7 (ESV) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Will you be deceived or live in truth? We have a choice Choices have Consequences