As most Christians already know, Satan does not come with 2 horns but as an angel of light.
2Cor 11:14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
Also, Satan does not use just lies.
He mixes them in way that even the elect can be deceived. As we see in the garden of Eden, he didn’t say just lies. He mixed them with just 1 lie with 2 truths.
Gen 3:4-5 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
The only lie is that they will not surely die.
Gen 3:19b For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
Satan spoke truth on the other two:
Gen 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
Gen 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”–
Satan mixed 1 lie with 2 truth and packaged it to make it look good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise.
Gen 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Eve’s desires (Gen 3:6)
Satan’s sayings (Gen 3:4-5)
Good food
You will not die
Food is required for living. Satan is now offering something that does not require any food.
Pleasant to eyes
Eyes will be open
Eve was only able to see what Satan offers was pleasant to eyes. However, what Satan offers is to open her eyes beyond what she can experience.
Make one wise
Knowing good and evil
Being wise is good. But Satan offers something to make her like God knowing good and evil.
What can we learn today from what Eve desired for?
John 6:35,55 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. … For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.
Eccl 11:7 Truly the light is sweet, And it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun; John 12:46 “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.; Luke 11:34 “The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.
Matt 7:24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
Today, many Christians are listening to Satan to do the same mistake what Eve did. They are hungry and seek spiritual food, they are look for light that are pleasant for eyes and want to be wise. But instead of following God and obeying His commandments, they follow Satan. Those who come to Christ will never hunger. Christ is the light of this world and those who believe in Him should not abide in darkness. Those who hear the sayings of Christ and does them, Christ declares them as wise.
Christian’s desire
Satan’s Plan
Eternal Life
Christ is the bread from Heaven and He is the true food. Those who come to Christ and believe in Him eat the food that endures to everlasting life.
John 6:27-29 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him. Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
You will not die
It is God’s love that saved us while we were still sinners. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God on us. Anything that makes us doubt our salvation is from the devil. All we need to to is just believe in Him.
John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. .. Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Walk in light
Christ is the light of the world. Those who come into that light must not abide in darkness. To see the light, the eye must be good by having no sins blocking the light.
Luke 11:34 “The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness; Matt 7:5 “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Rev 3:18 “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
You are not in darkness
Christ is the light of the world and any darkness in you cannot stop His light from shining on you. If you believe in Him, His righteousness is imputed on you irrespective of how sinful you are. You cannot do anything to walk in His light. It is His grace that makes you to walk in His light and do the good works He require. If you try to walk in His light it is not counted as grace but debt. You are in light because of what Christ had done and His grace.
John 1:5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. … Rom 4:4-6 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
Become wise
Not everyone who says to Christ as Lord, Lord will not enter His Kingdom. But those who hear the sayings of Christ and does them, He declares as wise and will inherit His Kingdom.
Matt 7:21-24 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock
You are wise
Thousands of theologians wrestled with the Scriptures to conclude we are saved by faith alone and grace alone. It is the grace of God that makes us wise, not something we can do to become wise.
2Thess 3:6 But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. … 1Cor 3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.
Satan uses scripture alone to exalt Christ alone using faith alone to have grace alone so that Christians who are deceived can have all unrighteousness and unholiness for glory of devil because they can reject Christ’s teachings and the requirement of righteousness and holiness as works which something they can boast on.
Satan’s Bible-based Ministries: Scripture Alone
Scripture alone was used during the protestant reformation to reject traditions of men used by Catholics. It was by all means with good intent. What could possibility go wrong by saying ‘Bible based’ or ‘Scripture alone’? What many forgot is that, Satan uses Scripture to deceive Christians, just as he tempted Christ using Scripture. It is important to understand not all that are written in Scripture are equal. If anyone said Bible is the word of God rather than inspired word of God and all parts of the Bible are equal it is a deception.
Matt 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
If there are weightier matters of the law within the Scripture, certainly not all Scripture are equal and must not be considered equal.
Below are a few deceptions you may be deceived with:
Bible is the word of God: Certainly not. Christ is the Word of God. There are several differences between word of God and Scripture. e.g., In John 5:38-40, Christ clearly differentiates His Word and Scriptures.
All parts of Scripture are equal: Certainly not. Words of God shall not return to Him void (Isa 55:11). Heavens and earth can pass away but the words of Christ will never pass away (Matt 24:35). Some deceivers will make the letters of Paul and apostles of Christ to be equal with word of God.
Thus, by exalting the letters of apostles and epistles of the disciples of Christ, to be equal with the spoken words of Christ and the word of God Himself, the devil can now easily deceive those who believe in Scripture alone to reject the teachings of Christ as works exalting Paul’s letters to be authoritative which causes the next deception of faith alone.
Paul did not write anything wrong but using his arguments to avoid doing works of the law is twisted by many to reject the righteous requirements and holiness taught by Christ as works.
Satan’s Faith Ministries: Faith Alone
The only place where “faith alone” or “faith only” occurs in the Bible is in James, rejecting faith alone.
Jas 2:24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
Jesus never taught faith only. He always insisted the requirement righteousness and holiness. He taught that only the narrow gate and difficult path with lead to life.
Luke 14:27 “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Matt 10:38 “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
In His great commission, He did not asked us to make believers of all nations, but disciples who bear their cross and follow Him.
Rom 4:5-6 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
Now, the devil using Paul’s letter as authoritative text twisting it as done during his own time which was mentioned by Peter (2 Pet 3:16), Christ’s teachings are rejected as works. Because Paul’s letters are now considered authoritative and equal with Christ’s words by those who are deceived, the devil can now further deceive that the righteousness of God are now imputed just by believing in Christ.
Satan’s Grace Ministries: Grace Alone
John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Grace and Truth did came through Jesus Christ. But what could possibly go wrong by saying grace alone? What many Christians never realize is, Jesus Christ never taught grace the way it is taught today.
Luke 13:6-9 He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ”
As we see in the above parable, Christ who is the keeper of the vineyard pleads with the Father who is the owner to provide grace of one year for the fruitless fig. If it didn’t bear fruit within that one year, it will be cur down. This is grace taught by Christ.
Matt 18:32-33 “Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’
The prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) and the parable of the unforgiving servant explains God’s compassion. He expects us to forgive others the same way how God forgave us. If we don’t have compassion towards others or forgive our debtors, God will also not forgive us and will not have compassion. This is compassion taught by Christ.
Eph 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
It is true we cannot save ourselves. But it is not true that we don’t have to bear fruits. However, many are deceived by the devil in twisting Paul’s letter by rejecting the requirement of righteousness and holiness taught by Christ as works. Paul was actually referring to works of the law which the scribes and Pharisees follow and not the works which Christ taught.
Matt 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ (works of the law)
Matt 5:22 “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. (works which Christ requires)
Do not be deceived regarding grace. You are indeed saved by grace but only for a limited time. Your time is running out before you will be cut down if you don’t bear fruit. Grace is not same for all. Ananias and Sapphira did not receive any such grace (Acts 5:1-5).
Conclusion
Eph 4:21-24 If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
The new man is renewed in the spirit of our mind created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. It begins from within our heart.
Matt 23:25-28 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
God expects us to clean the inside and have righteousness and holiness in our heart. Out thoughts are to be holy and pleasing to Him. Those who don’t have their thoughts clean are given the title of hypocrites.
Mark 7:21-23 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
Any teaching or doctrine that deviates from the requirement of righteousness in our heart and holiness in our thoughts, is not from God but from the devil prepared for Christian hypocrites who are unwilling to cleanse their inside of their hearts.
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