Blind To The Truth

Blind to the truth

2 Cor. 3:12 ¶ Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:

13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

(KJV)

I want to begin this message in reference to the scripture text I just read.

Paul was writing to the church at Corinth concerning their spiritual blindness.

After Moses returned from Mount Sinai with the stone tablets containing God’s commandments, he kept a veil over his face to shield the radiance of God’s visible glory that was on his face.

In verse 14, Paul is saying that it is as if the veil is still there for those Jews who have not accepted Christ.

They could not see that the old covenant (God’s “life agreement with the Israelites based on His laws and promises to them and on their faithfulness and obedience to Him) was a temporary measure to point people to Christ.

Only through faith in Christ can people see that the new covenant, because of the greater glory, has replaced the old.

As verse 17 says, “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

Liberty that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

Faith in Jesus Christ liberates people from the guilt and slavery of sin, and from the power and control of Satan.

And the Lord makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.

So in using these verses as a foundation for this message, we can go on to say how people are still blinded to the truth today.

2 Cor. 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

The word “blind” in the context of this message means, “unable or unwilling to perceive or understand.”

That is the reason the Jews in Paul’s day would not accept Jesus Christ and the New Covenant.

Simply because they were so bound by religious laws they were either unable or unwilling to see and understand the gospel.

They were blind to the truth.

There are millions today who are blind to the truth of the gospel.

Reading 2 Cor. 4:4 again, “2 Cor. 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

The “god of this world” is Satan. This merely indicates that Satan is the major influence on the ideals, opinions, goals, hopes and views of the majority of people.

His influence also encompasses the world’s philosophies, education, and commerce.

The thoughts, ideas, speculations and false religions of the world are under his control and have sprung from his lies and deceptions.

Satan is also called the “prince of the power of the air” in Ephesians 2:2.

He is the “ruler of this world” in John 12:31.

To say, for example, that Satan is the “price of the power of the air” is to signify that in some way he rules over the world.

This is not to say that he rules the world completely. God is still sovereign.

But it does mean that God, in His infinite wisdom, has allowed Satan to operate in this world within the boundaries God has set for him.

When the Bible says Satan has power over the, we must remember that God has given him domain over unbelievers only.

Christians are no longer under the rule of Satan. Colossians 1:13

Sinners on the other hand are caught “in the snare of the devil.” 2 Timothy 2:26, and lie in the power of the evil one 1 John 5:19, and are in bondage to Satan.

So, when the Bible says that Satan is the “god of this world” it is not saying that he has ultimate authority, but that he rules the unbelieving world in a specific way.