The Lie

Question: Glenn asks, “In Romans: 1:25, it states, ‘…who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and serve the creature rather than the Creator…’ Explain the meaning of the words, ‘for the lie,’ and what was the ‘creature’? And at the end of the verse, it reads, ‘…who is blessed forever.’ Please explain.”

Answer: “The lie” is mentioned a number of times in the Word of God. John 8:44 (literally) says of the devil, “When he speaks the lie, he speaks from his own resources. for he is a liar and the father of it [i.e. of the lie].” And of those who will be deceived by the coming Antichrist we read, “God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie” (II Thess. 2:11).

“The truth of God” in this case might be summed up by the words of the Lord Jesus to Satan, “You shall worship the Lord Your God, and Him only you shall serve” (Matt. 4:10). Only Almighty God is worthy of our allegiance and our worship. That is the truth of God. And an assertion that we should worship anything or anyone other than God “the lie.”

In the context, in Romans (vs. 23) the heathen worship various creatures (animals) made into idols, rather than the One who created them. And you’ll notice “man” is included in vs. 23. The glorifying of man is humanism, a religion whose ruling passion is pride, with man himself as its ultimate god.

This was behind “the lie” of Eden–“Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (Gen. 3:5). In other words, “You don’t need God; be your own god!” “The lie” of Second Thessalonians is akin to this, since it involves the worship of Satan’s counterfeit Christ, a mere man.

You also ask about the closing words of Romans 1:25. “…the Creator, who is blessed [praiseworthy, or praised] forever” is simply Paul’s way of saying he totally rejects “the lie.” He refers to God in a similar way in Romans 9:5. “Blessed” translates the Greek eulogia which gives us the English word eulogize–a eulogy being words of praise for the dear departed at a funeral. In Mark 14:61, Jesus is asked, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed [the One Forever Praiseworthy].”