Since a spirit only functions from within, the darkness of self-deception could only arise there. That is why it can only be removed from within. The light is the truth about us (“I am a creature”) and the darkness is the lie about ourselves (“I am God”). The Great Controversy is about us coming out of our innate self-deception into the light of truth. And Jesus came into this world to liberate man by solving the problem within himself (Romans 8:3-4). The greatest difficulty is the realization that it is an inner and not an outer process. Every religion tries to change something by external means, e.g. by doing repentance or observing certain rituals. People try to buy salvation. It's the same in medicine. The focus is on the environment, viruses, bacteria, etc. And in religion, the enemy is the devil.
The blindness is very great. Even if an external teaching is correct, but the inside remains in self-deception, it is of no use. We take a closer look at the fact that all evil and impurity has its origin in the heart of man (Matthew 7:18-20). All the purity commandments that God gave in the Old Testament show that the problem lies within. Man is not aware of this and Christ also had great difficulty in communicating this. We look at the story of the man born blind in John chapter 9:1-5. Likewise, what is the difference between the teaching of men and that of the Bible (Mark 7:6-7)? We must understand that sin only exists in one place - in the heart of man. If this is not changed, all outward truth is still darkness. We only have the truth when we know who we are, where the problem comes from and how it is solved. The third part of the series “The Great Controversy” deals with what all this means.