The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. Jeremiah 17:9-10
All the tools Satan uses to convince human beings to sin come back to the element of deceit. It was deceit in the garden that prompted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and unleash the tremendous pain and suffering humanity has endured ever since. Nothing has changed through the years as Satan continues to blind people’s minds and keep us from the light of the soul saving gospel of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:3-4; Revelation 12:9-10). He still manages to convince us that God is denying us things we should be allowed to enjoy thereby putting in motion the progression of lustful desires bringing about indulgence in the things we are forbidden which ultimately leads to death (James 1:13-15). I do not pretend to know all the mechanics of how Satan tempts us, but I do know he uses deceit at every turn to harden our hearts against the truth (Hebrews 3:13).
In view of some of the ways he goes about this, it is little wonder Peter warned his readers to keep their wits about them (1 Peter 5:8). Paul described the danger of being deceived vividly in 2 Corinthians 11:1-15. Though we cannot parse out this whole passage, there is much we may learn from an overview of it to sharpen our senses and help us avoid being duped into sin. In verses 1-2, he reminded them how he had united them to Christ through the gospel. He then stated his fear that their minds may have been “…corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” by those who preach a different gospel (vv. 3-4). In verses 5-12, he described the tug of war he was having with false apostles who were vying for the hearts of the Corinthians. Paul continued his warning by describing how Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, and his ministers transform themselves into ministers of righteousness. The word transform here can mean (and does in this passage) to disguise oneself. The number of passages dealing with false teachers and prophets would be more than this article could hold, but this is sufficient to demonstrate that Satan wants to use deceit to keep us enslaved to sin (cf. John 8:31-46).
We all know there are many deceivers in the world who would lead us astray, but I want to shift our focus to a more subtle deceiver about which we must be aware. That is our own hearts. I have said many times that no one can lie to me better than I can. It is not a premeditated type of deceit either. No, this is organic, in the moment of temptation type of deceit. Much like when Eve stood in her innocence and contemplated the new message she had just received from Satan concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She saw that the tree had several desirable qualities, and she deceived herself then into partaking. This is much akin to James 1:13-15 and the progression of sin. There it is clear we are dragged away and enticed by our own lusts.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 speaks with somewhat jarring clarity of the danger our untrustworthy hearts pose to us. Judah had trusted in other men rather than trusting in God for their protection (Jeremiah 17:5-6). They had given into sinful practices because of their allegiances to foreign nations for said protection. This made sense pragmatically and from a worldly vantage point. The problem was, they had the oracles of God urging them to trust in Him and so be like a tree planted by the waters (Jeremiah 17:7-8). Sadly, their deceitful hearts got in the way. There are enough deceivers in the world around us, so we must not deceive ourselves but let His word enlighten our eyes and illuminate our paths (Psalms 19:7-11; 119:105).