Johann
Member
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2022
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SPIRITUAL WARFARE
is not a struggle against
POWER.
It is a struggle to maintain
the TRUTH.
Well, the believer needs to be aware that Satan is around. We are told that by Peter in his epistle. We need to be aware of the demonic. We need to be aware of darkness. We need to be aware that it has infected a world system and is in our face daily. We need to be aware of that, however, our focus is not to be on that. Our focus is to be on the resurrected, ascended, glorified Lord Jesus Christ and on His resurrection power in each individual life.
FOCUS ON THE LIGHT
Our FOCUS is to be on the resurrected, ascended, glorified Lord Jesus Christ and on His resurrection power in each individual life. That is our focus. We do not focus on darkness. We focus on light. The Prince and the power of light is the Lord Jesus Himself.
1 John 5:18-19 says "We know that no one who is born of God [transformed, delivered, made into a new creature] sins [habitually = present tense] but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and that the whole world (kosmos) lies (present tense = continually) in [the power of] the evil one." (Comment: Note that "touch him" means touch to do harm.)
J Vernon McGee has an interesting comment on "lies" in 1John 5:19 "This is the text of a sermon which I have preached on several occasions entitled “When the Devil Puts the Baby to Sleep.” “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth [actually, lies asleep - e.g., see Lk 2:12,16] in wickedness [or, in the arms of the wicked one].” In other words, the Devil has the world asleep. The Devil is saying to Vernon McGee, “Sh-h-h. Hush! You’re waking people up, and we don’t want to do that! They are very comfortable. Many people in churches are dead in trespasses and sins, and we don’t want to wake them up. Let’s leave them alone.” The Devil is concerned when people are awakened. You and I are living in a world that is asleep in the arms of the wicked one—if you look around today, you must agree with that statement. (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson)
Paul had warned about the wiles of the devil earlier writing "and do not give (stop giving = present imperative with a negative) the devil an opportunity. (Ep 4:27-note) (See Dwight Pentecost's comment)
The KJV Commentary warns that "Men dream of a devil that is a hideous, horned, and hoofed monster who haunts the vice dens of the world; but God says he fashions himself into an angel of light and fashions his ministers as ministers of righteousness (2Cor 11:14,15). He is the champion of liberalism, ritualism, rationalism, and every other “ism” that seeks to displace Christ. His aim is to substitute something else and something different for the grace and truth of Christ. Never underestimate the enemy. (Dobson, E G, Charles Feinberg, E Hindson, Woodrow Kroll, H L. Wilmington: KJV Bible Commentary: Nelson)
John Eadie writes that "The great enemy of man, a veteran fierce and malignant, has a method of warfare peculiar to himself, for it consists of “wiles.” His battles are the rush of a sudden ambuscade. He fights not on a pitched field, but by sudden assault and secret and cunning onslaught. Vigilance, self-possession, and promptitude are therefore indispensable to meet him: and as his aim is to throw his opponents off their guard and then to surprise them, so there is need to be ever clothed in this complete armour of God. His “wiles” are seen in unsettling the mind of Eve by representing God as jealous of the first man and woman; in stirring up the warlike aspirations of David to take a military census and force a conscription as the basis of a standing army; in inflaming the avaricious and sordid spirit of Judas; and in his assaults on our Lord by an appeal to appetite, piety, and ambition. (Ephesians 6 Commentary)
Diabolos is the noun form of the verb diaballo which describes not only those who bring a false charge against one, but also those who disseminate the truth concerning a man, and do so maliciously, insidiously and with hostility.
Notice how the root words (diá = through + ballo = throw) picture what the devil does. He constantly throws between seeking to divide whether it be between a husband and wife, a child and parent, a church, etc. Resist his divisive, condemnatory accusations firm in your faith. Wuest has an interesting comment that the literal meaning of "to throw through" means “to riddle one with accusations.”
Diabolos is applied some 34 times to Satan, the god of this world, and in each case has the definite article in the Greek ("the" = defining a specific entity) and is never in the plural (the three uses below in the pastoral epistles are all plural) as when applied to men who, by opposing the cause of God, may be said to act the part of the devil or to side with him.
