The Answer is Yes. It is often both a truth and a trick. Our enemy the devil, loves to take a truth and then twist it so that we fall for it. This is a trick. This becomes a snare for us when we believe it and act on it. The very first Truth and trick happened in the Garden of Eden. We are given the story in Gen.3 .. We are all familiar with the story. What we tend to forget is that that same scenario is being played out over and over in each of our lives.
I will highlight some of these as they have appeared and continue to appear in my life. Satan is the master deceiver. His delight is in deceiving and then permanently enslaving those he has tricked. Deceit has an element of truth in it and scripture is often quoted. However it is not the Whole truth and nothing but the truth. This truth is usually brought through someone or a source we have some confidence in. Sometimes I twist the truth myself in order to justify my actions.
And how does the enslavement happen.? Sometimes it is physical through drugs, addictions, culture, pride, trauma, law, guilt …. Pretty much anything that Satan knows I am susceptible to and that he can use.
My father enjoyed putting scripture together that was all scripture but totally was not the truth of the intent. The cobbled scripture he used to illustrate this point was: “Judas went away and hanged himself. Go and do likewise.” Matt.27:5 Lk.10:37
In this Trick or Truth we look at the following statement: “All we need is the Bible. The written Word is contained in the pages of the Bible I have somewhere in the house. In order for me to be saved and be living a godly life, I must be regularly reading from the scriptures.” ………. Now, this is partially true, but not; nothing but the truth, and definitely not the whole truth. A person at a child level of relational maturity would like this statement and would most likely teach it because it is about law.
This statement can cause a sense of overwhelm and failure since I am not reading my Bible. The Bible is not all I need. I also need the Holy Spirit speaking with me and confirming that which I am learning. I do not have to be reading my Bible in order to be saved. Satan’s trick here is to get me to feel condemnation since I am failing. Hopefully I just won’t try because I feel I will just fail again.
The partial truth is we do need the truth of the scriptures as found in the Bible. I will grow spiritually if I do read the scriptures regularly and apply them to my life. This truth part would be a good choice for me to make and pursue.!