THE SPIRITUAL BATTLE – 63 Satan Is A Deceiving Liar

“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9, KJV).

Loved ones, in our Spiritual Battle, lying is Satan’s primary weapon against God’s children. Lying is the devil’s basic means of deceiving others. The apostle Paul tells us that Satan “is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), so that what he says and does sounds good and seems reasonable. But it is nothing more than a false appearance.

At times he can be very convincing! After all, he doesn’t usually come to us and say, “Listen! What I’m about to tempt you to do is a lie and will lead you down the path to destruction!” No, he is very clever, and he will do everything in his power to convince us that his way is best — and God’s way is wrong.

Satan uses the tactic of deceit to separate people from their heavenly Father (cf. Isaiah 59:1-2). If we could see for even one second where he is leading us, we’d never follow him. But we blindly and willfully turn our backs on the truth and instead believe his lies (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

Speaking to a group of Jews, Jesus said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44).

Satan is the “father of lies” in that he is the original liar. His greatest lie is that we should believe him instead of God. He told the first lie in recorded history to Eve, in the Garden of Eden. After planting seeds of doubt in Eve’s mind with a question (Genesis 3:1), he directly contradicts God’s Word by telling her, “Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). With that lie, Satan led Eve to her death; Adam followed and so have we all.

In the wilderness, he tried to deceive Jesus into following him instead of God (Matthew 4), although he failed. In these last days, the Bible says Satan’s followers will end up being deceived — and deceiving others (c. 2 Timothy 3:13). Some of his more common lies are “there is no God,” “God doesn’t care about you,” “the Bible cannot be trusted,” and “your good works will get you into heaven.”

If you want evidence of the Devil’s craftiness, consider this: Satan lures us every day with the same two lies (he has zero originality!)—and even though both sentiments have proven time and time again to be fraudulent and harmful, we are still tempted to believe them.

As if that’s not striking enough, these two lies are entirely contradictory to one another. Yes, within a matter of seconds, Satan often gets us to believe two polar opposite notions. Here’s how it works:

Lie #1: Temptation (Satan downplays sin)

He tempts you with statements like: Do it (or believe it); it is not a big deal; you deserve this; this is what’s best for you; this is what will make you happy; no need to resist—God will forgive you anyway!

Then you sin.

Lie #2: Accusation (Satan downplays God’s grace)

Immediately—without a moment’s hesitation—Satan reverses his course. You glance over the shoulder from which the tempter once whispered promises of happiness and God’s awaiting grace, but now he’s gone. Suddenly you hear hissing from the opposite shoulder—words of guilt and shame. The Tempter is now the Accuser: “… for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:10).

Satan downplays God’s grace. He tempts you with statements like: You did that? …that’s a huge deal; Fool …how could you think you deserved that; Shame on you …that was the worst thing you could’ve done; You’ll never have joy again …God will never forgive you! Notice that the claims Satan makes in accusation are often in direct contradiction to those he speaks in temptation. Yet we believe him again. Somehow—just moments after being conned by Satan’s fraud—we are already biting into his next hook.

This is Satan’s game plan: He tempts us to do or believe something, then he accuses us when we do. His vile service is a running subscription with no (earthly) expiration date; it may be hidden at times but it’s never dormant. Satan is always sowing seeds of temptation or accusation. Often both.

Of course, Satan doesn’t need us to sin today to bring harm. The Accuser loves to use our past mistakes and sins against us. Satan’s favorite words are, “Look what you’ve done!” He’s perfectly content pointing to regrets from years ago. As long as we are looking at what we’ve done—whether from 20 minutes ago or 20 years ago—we aren’t looking at what Christ has done for us. That’s a win in Satan’s book.

In one sense, Satan already has more than enough ammunition to accuse us for a lifetime. Sure, he will never stop tempting us to sin and doubt God’s promises. But as life goes on, Satan often makes accusation his primary method of attack.

Many of Satan’s lies tend to perpetuate themselves. This is what happened when Eve convinced Adam to also believe the devil’s lie. Even though we “wrestle not against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:12), Satan still uses people to spread his lies for him. Often, he uses charismatic but foolish people to further his falsehoods, as in the case of false religions and cults.

The Bible has many names for Satan to describe his true nature, including “prince of this world” (John 12:31), “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), “tempter” (1 Thessalonians 3:5), “deceiver” (Revelation 12:9), “Beelzebub” (literally, “lord of the flies,” the ruler of demons, in Matthew 10:25), and “Belial,” meaning “wicked” (2 Corinthians 6:15).

Satan has told more lies to more people (and even angels) than any other being ever created. His success depends on people believing his lies. He has used everything from “little white lies” to huge, pants-on-fire whoppers to deceive folks. Adolph Hitler, a man who learned how to lie effectively, once said, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”

The Bible faithfully warns sinners of danger, including the danger of lying. Warnings are never pleasant, but they are better than ignorance of danger. Proverbs 19:9 says, “A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.” Whether a lie is small or large is not really the issue. Lies are of the devil. The Bible teaches. “All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6), and He will never deceive you. Thankfully, Jesus is also the Savior, and His death, burial, and resurrection provide the basis for your salvation (forgiveness of all sin), including the sin of lying. As long as we are looking at Jesus—the Truth himself—Satan’s lies have no power. Come to Jesus in faith and humility, and you will find that “ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

Only God can save us, and He made this possible by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to give His life for us. Let’s rejoice afresh today in Christ’s victory! Make sure of your commitment to Him — and then let the truth of His Word, the Bible, guide your steps every day.

The churches of Christ are neither Catholic, Protestant, nor Jew (Romans 16:16; Matthew 16:18-19). We are the loving suffering body of Christ (Ephesians 1:20-23; 4:4-6) – CHRISTIANS: “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf” (1 Peter 4:16; cf. Acts 11:26; 26:28).

Through the free gift of God’s grace by Jesus’ blood (Ephesians 2:8; Revelation 1:5) and your obedient faith (Romans 1:5; 10:17; 16:26), salvation is offered. If you have questions or wish to comment, please do so. Lord willing, a Bible answer will be provided for every Bible question.

Shared with you by Samuel A. Matthews, preaching with the Liberty NW church of Christ, meeting in Portland, Oregon, USA. The God of Heaven and Earth is so good, and His love reaches all. He is in control, so trust Him. We love you with the love of the Lord (John 13:34-35).