Diabolos is coupled with the word “Satan” (transliteration of Hebrew word meaning “adversary”) in the Revelation, John recording that an angel from heaven "laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years (Re 20:2-note)
Diabolos is used of one who makes accusations and presses charges. In Revelation 12:9-10+, we read that "the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser (kategor) of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses (kategoreo - present tense = describes the devil's continual activity) them before our God day and night." How grateful saints can be that "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Ro 8:1+)
Are you safe and protected from the devil's accusations "in Christ Jesus" dear reader? If not, cry out this very moment to the Most High God for Him to give you His grace that you might this moment experience eternal security in Christ through your exercising of personal faith in Christ's life, death, burial, resurrection and sure, soon return. God is faithful.
Constable has an excellent summary of Satan's schemes - Satan has consistently aimed his personal attacks at getting people to doubt, to deny, to disregard, and to disobey the revealed will of God (cf. Gen. 3; Matt. 4). The world system seeks to get people to believe that they do not need God but can get along very well without Him (1 John 2). The flesh tempts us to think that we can find satisfaction, joy, and fulfillment on the physical, material level of life alone (Ro 7). (Ephesians Expository Notes) (Boding added)
Wiersbe gives us "A word of caution here: never discuss things with Satan or his associates. Eve made this mistake, and we all know the sad consequences. Also, never try to fight Satan in your own way. Resist him the way Jesus did, with the Word of God (Mt 4:1-11, Ed: Lk 4:1-11, 14+ - note that Jesus as fully man was giving us an example to follow and fended off the Devil's attacks by being filled with the Spirit and filled with the Word! See Filled with His Spirit/Richly Indwelt with His Word - If you are not memorizing the Word of God [see also Memory Verses by Topic], you are disregarding and discarding one of your primary weapons against the Devil, the "sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." - Eph 6:17+). (Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor)
William Evans wrote that it is popular in some circles to day to spell the word devil with the letter "d" left off thus reducing the idea of an actual person called the devil to a mere influence called evil. The devil may be out of fashion, but he's not out of business and as Evans adds "If the devil can't mislead people that way, he would have them think of him as a horrible, monstrous-looking creature with a forked tail, dressed in a fiery red suit, and with horns protruding from his head. If the devil can get folks to think of him like that, then when he comes as an 'angel of light', he will not be recognized, and so find it easier to beguile his unsuspecting victims."
Dr. Robert Thomas, professor of New Testament at The Master’s Seminary, warns: People don’t often go heretical all at once. It is gradual. And they do not do so intentionally most of the time. They slip into it through shoddiness and laziness in handling the word of truth.… All it takes to start the road to heresy is a craving for something new and different, a flashy new idea, along with a little laziness or carelessness or lack of precision in handling the truth of God. (2Ti 2:15) All around us today are startling reminders of doctrinal slippage and outright failure. (2Ti 4:3) In case after case someone who should have known the truth of God better failed in upholding that truth.
Vincent has an interesting note: "Temptation is thus represented as impelled from a distance. Satan attacks by indirection—through good things from which no evil is suspected. There is a hint of its propagating power: one sin draws another in its track: the flame of the fire-tipped dart spreads. Temptation acts on susceptible material. Self-confidence is combustible. Faith, in doing away with dependence on self, takes away fuel for the dart. It creates sensitiveness to holy influences by which the power of temptation is neutralized. It enlists the direct aid of God."
Question: What are the wiles of the devil in Ephesians 6:11? | GotQuestions.org
Answer: Wiles are tricks or manipulations designed to deceive someone. The tongue-in-cheek phrase a woman’s wiles refers to the seductiveness of femme fatales in using charm or sex appeal to elicit a desired response from men. Wiles of the devil are those clever schemes used by Satan to ensnare us through temptation, threat, or intimidation. Ephesians 6:11 warns us to “put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (KJV). Other Bible versions speak of the “devil’s schemes,” “strategies,” or “evil tricks” rather than “wiles.” Scripture gives us insight into our enemy’s tactics: “We are not unaware of his schemes” (2 Corinthians 2:11), and we are wise to heed its warnings.
Here are some of the devil’s wiles we see in Scripture:
1. Challenging God’s Word.
Genesis 3 gives us a detailed look into this tactic of our enemy. It led to the first human sin, and Satan still uses it because it works so well. The first recorded words of the devil, through the serpent, were these: “Did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1). With those words, the devil invited the woman to reconsider what she understood God to have said. By adding her human interpretation, she convinced herself that God’s Word was far too restrictive.
