Part I – Seven Truths from one passage
Let’s look at the incredible passage of 2 Tim 2:25-26: “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” I see seven fundamental truths in this passage:
1. We should gently and submissively help each other with captive lies
2. When we believe internal lies we oppose ourselves
3. God provides what we need to turn from the lie
4. God can help us recognize specific truths that each lie obscures
5. When we recognize the truth behind a lie we recover our true selves.
6. It is the devil who traps us with these lies, they do not protect us.
7. We are captive to Satan and his destructive will when we refuse to acknowledge truth.
The Trap
As soon as we tell a lie then we are captive to that lie. You don’t have to keep the truth straight. The truth stays straight all by itself. But any of us that have ever told a lie know that the burden of keeping the lie lays on the teller. Jesus puts it like this, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” – John 8:34. But some of the lies that hold us captive are not ones we have told but ones we have believed. Raise your hand if I hit a nerve: “You are not worthy of love.” “You will always be alone.” “You are ugly.” “You are a coward.” You are incapable of love.” “You are dirty.” “Your desires are evil.” “You are unforgivable.” “You are dumb.” Maybe it was something a parent or teacher actually said or maybe they said something that you took in a way they didn’t mean it or maybe it was just a look or a situation and a voice whispered in your head a lie that you did not rebuke and CLACK! the devil got his chains on you.
When we become new creatures in Christ we have access to all truth. In fact, Truth comes to live in us as the Holy Spirit. But many times the old lies and voices hang around. We think we tell and believe lies to protect ourselves but this is also a lie. We cling to them out of fear, scared of living without them. As horrible as it sounds there is a sad comfort in our chains.
“Freedom is a hard thing
Slavery was easy
I cling to the chains of bondage
But my King insists still now
His sons shall not bow
To anything but thee
As anything but free”
Freedom can be scary but it is joy to live in. When we continue to believe lies and refuse to recognize the Truths that God is revealing to us then we are apposing our own self. God is for me and I (my old fleshly man) is against me. It is the old man that is captive you see. The old me that first believed the lie.
The good news is that the old man is dead. He is dead and it does not matter what he believed. And his stronghold cannot survive the presence of truth. That cute little 6 year old boy that believed the old lie died on the Cross of Christ! I don’t have to kill him, all I must do is come to grips with the fact that he is already dead. He died on that Cross the moment I accepted and believed that Christ died there. That is the truth that sets you free but it comes (like most things from God) with an abundance of riches.
For you see, not only do I have that one simple truth that frees me from all lies I also have the truth of the particular lie. Let me explain:
Time to Testify
For example, let’s say that I had a teacher that one time implied that I continually do dumb things. Which was probably true in and of itself but a little evil voice in my head whispered, “I am dumb.” and that voice repeated the little lie over the years whenever I would fail at things or struggle with understanding something. It became a given in my mind. As a result I tried to be witty and pretended not to care about school or grades. In short, I believed the lie. [Fast forward many years.] So one day God exposed this as a lie and I knew that that little boy who first accepted this was dead and I did not have to accept it. So then I came against the lie. “I am not dumb!” I would say. “That is a lie!” I would scream at it in my head. But it was hard because the lie had years of proof on its side. It kept reminding me of things that really helped make its point. Fortunately God was not done. He loved me so much that he also revealed the truth to me that addressed this particular lie. He pointed out through some friends that the claim “I am dumb.” is a meaningless statement. I cannot know everything, and have no need to know things like how a thermonuclear warhead works but that I had never not understood something God wanted me to know. Whether it be for work or in my spiritual walk or ministry, God had always provided me the knowledge and know how. The Spirit that lives in me can communicate all truth and knowledge to me (Col2:3).
There is nothing that I will ever need to know that God will not empower me to know and understand. Regardless of how thick I am. That is a beautiful freeing truth. It conquerors fear. So now, I can focus on that truth and not just on arguing with the voice. Whenever I “feel” dumb and that voice or old premise comes to me, I can first understand that I am free and that the old me that believed that lie is dead then secondly I can turn from that voice to the voice of God and thank him for his wisdom and knowledge. I can praise him for his understanding of all things. This works the same way regardless of what lies you have believed. Ask Jesus to reveal these lies to you. He will reveal them (John 16:13). He wants you to be free of them (2Cor3:17).
Part III – Revisit the Seven Truths
Lets look at the incredible passage of 2 Tim 2:25-26 AGAIN: “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” There may be many more truths here but these seven really speak to me and the experiences I have had with others trying to deal with lies:
1. We should gently and submissively help each other with captive lies. (we all need help and we should live openly in brotherly love)
2. When we believe internal lies we oppose ourselves. (lies do not protect us that is a lie we must get over first)
3. God provides what we need to turn from the lie. (this isn’t something we do, its something we surrender to and God does)
4. God can help us recognize specific truths that each lie obscures. (the lies are there for a reason, to hide a wonderful beautiful truth)
5. When we recognize the truth behind a lie we recover our true selves.(brings a whole new meaning to finding yourself, huh?)
6. It is the devil who traps us with these lies they do not protect us. (there is an intelligence behind this plan it is not an accident)
7. We are captive to Satan and his destructive will when we refuse to acknowledge truth. (leaving things status quo is a very bad idea and will lead to worse things)
Simple Steps
First, spend some time praying that the Lord will reveal to you the lies that you have believed.
Next, as He reveals them then expose each lie to God’s eternal unshakable truths.
Rinse and Repeat.
John 18:37 Jesus came to testify to the truth
John 14:6 Jesus is the way the truth the life
John 16:13 the Holy Spirit will guide you into ALL truth.
2 Cor 10:5 We are to take our thoughts captive
2 Cor 3:17 where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty
2 Thes 2:13 God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the spirit and the belief in truth.
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