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1 John 2:26-27 "I write this to you about those who would deceive you; but the anointing which you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you, as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him."

 

Satan is the lord of lies and the prince of this world. He is always trying to deceive us; he, and the many people willing to help him. Much of what we encounter in this world is a deception, even a lot of what we believe to be common knowledge. It can be overwhelming to realize how much we are being lied to. One can feel helpless against it, and be tempted to just give in, going along with conventional wisdom even if our hearts and minds tell us it is not true.

 

But Jesus Christ is the Truth, and the baptized have received the Spirit of Truth. Truth is in us, available to us, loves us, and wants to reveal Himself to us. We have no need of seeking it outside of Him, and it would be folly to try, since He is Truth itself. When John says "his anointing teaches you about everything", he doesn't mean we have been infused with knowledge, but that we have been infused with Truth. We therefore can acquire knowledge, weighing what we are being taught against what we know to be true, and rejecting what is clearly false.

 

Apparently knowing that his time is short, the devil seems a bit desperate of late. This does us a big favor, as he is spewing all kinds of ridiculous lies into the world. He has lost all sense of subtlety, making it much easier to see his lies and to identify those who promote them as ones who are trying to deceive us. Even if the world is telling us that the sky is green (or a man can be a woman, or abortion is woman's health care), we know the truth, we have been anointed in it by Truth Himself. That is where we must stay, abiding in Him. That is the only place of sanity and safety.