By suggesting that we should reexamine the clear teaching of God’s Word, Satan invites us to add our own interpretation and thereby nullify God’s stated will. Entire church denominations are falling prey to these wiles of the devil. “Did God really say that homosexuality is wrong?” he hisses, and churches crumble. “Did God really say there are only two genders?” he suggests, inviting us to put our own spin on reality, making ourselves gods in place of the Lord. Ephesians 6:11 says that we need to be clothed in the whole armor of God to withstand such wiles.
2. Challenging our identity.
Luke 4:1–13 gives insight into several of the devil’s wiles. Satan came against Jesus to tempt Him in the wilderness. On two different occasions, Satan began his temptations with these words: “If you are the Son of God.” Satan knew exactly who Jesus was (Mark 1:34). Jesus was there when Satan fell “like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18). Significantly, the devil chose a time when Jesus was physically weak and hungry to attack His identity.
Satan does the same with us. To make his wiles more effective, he hits us during a crisis or a spiritual struggle and suggests, “If you were a child of God, this wouldn’t happen. If you were actually a Christian, God would help you right now.” Again, we need the “helmet of salvation” firmly in place to withstand such attacks against our identity and God’s character (Ephesians 6:17).
3. Twisting Scripture.
Another of the wiles the devil used against Jesus was to quote Scripture, but with a twist. In Luke 4:10–11, Satan quotes Psalm 91:11–12 in an effort to persuade Jesus to act in the flesh rather than follow the Spirit (see Galatians 5:16, 25). But Satan failed to complete the thought of the psalm. The next verse, Psalm 91:13, says, “You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.” Those animal references are metaphors for fierce and dangerous enemies—and the devil is likened to both a lion and a serpent in Scripture (Genesis 3:15; Revelation 20:2; 1 Peter 5:8; cf. Romans 16:20). The true meaning of the passage in Psalm 91 is that God will protect and empower His servants as they overcome the enemy, Satan. One of the wiles of the devil is to leave out key parts of Scripture in order to twist its meaning to fit his agenda.
We see these wiles of the devil in action today, as prosperity teachers and false prophets quote Scripture in selfish and misleading ways. They use enough of God’s Word to sound authoritative, but they twist it to fit their personal agendas. Cherry-picking the Bible for verses that affirm whatever we want to believe or do is a widespread problem, and most participants have no idea they have fallen victim to one of the wiles of the devil.
4. Offering a tempting alternative to obedience.
Another scheme or wile of the devil used in the temptation of Jesus was to suggest another path, avoiding strict obedience to God’s will. Cunningly, Satan knew better than to suggest that Jesus forget the whole salvation plan and go back to heaven. Instead, he offered an alternative. In Luke 4:5–7, “the devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.’” This temptation was aimed at the humanity of the Son of Man. Jesus now knew what it felt like to be in the flesh. He knew what spikes would feel like in His hands and feet. He knew what rejection and mockery would feel like when He was stripped naked and paraded before the crowds. Satan was offering Him a compromise. What if Jesus could “save the world” without having to suffer crucifixion? What if He could take a shortcut and possess all the world’s kingdoms now?
One of the most sinister wiles of the devil involves his ability to offer a religiously tainted compromise. He knows he can’t come at mature believers with a frontal attack on their values and convictions. So he slides in the back door, posing as a friend with a reasonable alternative: “Well, yes, technically it might be wrong for someone to move in with a boyfriend, but you can witness to him better as he watches you live out your faith.” Or this: “You don’t need to go to church to be spiritual. You connect better with God alone in the woods. Those people are all hypocrites anyway, and you are too righteous to associate with them.” We must beware of the devil’s wiles when he offers something other than total obedience to God’s will.
The New Testament writers often pointed out the wiles of the devil to those in the church who were falling for them, and we should take note. The presence of false prophets (1 Timothy 6:3–5), busybodies (1 Peter 4:15), adulterers (1 Timothy 1:9–10), and seducers (Revelation 2:20) are all part of Satan’s masterplan to undermine the church from within.
To combat the wiles of the devil, followers of Christ must stay clothed in the armor of God. We must stay immersed in His Word so that we recognize deception. And when we realize we have been caught in the wiles of the devil, we must quickly repent and seek godly accountability. Psalm 37:23–24 encourages those who desire to live godly lives: “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.” When the Lord holds our hand, the devil’s wiles cannot harm us.
