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Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. NLT

In the Bible, Satan is described as having real power in this world. When he took Jesus ‘’… to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory’’, he said to Him, ‘’I will give it all to you…if you will kneel down and worship me.” (Matt.4:8,9). Jesus, of course would not pay him homage in that way, but He did not deny his ability to make the offer

Elsewhere in Scripture, Satan is described as ‘’the god of this world’’ (2 Cor.4:4), ‘’the prince of this world’’(John 14:30), and the ‘’ruler of this world’’ (John 12:31). 1 John 5:19 says: ‘’We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.’’

Furthermore, the book of ‘Revelation’ takes us behind the scenes of history, and shows us something of the raging spiritual conflict between Light and darkness

I remember a preacher saying that in evangelism we meet the devil, and so we need to pray. If our mission is ‘’to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me’’ (Acts 26:18), this can only happen by the greater power of God.

Make no mistake about it, God’s power is surpassingly greater. Satan can only operate with the Lord’s permission. He is always, in Luther’s words, ‘God’s devil’. Still, he has real authority in this world. Someone put it like this: ‘He is on a chain; but it’s a long chain.’

If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing.⁴ Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. NLT

Reading between the lines, one criticism of Paul was that he obscured the clear message of the gospel. This he refuted robustly, but he did admit that it is nevertheless ‘’hidden’’ for many people. However, he was not personally responsible for the hiddenness. There is a supernatural blindness caused by the devil. People just don’t get Jesus: who He is and what He has come to do – until, one day, they do! It is the testimony of every Christian, in some sense, that once they were blind but now they see.

‘The Message’ pictures the pre-Christian state in this way: ‘’ They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get.’’

Although God does not want anyone to ‘’perish’’ (John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:) it is clear that as long as we remain blind to the beauty of Christ ‘’perishing’’ is our spiritual state.

Quite simply put, every conversion is an eye opening miracle.

Prayer: You might want to pray for someone you know who remains deaf to the voice of Jesus and blind to His glory.

We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this. NLT

Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God. The Message

One safeguard that will surely keep any preacher ‘true to truth’ is the recognition that we are accountable to Almighty God. How dare we change anything just because we don’t like it, or it doesn’t fit with cultural norms, or because we want to do what it says we shouldn’t, or…??? There may be so many reasons. But if we preach in the sight of God we will not easily or lightly depart from His Word. We will indeed tremble to do so.

”My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are mine. I, the LORD, have spoken! “I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word.” Isaiah 66:2 NLT

Paul may have had critics who charged him with changing the message, but he knew that such charges were illegitimate. Furthermore, he knew that genuine people would know that he was kosher.

If you stick to revealed truth in your preaching, you will have critics – perhaps fierce ones. But you will resonate with honest- hearted folk. They will recognise a ‘ring of truth’ about your ministry.

PRAYER: To paraphrase a part of a poem, Lord, keep your preachers ‘true to truth as truth is true to you’.

We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. NLT

And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. The Message

This is one of the most basic principles of Biblical interpretation: ‘the perspicuity of Scripture.’ Whilst acknowledging that there are mysteries in the Bible, much of its meaning is simple and clear and lies on the surface. Although it may be useful to have knowledge of the original languages, it was written so that the ‘common man’ may understand it. We don’t have to be Hebrew or Greek scholars.

‘The doctrine of the clarity of Scripture (often called the perspicuity of Scripture) is a Protestant Christian position teaching that “…those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed, for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them”.’ (From Wikipedia. The quote is from the Westminster Confession).

We are living in an age in which many mainline denominations are twisting parts of Scripture. It seems to me that some people are trying to perform theological gymnastics in order to tell us that the Bible isn’t saying what it clearly and obviously is. If this is a (misguided) attempt to accommodate to the times, to make the church relevant, it clearly isn’t working. While they continue to do these things, their numbers decrease. There are whole movements that appear to be in terminal decline. But they do not seem to be able to join the dots. They are committing spiritual suicide, but continuing to load the gun.

 We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. NLT

We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t manoeuvre and manipulate behind the scenes. The Message

No Christian preacher/leader is going to be perfect in this life. We are all flawed. ‘Feet of clay’ do show through. But we can, and should be known for our integrity.

Reading between the lines, Paul is answering his critics in these verses. Possibly they had accused him, among other things, of:

• Being a quitter (1);
• Being devious and deceptive (2a);
• Being a heretic (2b) – changing the original message.

‘He has in no way altered the Christian message (to make it say what he wants it to say) or manipulated his hearers (to make them do what he wants them to do).’ Paul Barnett.

‘We must be the same person in private and in public. Only the Christian worldview gives us the basis for this kind of integrity.’ Charles Colson.

PRAYER: Lord, on this first day of a new year, I ask for a heart of integrity that shows through in all things