Christian Living
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Live No Lies: Recognize and Resist the Three Enemies That Sabotage Your Peace
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The bestselling author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry equips readers to recognize and resist the lies that seek to rob them of peace and freedom.
"Live No Lies is brilliant, deep, scriptural, and will equip you to face the enemy and fight."-Jennie Allen, New York Times bestselling author of Get Out of Your Head
We are at war. Not with a foreign government or domestic terrorists or a creepy new artificial intelligence hell-bent on taking over the world. No, it's a war we feel deep inside our own chests: we are at war with lies.
The problem isn't so much that we tell lies but that we live them. We let them into our bodies, and they sabotage our peace. All around us in the culture and deep within our own body memories are lies: deceptive ideas that wreak havoc on our emotional health and spiritual well-being, and deceptive ideas about who God is, who we are, and what the good life truly is.
The choice is not whether to fight or not fight, but whether we win or surrender.
Ancient apprentices of Jesus developed a paradigm for this war; they spoke of the three enemies of the soul: the devil, the flesh, and the world. Live No Lies taps into this ancient wisdom from saints of the Way and translates the three enemies for the modern era, with all its secularism and sophistication. As a generation, we chuckle at the devil as a premodern myth, we are confused by Scripture's teaching on the flesh in an age where sensual indulgence is a virtue not a vice, and we have little to no category for the New Testament concept of the world.
In this provocative and practical book, bestselling author John Mark Comer combines cultural analysis with spiritual formation. He identifies the role lies play in our spiritual deformation and lays out a strategic plan to overcome them.
Do you feel the tug-of-war in your own heart, the inner conflict between truth and lies? The spirit and the flesh? The Way of Jesus and the world? It's time to start winning. It's time to live no lies...
"Live No Lies is brilliant, deep, scriptural, and will equip you to face the enemy and fight."-Jennie Allen, New York Times bestselling author of Get Out of Your Head
We are at war. Not with a foreign government or domestic terrorists or a creepy new artificial intelligence hell-bent on taking over the world. No, it's a war we feel deep inside our own chests: we are at war with lies.
The problem isn't so much that we tell lies but that we live them. We let them into our bodies, and they sabotage our peace. All around us in the culture and deep within our own body memories are lies: deceptive ideas that wreak havoc on our emotional health and spiritual well-being, and deceptive ideas about who God is, who we are, and what the good life truly is.
The choice is not whether to fight or not fight, but whether we win or surrender.
Ancient apprentices of Jesus developed a paradigm for this war; they spoke of the three enemies of the soul: the devil, the flesh, and the world. Live No Lies taps into this ancient wisdom from saints of the Way and translates the three enemies for the modern era, with all its secularism and sophistication. As a generation, we chuckle at the devil as a premodern myth, we are confused by Scripture's teaching on the flesh in an age where sensual indulgence is a virtue not a vice, and we have little to no category for the New Testament concept of the world.
In this provocative and practical book, bestselling author John Mark Comer combines cultural analysis with spiritual formation. He identifies the role lies play in our spiritual deformation and lays out a strategic plan to overcome them.
Do you feel the tug-of-war in your own heart, the inner conflict between truth and lies? The spirit and the flesh? The Way of Jesus and the world? It's time to start winning. It's time to live no lies...
Editorial Reviews
"This is the book I've been waiting for and one of the most important books a follower of Jesus will ever read. It will become a classic."-Christine Caine, founder of A21 and Propel Women
"John Mark Comer is a gift to the church. He writes with adept cultural nuance, theological savvy, and refreshing spiritual depth. In Live No Lies, he's taken on a multilayered, ancient topic and brilliantly rearticulated it for our generation. This is a gem."-Rich Villodas, lead pastor of New Life Fellowship and author of The Deeply Formed Life
"In a time that feels full of contradictions and confusion, John Mark does a masterful job of laying out what is true, what true is, and why it matters deeply that we know the truth. This is the book for our day."-Annie F. Downs, New York Times bestselling author of That Sounds Fun
"I devoured every word of this book and found myself deeply stirred and nourished. John Mark speaks to the mind and soul, as he uncovers in his usual thoughtful way the three great enemies to our peace-the world, the flesh, and the devil. You will emerge better after reading these pages."-Bryan Loritts, author of Insider Outsider
"Every day we are dealing with temptations in multiple forms that draw us away from faithfulness to the Way of Jesus. In this compelling work, John Mark gives a vision of the beauty of Jesus in a culture of lies."-Jon Tyson, pastor of Church of the City New York and author of The Intentional Father
"This book is a godsend. It exposes our spiritual enemy of untruth-a foe impacting our societies on a global scale. In a world where everyone tries to live their own ‘truth,' this book reveals and challenges the many lies that have become common, normal, and accepted in our everyday conversations and decisions.."-Albert Tate, lead pastor of Fellowship Church