Shalom and God bless
Johann
is not a struggle against
POWER.
It is a struggle to maintain
the TRUTH.
Well, the believer needs to be aware that Satan is around. We are told that by Peter in his epistle. We need to be aware of the demonic. We need to be aware of darkness. We need to be aware that it has infected a world system and is in our face daily. We need to be aware of that, however, our focus is not to be on that. Our focus is to be on the resurrected, ascended, glorified Lord Jesus Christ and on His resurrection power in each individual life.
FOCUS ON THE LIGHT
Our FOCUS is to be on the resurrected, ascended, glorified Lord Jesus Christ and on His resurrection power in each individual life. That is our focus. We do not focus on darkness. We focus on light. The Prince and the power of light is the Lord Jesus Himself.
1 John 5:18-19 says "We know that no one who is born of God [transformed, delivered, made into a new creature] sins [habitually = present tense] but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and that the whole world (kosmos) lies (present tense = continually) in [the power of] the evil one." (Comment: Note that "touch him" means touch to do harm.)
J Vernon McGee has an interesting comment on "lies" in 1John 5:19 "This is the text of a sermon which I have preached on several occasions entitled “When the Devil Puts the Baby to Sleep.” “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth [actually, lies asleep - e.g., see Lk 2:12,16] in wickedness [or, in the arms of the wicked one].” In other words, the Devil has the world asleep. The Devil is saying to Vernon McGee, “Sh-h-h. Hush! You’re waking people up, and we don’t want to do that! They are very comfortable. Many people in churches are dead in trespasses and sins, and we don’t want to wake them up. Let’s leave them alone.” The Devil is concerned when people are awakened. You and I are living in a world that is asleep in the arms of the wicked one—if you look around today, you must agree with that statement. (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson)
Paul had warned about the wiles of the devil earlier writing "and do not give (stop giving = present imperative with a negative) the devil an opportunity. (Ep 4:27-note) (See Dwight Pentecost's comment)
The KJV Commentary warns that "Men dream of a devil that is a hideous, horned, and hoofed monster who haunts the vice dens of the world; but God says he fashions himself into an angel of light and fashions his ministers as ministers of righteousness (2Cor 11:14,15). He is the champion of liberalism, ritualism, rationalism, and every other “ism” that seeks to displace Christ. His aim is to substitute something else and something different for the grace and truth of Christ. Never underestimate the enemy. (Dobson, E G, Charles Feinberg, E Hindson, Woodrow Kroll, H L. Wilmington: KJV Bible Commentary: Nelson)
John Eadie writes that "The great enemy of man, a veteran fierce and malignant, has a method of warfare peculiar to himself, for it consists of “wiles.” His battles are the rush of a sudden ambuscade. He fights not on a pitched field, but by sudden assault and secret and cunning onslaught. Vigilance, self-possession, and promptitude are therefore indispensable to meet him: and as his aim is to throw his opponents off their guard and then to surprise them, so there is need to be ever clothed in this complete armour of God. His “wiles” are seen in unsettling the mind of Eve by representing God as jealous of the first man and woman; in stirring up the warlike aspirations of David to take a military census and force a conscription as the basis of a standing army; in inflaming the avaricious and sordid spirit of Judas; and in his assaults on our Lord by an appeal to appetite, piety, and ambition. (Ephesians 6 Commentary)
Diabolos is the noun form of the verb diaballo which describes not only those who bring a false charge against one, but also those who disseminate the truth concerning a man, and do so maliciously, insidiously and with hostility.
Notice how the root words (diá = through + ballo = throw) picture what the devil does. He constantly throws between seeking to divide whether it be between a husband and wife, a child and parent, a church, etc. Resist his divisive, condemnatory accusations firm in your faith. Wuest has an interesting comment that the literal meaning of "to throw through" means “to riddle one with accusations.”
Diabolos is applied some 34 times to Satan, the god of this world, and in each case has the definite article in the Greek ("the" = defining a specific entity) and is never in the plural (the three uses below in the pastoral epistles are all plural) as when applied to men who, by opposing the cause of God, may be said to act the part of the devil or to side with him.
