In darkness, we focus on external teachings and forget that the problem lies within. The truth teaches about the inside and leads us into the light about ourselves. Everyone has a wrong view of themselves. We look at this more closely by studying the outer and inner truth that the mind perceives. The outer is everything that is visible and requires no belief. The inner is everything that is invisible and must be believed. The outer is objective and the inner is subjective. The inner truth must be confirmed by the outer objectivity. God has given man an identity (“I am a creature”). If man knows who he is, he can orient himself to the external objectivity of the law. But Lucifer and also human beings have changed this inner truth through their self-deception.
Through the false identity “I am God”, man no longer orients himself to the external objectivity of the law, but to his own perception. We make ourselves the standard and create our own reality. Self-deception separates us from God. When we are in the lie, we believe that we are right. So we make up our own rules and think they are God's laws. One of the greatest difficulties is that self-deception changes interpersonal relationships. We see our neighbor as our subject and debtor. We have to control and manage them so that they satisfy our needs. It looks as if we care about them, but in reality it is all about ourselves. We live off others. We look at the two perspectives “I am God” and “I am a creature” and their effects. Ultimately, standing up for the truth does not mean that we force others to accept the truth. It means that we stand by the truth inwardly by knowing who we are. What this means in detail is the subject of the fourth part of the series “The Great Controversy”.