Having previously reviewed 'The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry' by this author, I was keen to see what his latest book had to offer, and I was not disappointed.

How not to lose your soul

Written in the same quirky, chatty style as before, 'Live No Lies' is an intelligent and hard-hitting counterattack on what most sabotages our peace: namely our three greatest enemies; the world, the flesh and the devil.

The battle is not just out there in the surrounding culture, with its secularism and alternative faith systems. It is an internal fight. There is a war going on for our souls, and within our souls, and the main weapons against us are lies. Eventually, if we believe such lies we will live them, hence the title.

In his opening, Comer asks, “Why does every day feel like a battle just to stay faithful, to keep following Jesus? Here’s an idea: maybe because it is” (p.xx). He adds, “This is a book about how (not) to lose your soul in a digital Babylon. This is a manifesto for exile. This is a rally cry to the war on lies” (p.xxxi).

Flesh and world

The book is in three parts, one each for the devil, the flesh and the world, in that order. Comer is careful to define each of these properly. Flesh (sarx) and world (kosmos) each have several meanings, some of which are not necessarily bad. Sarx can simply mean the body, and kosmos can refer to all God has created (the cosmos!), or the people in it (whom God loved so much – John 3:16).

Jesus highlights the extent of the devil’s power, to all the kingdoms of this world, not just a particular locality.

But there is a dark side to these as well. In this sense, the flesh is basically our selfishness and rebellion against God’s rule, manifesting itself in sinful cravings and corrupt desires. Our animalistic appetites and self-gratifying pleasures may feel natural to the body, but they are fundamentally opposed to God’s ways.

The world is also defined in an anti-God manner, as a system of practices and standards where man reigns supreme and can attain his own salvation and destiny. This can be summed up as worldliness as opposed to godliness.

Father of lies

As expected, Comer explains that the devil is far removed from the usual caricatures. He provides us with a biblical understanding of the devil based upon his titles (accuser, destroyer, deceiver, ancient serpent and so on), which describe his functions. The title ‘prince of this world’ is particular interesting. Prince (archon) was a political word for the highest ranking Roman official in a city or region. By applying this to ‘this world’ (John 14:30), Jesus highlights the extent of the devil’s power, to all the kingdoms of this world, not just a particular locality. Paul makes a similar point with his description of the devil as the ‘ruler of the kingdom of the air’ (Eph 2:2).

Above all, the devil is the father of lies (John 8:44). This is his natural language. This is how he holds sway over all of mankind. He not only has the ability to control the thinking of individuals via false ideas, he has even been able to dictate how human thought generally has developed over its history.

He admits that what he is writing about is not that new, but it is a vital message then needs reinforcing again and again.

One aspect of this is how we have fallen prey to what is called chronological snobbery, the view that because we know some things better today than our unsophisticated non-scientific ancestors, we are automatically better in every way. We should trust our modern knowledge more than so-called outdated superstitions. This false ideology, often summed up as the myth of progress, is a demonic tactic through which truth can be twisted and redefined.

Celebration of discipline

The solutions to all this that Comer puts forward are obvious: confessing the truth of scripture and being led by the Spirit. Basically this amounts to practising the spiritual disciplines. He admits that what he is writing about is not that new, but it is a vital message then needs reinforcing again and again.

To back up what he says about the use of Scripture to combat the devil’s lies, Comer draws upon an ancient work by a 4th century monk, Evagrius of Pontus, called ‘Talking Back’, an anthology of Bible verses (which may call for a future review in PT).

If we are struggling to trust him then we should consider if there is a lie behind this which we have accepted into our lives.

Comer also provides an expert dissection of the ‘self’ in modern terms: “The self – not God or Scripture – is the new locus of authority in Western culture” (p.117). The solution to this is brutal and painful. The self cannot be managed; it has to be crucified. Part of this should include fasting and the confession of sins to others. The devil loves it when we ignore these disciplines.

Concluding thoughts

The author also makes an excellent point that the worst lies are those which deny something good and right about God. This affects our trust in him; so if we are struggling to trust him then we should consider if there is a lie behind this which we have accepted into our lives.

Each part of the book ends with what Comer calls a step sheet, basically a list of definitions and summary points. The epilogue focuses on self-denial in an age of self-fulfilment and there is also an appendix on the monastic handbook of Evagrius, mentioned earlier.

Comer’s illustrations and phraseology are very US-based, and overall the book could be shorter, while still getting the main points across; in other words, parts of the book can be skimmed. But always be aware that there are gems here and that the overall thesis is vital and worth repeating until we really get the message.

'Live No Lies' (Hardback, 278pp) is published by Form, and is available from Eden Christian Books for £12.79 (inc p&p).