"Comer has personally helped me on my faith journey and I believe he is one of the greatest teachers of our generation. As you read Live No Lies, your heart will be strengthened and your eyes opened to the daily war waged against our personal peace."-Rich Wilkerson Jr., pastor of VOUS Church
"In a time where deception seems to have settled upon the land like a dense fog, Live No Lies offers us a clearing to see how we have been deceived, to learn how we deceive ourselves, and to flee from the one who deceives. An essential guide for discernment in our contested age."-Mark Sayers, senior leader of Red Church in Melbourne, Australia, and author of a number of books including Strange Days and Reappearing Church
"John Mark Comer is a gift to the church. He writes with adept cultural nuance, theological savvy, and refreshing spiritual depth. In Live No Lies, he's taken on a multilayered, ancient topic and brilliantly rearticulated it for our generation. This is a gem."-Rich Villodas, lead pastor of New Life Fellowship and author of The Deeply Formed Life
"In a time that feels full of contradictions and confusion, John Mark does a masterful job of laying out what is true, what true is, and why it matters deeply that we know the truth. This is the book for our day."-Annie F. Downs, New York Times bestselling author of That Sounds Fun
"I devoured every word of this book and found myself deeply stirred and nourished. John Mark speaks to the mind and soul, as he uncovers in his usual thoughtful way the three great enemies to our peace-the world, the flesh, and the devil. You will emerge better after reading these pages."-Bryan Loritts, author of Insider Outsider
"Every day we are dealing with temptations in multiple forms that draw us away from faithfulness to the Way of Jesus. In this compelling work, John Mark gives a vision of the beauty of Jesus in a culture of lies."-Jon Tyson, pastor of Church of the City New York and author of The Intentional Father
"This book is a godsend. It exposes our spiritual enemy of untruth-a foe impacting our societies on a global scale. In a world where everyone tries to live their own ‘truth,' this book reveals and challenges the many lies that have become common, normal, and accepted in our everyday conversations and decisions.."-Albert Tate, lead pastor of Fellowship Church
"Comer has personally helped me on my faith journey and I believe he is one of the greatest teachers of our generation. As you read Live No Lies, your heart will be strengthened and your eyes opened to the daily war waged against our personal peace."-Rich Wilkerson Jr., pastor of VOUS Church
"In a time where deception seems to have settled upon the land like a dense fog, Live No Lies offers us a clearing to see how we have been deceived, to learn how we deceive ourselves, and to flee from the one who deceives. An essential guide for discernment in our contested age."-Mark Sayers, senior leader of Red Church in Melbourne, Australia, and author of a number of books including Strange Days and Reappearing Church
Readers Top Reviews
Grant KlinefelterSco
This book is so timely and JMC offers a beautiful counter-narrative to the polarization in America that cuts to the heart of who Christ called us to be and how he has called us to live. Thank you, John Mark.
Lynne F
I love the way John Mark Comer writes. He writes intelligently, yet he explains things so well. I couldn’t put this book down! It really helps highlight the lies that we too easily believe, that drag us down and potentially stop us from living the life God has for us. If you have read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, you will love this. Read it for yourself - you won’t be disappointed.
P. Benger
Having read and loved all of John Marks’s previous books especially, Garden City, God has a name and The ruthless elimination of hurry I was eagerly anticipating this new book. When I heard the title I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but a book on Spiritual Warfare I certainly did not expect. I think this book and the conversation it creates is so timely and a necessary reminder that to follow Jesus is a path of overcoming the world, the flesh and the devil so that we find the life that is truly life. The life Jesus promised in John 10:10. I thoroughly recommend this book.
Inkblotlife_peggynag
I recently finished Jackie Hill Perry's Holier Than Thou and was very moved to ask God to expand my view of Him and pursue holiness more intentionally. I was wondering how to walk out pursuing holiness when I saw this book was coming out in September. I signed up for the book launch to get my hands on it sooner. I am thankful. It is a simple read in John Mark Comer's communication style which is very conversational. It is also straight forward look at culture, flesh, sin, and our response to pursing holiness and the battle for attention and souls. Walking this out is not simple, but Comer gives some great practices to weave into daily life as we walk in the Spirit and Resist the Devil. He pulls no punches and gives a great overview of what the world, flesh and Satan are and how we can resist and how we can become accomplices. He gives the reader much to chew on but also doable actions as we put ourselves in spaces to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us. I highly recommend this book. I think it would make a good group study for accountability or discipleship. It is an easy read, but also challenging us to work out our salvation. Comer invites all to a full, abiding life with light and truth. I was given an advanced copy from Waterbrook publishing to review. All opinions are mine. I enjoyed it so much that I ordered more copies already to share.
