When Lies are Called Truth

“Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections…” – Romans 1:25-26a

When white is called black And black is called white You know for sure That something’s not right

When white is called black And black is called white Rest assured, what follows Is the dark’ning of light

In fact, when someone calls black white, not only do you know that something is not right with them, but you know that something has gone terribly wrong with them. These are distorters and deniers of truth I am referring to. To distort the truth, and to deny it a place in your life, is to give yourself every reason to live as you please, with no accountability, no moral compass, no sense of right and wrong. You may ask, “Do such people really exist? Can people actually twist reality to the point that they begin to call a lie the truth, and the truth a lie?” All you have to do is look around and examine the current moral condition of the world, and you will have your answer. When the truth is called a lie, and lies are heralded as the truth, reality is turned upside down, and certain inescapable consequences follow. Romans chapter 1 describes this scenario.

Twisting the truth to call it a lie, and calling a lie the truth, has a starting point. It all begins when one ignores the worship of God (v. 21). The one true, existent, eternal God, has revealed Himself to all humanity through His creation (v. 20) – the beginnings of which stupefies the most brilliant mind. God is to be known and recognized through creation. But He doesn’t stop with creation in reaching out to us. To make Himself clearly known, He has specifically revealed Himself in His Gospel (Good News), through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ (v . 16-17). It is when people reject these revelations of God, and do not worship Him – what’s more are ungrateful to Him (v. 21) – that now, as a consequence, the truth becomes a lie, and lies becomes the truth. Not acknowledging God in worship has immediate consequences. Man is made to worship, and worship he must, even if He does not worship God. And so thinking that they have attained autonomy from God, and thinking themselves to have attained enlightenment, they worship. But what shall they worship since they have rejected the only One worthy of worship? They are left now to create their own gods. Hence we have idolatry – people worshipping statues and images of man, animals, and mythical caricatures (v. 23). This is a pathetic scenario. These worshippers of self created gods think they are wise, but they have denied God, and hence denied truth, and therefore are not wise, but foolish (v. 22), says the Bible.   

So the twisting of the truth has a starting point and immediate consequence, but then there is a downward spiral that follows. One may repent of idolatry, and plead simple ignorance. However, for the people being referred to, wrong worship is not the only thing at stake. Their sin too has to go – all lust, all immorality must go. One cannot live in sin with a clear conscience if God is in the picture. But since God is continuously rejected in order to accommodate lifestyle and the gratifying of lust, something unthinkable happens. God Himself gives them over to the very “pleasures” they desire instead of acknowledging the truth.  This is emphatic. God does not simply let go of the ones who deny Him. No. He gives them over, hands them up to, better yet, pushes them into, the very things they lust after instead of Him. And so, when truth and morality are reversed, we have as a consequence a reversal in the very course of natural behaviour – one example of which is homosexuality (vs. 26-27). Why is homosexuality so rampant today? Why are the gay prides of the world garnering so much sympathy? Why is homosexuality becoming the norm in many countries today, when everyone knows that it is clearly unnatural, inconvenient, and even deathly (v. 27)? – All because deity has been falsified, and falsehood deified. Idolatry and homosexuality are but two major consequences listed here when lies become the truth. Verses 28 to 32 of Romans 1 describe all the other consequences of evicting God from our hearts, minds, families, and nations.      

Denying God the worship due Him, clinging on to sins that bring momentary pleasure, and evicting God from our thinking – these contribute to truth being changed into a lie. There is an antidote, however. It begins with worshipping God by placing one’s trust in Jesus Christ, who is the Truth (John 14:6). If one trusts in Jesus, the way to God becomes open, the truth about existence is answered, and the meaning of life becomes clear. He dispels darkness and shatters hopelessness, granting you eternal life. Will you accept the Truth?