The Battle For Truth
By George Stroh
January 17, 2011
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:10-12)
There is a spiritual war on earth that began in the Garden of Eden (Genesis chapter 3) and continues today. This spiritual war is far more dangerous and destructive for mankind than any physical war because of its eternal consequences. It is a battle between the truth of God's word (the Bible) and the lies of Satan and his demon's. The Bible calls these lies "doctrines of demons". They are taught by false teachers who, as unwitting surrogates of Satan and his demons, attempt to distort, discredit and deny the truth of God's word.
These "wolves in sheep's clothing" sow seeds of doubt that "...suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18). Often, it is what these false teachers don't say that leads people away from the truth of God's word (Go to: http://www.mbcaz.org/061509.html "Listening for What Is Not Said").
It has been Satan's strategy from the beginning to try to undermine God's word with lies and half-truths. In the Garden of Eden, Satan used a crafty serpent to deceive Eve. He did this by introducing doubt about God's character and motives and then lying to Eve; "The serpent said to the woman 'You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'" (Genesis 3:4). You know the story-- Adam and Eve's eyes were opened, but of course they didn't become like God. Instead, that day they did indeed die spiritually and also began to die physically. Because they believed Satan's lies and not the truth of God's word, sin entered the world; Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned." (Romans 5:12)
After that fateful day in the Garden of Eden, Satan began using false prophets, teachers and preachers rather than the serpent to do his bidding. Times have changed, but Satan's deceptive strategies remain the same-- Introduce doubt, distort, discredit and finally deny the truth of God's word. This is why the truth of the Bible is constantly under attack. When there are doubts created about the inerrancy and sufficiency of the Bible, then people are vulnerable to schemes and lies of the Devil. Many have believed the lie that Scripture was simply written by men and not inspired by God and therefore, it isn't totally true. Unfortunately, most people don't even read the Bible and are therefore not even able to discern truth from lies. As biblical illiterates, they are easy prey for Satan's false teachers and preachers.
