Deceiver and Liars

The centrality of truth to God’s character is clearly seen in the behavioral patterns of those who oppose Him—Satan and fallen human beings.

Scripture declares that just as truth is an expression of God’s nature, falsehood is an expression of Satan’s. In John 8:44, Jesus said Satan “ ‘does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies’ ” (NASB). Furthermore, he is deceitful, transforming himself into the appearance of an “angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). In his very first appearance on the pages of Scripture, he came to Eve in a false form, speaking lies to her: “ ‘You will not surely die’ ” by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 3:4). Eve was deceived by his words (2 Cor. 11:3) and ate of the fruit; thus, Satan is sometimes known as “the deceiver.” He constantly questions the Word of God and seeks to cause human beings to do the same. But people are more than victims of his falsehoods. Because of their fall into rebellion against God, they willingly emulate his lying ways. Scripture could hardly be clearer on this matter: “ ‘All men are liars’ ” (Ps. 116:11; Rom. 3:4). Romans 3 notes that “ ‘There is none righteous, no, not one,’ ” and goes on to say that the universal human lack of righteousness manifests itself in a lack of truth: “ ‘Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit’; ‘the poison of asps is under their lips.’ ” All people lie, and the lies they tell do untold damage to human relationships.

The Bible indicates that Satan will always persist in his deceit (Rev. 20:8). But he will be punished for his evil deeds (Rev. 20:10), as will all unredeemed liars (Rev. 21:8).

Scripture paints a sharp contrast between the lying ways of human beings and the righteous truthfulness of God. Numbers 23:19 declares: “ ‘God is not a man, that He should lie.’ ” And Romans 3:4b say, “Let God be true but every man a liar.” As we saw in our previous study, He will remain truthful, consistent, faithful, and dependable, even though every creature in heaven and earth might fall into deceit. It is our duty as His creatures to emulate Him, looking to Him to redeem us and deliver us from the way of falsehood.