Diabolos is coupled with the word “Satan” (transliteration of Hebrew word meaning “adversary”) in the Revelation, John recording that an angel from heaven "laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years (Re 20:2-note)
Diabolos is used of one who makes accusations and presses charges. In Revelation 12:9-10+, we read that "the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser (kategor) of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses (kategoreo - present tense = describes the devil's continual activity) them before our God day and night." How grateful saints can be that "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Ro 8:1+)
Are you safe and protected from the devil's accusations "in Christ Jesus" dear reader? If not, cry out this very moment to the Most High God for Him to give you His grace that you might this moment experience eternal security in Christ through your exercising of personal faith in Christ's life, death, burial, resurrection and sure, soon return. God is faithful.
Constable has an excellent summary of Satan's schemes - Satan has consistently aimed his personal attacks at getting people to doubt, to deny, to disregard, and to disobey the revealed will of God (cf. Gen. 3; Matt. 4). The world system seeks to get people to believe that they do not need God but can get along very well without Him (1 John 2). The flesh tempts us to think that we can find satisfaction, joy, and fulfillment on the physical, material level of life alone (Ro 7). (Ephesians Expository Notes) (Boding added)
Wiersbe gives us "A word of caution here: never discuss things with Satan or his associates. Eve made this mistake, and we all know the sad consequences. Also, never try to fight Satan in your own way. Resist him the way Jesus did, with the Word of God (Mt 4:1-11, Ed: Lk 4:1-11, 14+ - note that Jesus as fully man was giving us an example to follow and fended off the Devil's attacks by being filled with the Spirit and filled with the Word! See Filled with His Spirit/Richly Indwelt with His Word - If you are not memorizing the Word of God [see also Memory Verses by Topic], you are disregarding and discarding one of your primary weapons against the Devil, the "sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." - Eph 6:17+). (Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor)
William Evans wrote that it is popular in some circles to day to spell the word devil with the letter "d" left off thus reducing the idea of an actual person called the devil to a mere influence called evil. The devil may be out of fashion, but he's not out of business and as Evans adds "If the devil can't mislead people that way, he would have them think of him as a horrible, monstrous-looking creature with a forked tail, dressed in a fiery red suit, and with horns protruding from his head. If the devil can get folks to think of him like that, then when he comes as an 'angel of light', he will not be recognized, and so find it easier to beguile his unsuspecting victims."
Dr. Robert Thomas, professor of New Testament at The Master’s Seminary, warns: People don’t often go heretical all at once. It is gradual. And they do not do so intentionally most of the time. They slip into it through shoddiness and laziness in handling the word of truth.… All it takes to start the road to heresy is a craving for something new and different, a flashy new idea, along with a little laziness or carelessness or lack of precision in handling the truth of God. (2Ti 2:15) All around us today are startling reminders of doctrinal slippage and outright failure. (2Ti 4:3) In case after case someone who should have known the truth of God better failed in upholding that truth.
Vincent has an interesting note: "Temptation is thus represented as impelled from a distance. Satan attacks by indirection—through good things from which no evil is suspected. There is a hint of its propagating power: one sin draws another in its track: the flame of the fire-tipped dart spreads. Temptation acts on susceptible material. Self-confidence is combustible. Faith, in doing away with dependence on self, takes away fuel for the dart. It creates sensitiveness to holy influences by which the power of temptation is neutralized. It enlists the direct aid of God."
Question: What are the wiles of the devil in Ephesians 6:11? | GotQuestions.org
Answer: Wiles are tricks or manipulations designed to deceive someone. The tongue-in-cheek phrase a woman’s wiles refers to the seductiveness of femme fatales in using charm or sex appeal to elicit a desired response from men. Wiles of the devil are those clever schemes used by Satan to ensnare us through temptation, threat, or intimidation. Ephesians 6:11 warns us to “put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (KJV). Other Bible versions speak of the “devil’s schemes,” “strategies,” or “evil tricks” rather than “wiles.” Scripture gives us insight into our enemy’s tactics: “We are not unaware of his schemes” (2 Corinthians 2:11), and we are wise to heed its warnings.
Here are some of the devil’s wiles we see in Scripture:
1. Challenging God’s Word.
Genesis 3 gives us a detailed look into this tactic of our enemy. It led to the first human sin, and Satan still uses it because it works so well. The first recorded words of the devil, through the serpent, were these: “Did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1). With those words, the devil invited the woman to reconsider what she understood God to have said. By adding her human interpretation, she convinced herself that God’s Word was far too restrictive.