George P. Wood
“We are at war,” writes John Mark Comer in Live No Lies. The war is neither military nor cultural, however; it is spiritual. As Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” When I read that verse, I tend to think of Jesus’ exorcism of the demon-possessed man in Mark 5:1–20. The man lived apart from society, a danger to himself and others. Asked his name, he said, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” (A Roman legion consisted of approximately 4,200 infantry and 300 cavalry, which may indicate the scope and intensity of his demonic possession.) Jesus against a legion: Now that’s spiritual warfare! Power encounters are an aspect of spiritual warfare, of course, but they are not its primary form. Instead, Comer writes, spiritual warfare consists of “deceitful ideas that play to disordered desires that are normalized in a sinful society.” The devil (“deceitful ideas”), the flesh (“disordered desires”), and the world (“sinful society”) are the unholy trinity that wars against our souls, and lies are the primary point of attack. Spiritual warfare begins, then, with truth encounters. Isn’t that what we see in Genesis 3? The Bible’s first spiritual battle began with an insinuating question, “Did God really say … ?” (Genesis 3:1). At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the devil approached Him with an intellectual challenge: “If you are the Son of God …” (Matthew 4:3). Spiritual formation happens when we align our thoughts with reality. “It is by spirit and truth that we are transformed into the image of Jesus and set free to live in line with all that is good, beautiful, and true,” Comer writes. Spiritual disciplines that help us do that include silence, solitude, prayer, fasting, and meditation on Scripture. The devil’s lies aren’t random, however. He directs them at the “flesh,” which Comer defines as “our base, primal, animalistic drives for self-gratification, especially as it pertains to sensuality and survival.” We want forbidden fruit, so we decide God is a Big Meany if He doesn’t let us have it. Deceitful ideas thus rationalize — or better, rational lies — our disordered desires. Spiritual disciplines such as fasting and confession of sins help counter our disordered desires. “As we do this over time,” Comer writes, “we not only grow our own willpower muscles but, more importantly, we open our minds and bodies to a power that is beyond us — that of God’s Spirit.” The importance of rightly ordered desires is apparent in Galatians 5:16–25, where Paul contrasts “acts of the flesh” (vices) with “fruit of the Spirit” (virtues). “Walk by the Spirit,” Paul concludes, “and you will not gratify the desires of the...
Short Excerpt Teaser
The truth about lies
Late in the fourth century AD, a young intellectual named Evagrius Ponticus went into the desert of Egypt to fight the devil.
Like you do.
Evagrius had read the story of Jesus going out into the desert to face the devil head on and intended to follow Jesus's example.
Soon word got out: there was a monk out in the middle of nowhere at war with the devil. Apparently, rumor said, he was winning. He became a sought-after spiritual guide. Spiritual seekers would brave the dangers of the elements in an attempt to locate Evagrius and learn his tactics.
Before Evagrius's death, a fellow monk named Loukios asked him to write down his strategy to overcome the devil. As a result, Evagrius penned a short book called Talking Back: A Monastic Handbook for Combating Demons.
Best subtitle ever.
Recently, I got around to reading it; it blew my mind. In all honesty, I expected a list of Christian-style magic incantations, the incoherent ramblings of a premodern introvert who spent too much time under the North African sun. Instead, I found an erudite mind who was able to articulate mental processes in ways that neuroscientists and leading psychologists are just now catching up to.
Evagrius generated the most sophisticated demonology in all of ancient Christianity. And the most surprising feature of Evagrius's paradigm is his claim that the fight against demonic temptation is a fight against what he called logismoi-a Greek word that can be translated as "thoughts," "thought patterns," your "internal narratives," or "internal belief structures." They are the content of our thought lives and the mental markers by which we navigate life. For Evagrius, these logismoi weren't just thoughts; they were thoughts with a malignant will behind them, a dark, animating force of evil.
In fact, Evagrius organized his book into eight chapters, each grouped around a basic logismoi. Evagrius's eight thoughts later became the foundation of the "seven deadly sins" of antiquity.
Each entry begins with the line "Against the thought that . . ."
We'll come back to Evagrius at the end of part 1 because I think-over a millennium and a half later-after Jesus, he's still the most brilliant tactician we have in the fight to overcome demonic temptation. (And yes, I believe in demonic temptation. Keep reading . . .)
For now, let's open with his provocative idea: our fight with the devil is first and foremost a fight to take back control of our minds from their captivity to lies and liberate them with the weapon of truth.
Can this idea be found anywhere in the teachings of Jesus himself?
