Author- John Mark Comer
Publisher- WaterBrook
Pages- 336
Quotable- “My point is this: lies distort our souls and drive us into ruin.”
When I initially began reading Live no lies by John Mark Comer I quickly realized that he is a scholarly leader. In the beginning of this book he provides a brief summary of where he will go in this book (page xx). He presents his working theory that we are at war with the world, the flesh, and the devil. This war begins with lies that distort the actions of humanity and ultimately lead us to living in a sinful world. Because of the sin that we encounter on a daily basis we need to be aware of the schemes of the devil so we can fight against the flesh and live for Jesus in the world.
Throughout the book Comer works through his theory by beginning with the truth about lies. The devil is actively working in this world to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10) and therefore the believer must be aware of his lies. I appreciated how Comer addressed the way the devil twisted the truth of God, in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3), and lured Eve and Adam into sin. From that moment until now the devil has been inviting people to sinful destruction through his lies. The results is that we live in a world that is against God and therefore we must be more prepared in our spiritual formation.
I think Comer did a great job, in the first section of the book, to present how badly lies have hurt the world and the people in the world. His statement on page 36, and work prior to that, have been extremely helpful to me: “My point is this: lies distort our souls and drive us into ruin.” My understanding was that the basis for our stunted growth in Christ is that we believe lies and therefore don’t follow the truth of God. It’s hard not to believe lies. We live in a world full of lies and therefore are surrounded by lies that the devil has been spewing for centuries.
When we move into the second section of the book I think Comer does a great job at making progress on the Spirit’s transforming work. Comer brings in modern examples of how the flesh is sinful (page 105) and our need to submit to the Lord (page 107). I appreciate how Comer brings in Paul’s exhortation to the church in Ephesus from Ephesians 6. Comer does excels at explaining how a person who submits to the flesh lives versus someone who is living for the Spirit. When we look at pages 134 and 135 we see that Comer is giving us a side-by-side comparison of what it looks like to live for the flesh and to live in the Spirit.
I appreciate his modern examples of ways that believers are falling into serving the flesh. On the following page Comer teaches us, from Galatians 5, on how to live for the Spirit. I appreciate how the publisher lined this out in the layout of the print. Living for the Spirit is so far from what we experience on a daily life. We are bombarded with all the acts of the flesh in our daily life and it’s hurting our spiritual growth.
I found it most helpful how Comer pushed me to think outside of what I’ve currently been thinking about. So often, I think we try to avoid the ‘big sins’ and Comer started with how lying is where evil begins. His writing in chapter one got me thinking all the way to the conclusion of the book. What I found most helpful, for my personal spiritual formation, was his writing on fasting. I have always viewed fasting as a denying of the self. I have fasted from: soda, sugar, social media, candy, and occasionally food. But Comer says that to fast from anything by food is just abstinence (page 178).
I was convicted by this. I want to fast and beat my flesh into submission. But I also have three kids, lead a church, lead a small group, coach baseball, workout and get REALLY hungry. I am not the most pleasant person to be around when I don’t eat. In fact, I have made my life so structured that I have times of the day that I eat. It was fairly convicting to read this section on what I thought was fasting isn’t really fasting. It’s causing me to rethink how I can deny my flesh to connect more deeply with the Lord. I will keep you posted on how this progresses.
I throughly enjoyed the entirety of this book. If I had to choose something that I would like to hear more on it would be his work on keeping in step with the Spirit (page 173). I would like to hear what he is currently doing on walking daily with the Spirit. I appreciate his work on fasting and confession. Maybe I think it’s more complex than it really it, but I’d love to hear him add a couple more spiritual disciples to this list.
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