By suggesting that we should reexamine the clear teaching of God’s Word, Satan invites us to add our own interpretation and thereby nullify God’s stated will. Entire church denominations are falling prey to these wiles of the devil. “Did God really say that homosexuality is wrong?” he hisses, and churches crumble. “Did God really say there are only two genders?” he suggests, inviting us to put our own spin on reality, making ourselves gods in place of the Lord. Ephesians 6:11 says that we need to be clothed in the whole armor of God to withstand such wiles.
2. Challenging our identity.
Luke 4:1–13 gives insight into several of the devil’s wiles. Satan came against Jesus to tempt Him in the wilderness. On two different occasions, Satan began his temptations with these words: “If you are the Son of God.” Satan knew exactly who Jesus was (Mark 1:34). Jesus was there when Satan fell “like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18). Significantly, the devil chose a time when Jesus was physically weak and hungry to attack His identity.
Satan does the same with us. To make his wiles more effective, he hits us during a crisis or a spiritual struggle and suggests, “If you were a child of God, this wouldn’t happen. If you were actually a Christian, God would help you right now.” Again, we need the “helmet of salvation” firmly in place to withstand such attacks against our identity and God’s character (Ephesians 6:17).
3. Twisting Scripture.
Another of the wiles the devil used against Jesus was to quote Scripture, but with a twist. In Luke 4:10–11, Satan quotes Psalm 91:11–12 in an effort to persuade Jesus to act in the flesh rather than follow the Spirit (see Galatians 5:16, 25). But Satan failed to complete the thought of the psalm. The next verse, Psalm 91:13, says, “You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.” Those animal references are metaphors for fierce and dangerous enemies—and the devil is likened to both a lion and a serpent in Scripture (Genesis 3:15; Revelation 20:2; 1 Peter 5:8; cf. Romans 16:20). The true meaning of the passage in Psalm 91 is that God will protect and empower His servants as they overcome the enemy, Satan. One of the wiles of the devil is to leave out key parts of Scripture in order to twist its meaning to fit his agenda.
We see these wiles of the devil in action today, as prosperity teachers and false prophets quote Scripture in selfish and misleading ways. They use enough of God’s Word to sound authoritative, but they twist it to fit their personal agendas. Cherry-picking the Bible for verses that affirm whatever we want to believe or do is a widespread problem, and most participants have no idea they have fallen victim to one of the wiles of the devil.
4. Offering a tempting alternative to obedience.
Another scheme or wile of the devil used in the temptation of Jesus was to suggest another path, avoiding strict obedience to God’s will. Cunningly, Satan knew better than to suggest that Jesus forget the whole salvation plan and go back to heaven. Instead, he offered an alternative. In Luke 4:5–7, “the devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.’” This temptation was aimed at the humanity of the Son of Man. Jesus now knew what it felt like to be in the flesh. He knew what spikes would feel like in His hands and feet. He knew what rejection and mockery would feel like when He was stripped naked and paraded before the crowds. Satan was offering Him a compromise. What if Jesus could “save the world” without having to suffer crucifixion? What if He could take a shortcut and possess all the world’s kingdoms now?
One of the most sinister wiles of the devil involves his ability to offer a religiously tainted compromise. He knows he can’t come at mature believers with a frontal attack on their values and convictions. So he slides in the back door, posing as a friend with a reasonable alternative: “Well, yes, technically it might be wrong for someone to move in with a boyfriend, but you can witness to him better as he watches you live out your faith.” Or this: “You don’t need to go to church to be spiritual. You connect better with God alone in the woods. Those people are all hypocrites anyway, and you are too righteous to associate with them.” We must beware of the devil’s wiles when he offers something other than total obedience to God’s will.
The New Testament writers often pointed out the wiles of the devil to those in the church who were falling for them, and we should take note. The presence of false prophets (1 Timothy 6:3–5), busybodies (1 Peter 4:15), adulterers (1 Timothy 1:9–10), and seducers (Revelation 2:20) are all part of Satan’s masterplan to undermine the church from within.
To combat the wiles of the devil, followers of Christ must stay clothed in the armor of God. We must stay immersed in His Word so that we recognize deception. And when we realize we have been caught in the wiles of the devil, we must quickly repent and seek godly accountability. Psalm 37:23–24 encourages those who desire to live godly lives: “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.” When the Lord holds our hand, the devil’s wiles cannot harm us.
Shalom and God bless
Johann