Leading question. The answer: absolutely.
One of Jesus's most famous teachings is this:
You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
In context, Jesus had just told his followers that "if you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples," and as a result, "you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
The Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day, immediately responded with antagonism: "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone."
Which is a bit of an ironic statement considering the history of the Hebrew people. Read Exodus.
Jesus graciously explained that he's not referring to socioeconomic slavery so much as spiritual slavery, for "everyone who sins is a slave to sin."
That just made the Pharisees even angrier, and they proceeded to make a snide comment about how "we are not illegitimate children." A not-so-subtle dig at Jesus's parentage. (Except in the original Greek, it's not as milquetoast; it's closer to "We're not bastards like you.") Full of contempt, they raged, "The only Father we have is God himself."
Jesus didn't let that one slide. As feisty as he was tender, he responded with a fascinating claim about who their "father" actually was:
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Right out of the gate, notice three things from Jesus's teaching about this enigmatic creature he called the devil.
Let's start with the obvious: for Jesus, there is a devil.
In Greek, the word Jesus used is διάβολος (diabolos), which is from a verbal root word meaning "to slander" or "accuse." It can also be translated "the accuser." But this is just one of many names for this creature. Scripture also calls him . . .
• the satan
• the evil one
•&n...
Late in the fourth century AD, a young intellectual named Evagrius Ponticus went into the desert of Egypt to fight the devil.
Like you do.
Evagrius had read the story of Jesus going out into the desert to face the devil head on and intended to follow Jesus's example.
Soon word got out: there was a monk out in the middle of nowhere at war with the devil. Apparently, rumor said, he was winning. He became a sought-after spiritual guide. Spiritual seekers would brave the dangers of the elements in an attempt to locate Evagrius and learn his tactics.
Before Evagrius's death, a fellow monk named Loukios asked him to write down his strategy to overcome the devil. As a result, Evagrius penned a short book called Talking Back: A Monastic Handbook for Combating Demons.
Best subtitle ever.
Recently, I got around to reading it; it blew my mind. In all honesty, I expected a list of Christian-style magic incantations, the incoherent ramblings of a premodern introvert who spent too much time under the North African sun. Instead, I found an erudite mind who was able to articulate mental processes in ways that neuroscientists and leading psychologists are just now catching up to.
Evagrius generated the most sophisticated demonology in all of ancient Christianity. And the most surprising feature of Evagrius's paradigm is his claim that the fight against demonic temptation is a fight against what he called logismoi-a Greek word that can be translated as "thoughts," "thought patterns," your "internal narratives," or "internal belief structures." They are the content of our thought lives and the mental markers by which we navigate life. For Evagrius, these logismoi weren't just thoughts; they were thoughts with a malignant will behind them, a dark, animating force of evil.
In fact, Evagrius organized his book into eight chapters, each grouped around a basic logismoi. Evagrius's eight thoughts later became the foundation of the "seven deadly sins" of antiquity.
Each entry begins with the line "Against the thought that . . ."
We'll come back to Evagrius at the end of part 1 because I think-over a millennium and a half later-after Jesus, he's still the most brilliant tactician we have in the fight to overcome demonic temptation. (And yes, I believe in demonic temptation. Keep reading . . .)
For now, let's open with his provocative idea: our fight with the devil is first and foremost a fight to take back control of our minds from their captivity to lies and liberate them with the weapon of truth.
Can this idea be found anywhere in the teachings of Jesus himself?
Leading question. The answer: absolutely.
One of Jesus's most famous teachings is this:
You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
In context, Jesus had just told his followers that "if you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples," and as a result, "you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
The Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day, immediately responded with antagonism: "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone."
Which is a bit of an ironic statement considering the history of the Hebrew people. Read Exodus.
Jesus graciously explained that he's not referring to socioeconomic slavery so much as spiritual slavery, for "everyone who sins is a slave to sin."
That just made the Pharisees even angrier, and they proceeded to make a snide comment about how "we are not illegitimate children." A not-so-subtle dig at Jesus's parentage. (Except in the original Greek, it's not as milquetoast; it's closer to "We're not bastards like you.") Full of contempt, they raged, "The only Father we have is God himself."
Jesus didn't let that one slide. As feisty as he was tender, he responded with a fascinating claim about who their "father" actually was:
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Right out of the gate, notice three things from Jesus's teaching about this enigmatic creature he called the devil.
Let's start with the obvious: for Jesus, there is a devil.
In Greek, the word Jesus used is διάβολος (diabolos), which is from a verbal root word meaning "to slander" or "accuse." It can also be translated "the accuser." But this is just one of many names for this creature. Scripture also calls him . . .
• the satan
• the evil one
•&n...
