Deceit, and God's nature

Deceit is totally contrary to the nature and purposes of God. The gospel is grounded in the complete truthfulness and trustworthiness of God, whereas sin is based upon self-deception.

God's nature and purposes are not based on deception

Deceit is contrary to the nature of God

Titus 1:2 See also John 16:13; 1 Peter 2:22

in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

God cannot be deceived

1 Chronicles 28:9 See also Psalm 139:1; Acts 5:3; 1 Corinthians 4:5

As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

Jesus Christ does not deceive

Isaiah 53:9

Satan's power rests on deception

John 8:44 See also Genesis 3:1–4; 2 Corinthians 11:3, 2 Corinthians 11:14; 2 Thessalonians 2:9–10

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

The coming antichrist will rely on deception

2 John 1:7 See also Matthew 24:24 parallel Mark 13:22; Revelation 13:14

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

False prophets and false teachers rely on deception

2 Corinthians 11:13 See also Jeremiah 14:14, Jeremiah 23:26; Ezekiel 13:6; Acts 20:30; Romans 16:18; Ephesians 4:14; 1 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:10–11; 2 Peter 2:1–3

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.

Deception is at the heart of human sin

The fall took place through deception

Genesis 3:1–4, Genesis 3:13 See also 1 Timothy 2:14

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not surely die,” the serpent told the woman.

Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”

Deception is a characteristic of fallen human nature

Jeremiah 17:9 See also Job 15:35PSA Job 5:9, Psalm 10:7, Psalm 35:20, Psalm 36:3; Micah 6:12; Romans 3:13 Psalm 38:12, Psalm 116:11; Proverbs 12:5; Jeremiah 9:4–5 deceptive friends and brothers; Hosea 11:12; Nahum 3:1; Matthew 15:19 parallel Mark 7:21–22; Romans 1:29; 2 Timothy 3:13; Titus 1:12

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Examples of deceit

Genesis 4:9 Cain; Genesis 12:13, Genesis 20:2; Genesis 26:7 Isaac; Genesis 27:19 Jacob; Genesis 31:7 Laban; Genesis 37:31 Joseph's brothers; Exodus 8:29 Pharaoh; Joshua 9:4 the Gibeonites; 1 Samuel 21:2, 1 Samuel 21:13; 2 Samuel 13:6 Amnon; 1 Kings 13:18 the old prophet; 2 Kings 5:22 Gehazi; Matthew 2:8 Herod; Matthew 22:18 parallels Mark 12:15, Luke 20:23