Dr Paul Allen

“And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” ( 2 Thessalonians 2:11 ) This is a startling declaration! Why would God want to deceive people and cause them to believe a lie? The “cause” that would activate such an extreme decision on God’s part must be very serious. The preceding verse states it plainly. It is “because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” ( 2 Thessalonians 2:10 ). Because they “resist the truth” ( 2 Timothy 3:8 ), they will “believe the lie”! The specific context refers to those who elect to follow the coming “man of sin,” but the principle is timeless. It tells us that God’s attitude toward men is determined by their love of the truth rather than by their knowledge of the truth. When people love God’s truth, there is no limit to the amount of truth and blessing they may receive from God. Note the attitude of the writer of Psalm 119: “How sweet are thy words unto my taste!” “Thy testimonies...

It’s never morally right to deceive with malicious intent. Exodus  20:16  reads, “ You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor ,” and so you should never provide false legal testimony against your countrymen. It hurts society and dishonors God . But what about hiding someone’s surprise birthday party? What about pretending Santa is real? What about feints in warfare (2 Sam  2:22 –25)? What about protecting someone from a murderous mob, that is, to hide a Jewish person from the SS in WWII Europe? Is it ever right to mislead another person? Added to this, is it a lie to be wrong?  In other words, if you give directions and say “turn left” but you should actually turn right; Did you lie? In this case, we use the category of mistake. But this opens up an interesting possibility: You can speak an untruth (go left) that misleads someone (they go to the wrong location) and yet not be a liar or a sinner. You just made a mistake. So, are ther...