Articles
Blinded to the Truth
2 Corinthians 4:4 presents the sad reality that “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
It is interesting that Paul calls Satan “the god of this world,” literally, the god of this “age.” He is not its rightful god, of course, but He is its deity in practicality because so many follow Him.
Satan does not blind us directly or forcibly. That would violate our free will, and if he could do that to one he would do it to all. He blinds, as he always does, by lies: lies about the gospel itself; lies about who and what Jesus is; lies about the Bible and its credibility; lies about people who believe; lies about the benefits of sin; lies about what awaits us beyond this life. People are easily persuaded by Satan’s lies because they promise so much and require so little. They parade as wisdom, but they are just so much foolishness.
Satan has convinced many in our age that it is far more reasonable to view ourselves as the product of an accident than of design. He has supposedly intelligent people so confused that they can’t figure out something as elementary as the difference between a male and a female. He has muddled our logic to the point that our society thinks it is wrong for a mother to impair her unborn child but it is perfectly acceptable for her to kill it. People who stand for something are castigated as arrogant bigots, whereas those who fall for anything are extolled for their openness and vision.
The antidote to Satan’s lies is God’s truth. “Therefore since we receive this ministry, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (vv. 1-2). Let’s be about the business of spreading the light of the gospel.
