I want to deal with the topic of deceitfulness and since I cannot handle it all at once I decided to create a menu where I can keep all the topics together and give a rough outline of each article as I create it. What follows is the links to each article:
The point here is that if you are deceived then you cannot but deceive others
Classifications of deceitfulness
I think that for my purposes deceitfulness can be classified into inherent deceitfulness and malicious deceitfulness. I plan to deal with the inherent kind first. We can seek to militate both. I believe that awareness is the key to eliminating the first kind while the second is a persistent weakness in character. That is not to say that just being aware will of itself eradicate the first because it will not. It is the second kind that I would consider deliberate sin and has no place in a Christian if we consider that it is possible to be like Nathaniel.
John 1:47 [KJV] Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Inherent Deceitfulness
Under the heading of inherent deceitfulness I plan to deal with how we deceive without any preconceived intention to do so.
Everybody is deceived to some degree and it is dangerous to ignore that fact.
The limitations of the mind almost ensure that we will be deceived from time to time
The difference between knowing that you know and believing that you know
What believe has a lot to do with our point of view.
Being deceived has a payoff which some people may find to enticing to abandon
Malicious Deception
The articles above are about being innocently
deceitful. Some people are malicious in their deceit and I hope to get to that.