[45] But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. [46] Can any of you charge me with sin? If I am telling the truth, why do you not believe me? [47] Whoever belongs to God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not listen, because you do not belong to God." [48] The Jews answered and said to him, "Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and are possessed?" [49] Jesus answered, "I am not possessed; I honor my Father, but you dishonor me.
(CCC 2482) "A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving" (St. Augustine, De mendacio 4, 5: PL 40: 491). The Lord denounces lying as the work of the devil: "You are of your father the devil, . . . there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (Jn 8:44). (CCC 2852) "A murderer from the beginning, . . . A liar and the father of lies," Satan is "the deceiver of the whole world" (Jn 8:44; Rev 12:9). Through him sin and death entered the world and by his definitive defeat all creation will be "freed from the corruption of sin and death" (Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer IV, 125). Now "we know that anyone born of God does not sin, but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil one" (1 Jn 5:18-19). The Lord who has taken away your sin and pardoned your faults also protects you and keeps you from the wiles of your adversary the devil, so that the enemy, who is accustomed to leading into sin, may not surprise you. One who entrusts himself to God does not dread the devil. "If God is for us, who is against us?" (St. Ambrose, De Sacr. 5, 4, 30: PL 16, 454; cf. Rom 8:31).
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