Leading the Captives to Freedom

An overview of Personal Prayer Ministry

by Pastor Pete Beck III

These meditations are copyrighted, but feel free to download them for personal use or to forward to friends.

Why is it that people cannot see the light of God's truth? Why are some blind to spiritual reality, as Isaiah the prophet warned and Jesus reminded us - having eyes, they do not see; having ears, they do not hear; and, their hearts cannot understand? Paul gives the answer in the first chapter of his letter to the Romans. The opening verse above summarizes his argument. God can be known, but people suppress self-evident truth and refuse to glorify or thank God, with the result that they become senseless and captive to lies. If we close the door to God, we open ourselves to every form of deception and bondage. Conversely, if we open our hearts to God, he drives out the darkness.

Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. John 3:19 (NET1)

People choose to be in the darkness because, in the arrogance of human pride, they choose to judge God and refuse to submit to Him. People want to worship what they choose in place of the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. There is a rebellious streak running right through the heart of humanity that is still shaking an angry fist at God because we still believe the devil's lie that he used in the gardern of Eden - God cannot be trusted and is withholding godhood status from us! We refuse to believe in and submit to the real God because we insist on being god, and, by so doing, fall right into the grasping claws of the devil.

We invent all sorts of logical arguments to explain why God is not, or, if we don't go that far, we seek to rationalize that the Bible cannot be trusted or believed, or why God can never truly be known. Paul wrote in our opening verse that people become futile in their speculations. The Greek word (dialogismos) means "reasonings, speculations, and arguments." This Greek word  is almost identical to the one used in 2 Corinthians 10:5 (logismos), which is also translated "speculations." You can no doubt see the root of our English word "logic."

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NASB)

People make a god out of their own minds and subject the God of the universe to what they can reason about Him. Isn't that an amazing thing? When we do this, we lift up ourselves to a place of judgment over God. The gospel is the power of God to bring salvation, but it can only be received by those who love the truth. When people choose to love the specuations of their own hearts above God's Word, they are in a very dangerous situation. Paul wrote the church in Thessalonica:

The man of sin will come with the power of Satan. He will use every kind of power, including miraculous and wonderful signs. But they will be lies. 10 He will use everything that God disapproves of to deceive those who are dying, those who refused to love the truth that would save them. 11 That's why God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe a lie. 12 Then everyone who did not believe the truth, but was delighted with what God disapproves of, will be condemned. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (GW)

When we refuse the truth, God obliges our desire by sending us what we crave - delusion leading to depravity. When man has no hope, no God, he resorts to seeking pleasure in the extreme in a vain attempt to alleviate the pain and emptiness.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. Romans 1:28-32 (NASB)

When we share the gospel with people and encounter all kinds of arguments against belief in God, understand what you are up against. Pray that God will give your hearers the humility to repent of their arrogant arguments against God so they can love the truth and accept the One who is the Way, the Truth and the Life!