A Brief Study of Angels
What does Satan do, and how does it affect us as humans?
When we considered the extensive list of the Bible’s many names for and references to Satan along with the meanings, we were given a great deal of insight into his various activities. We will no doubt refer to several of those passages again here. Of course, all of Satan’s doings can be summed up as: opposition to God and His plans for mankind. But we will try to be a little more specific as we consider biblical accounts and descriptions of the devil’s deeds. We will divide his endeavors into three broad categories.
First, we will consider what Satan does in relationship to unbelievers. His first and foremost goal is to keep them blinded to the truth of the Gospel (II Cor. 4:4). This purpose is affirmed in the parable of the soils (Matt. 13, Mark 4, Luke 8) where we are told that when a person hears the gospel, Satan comes and snatches away the word out of his heart (cf. Luke 8:12). Exactly how he does it is not explained in Jesus’ interpretation of the parable but we can draw some conclusions based on other passages. First, we know that he delights in creating doubt about God’s word and leading people to disbelieve it. This was his tactic in his first encounter with the human race in Eden (Gen. 3) in which he led Eve to doubt what God had said before she ate of the fruit of the tree God had denied them. Of course, doing that requires a willingness to either distort the truth and tell outright lies--both of which are central to the devil’s character (John 8:44). Satan’s lies permeate the world through many avenues--the educational establishment, popular culture and entertainment, big business, and so forth--and thus anytime someone hears the gospel it is immediately challenged by the prevalence of these lies.
The lies are diverse and plentiful. Satan has convinced many that achieving their goals is the way to lasting fulfillment, so people chase after wealth, fame, power, learning, or whatever it is they think constitutes success. Some people believe that keeping themselves occupied with pleasurable diversions such as sports, sex, alcohol and drugs, or some other form of mindless entertainment is the answer to a happy life. Ironically, some have bought the devil’s lie that there is some other way to heaven besides Jesus and so false religions and cults flourish. Others have come to believe that there is no God at all. Thus when the seed of the Gospel is made available to many hearts, it has little chance to gain purchase because those hearts are already filled with other things--they are blinded to the truth. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome the lies of Satan and shine the light of the truth so that they can comprehend it. Thus we must pray for those we know who are lost.
Second, let’s consider what Satan does with regard to believers. When a person is saved by faith in Christ he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and afforded protection from Satan. He has the armor of God available to him (Eph. 6:10-18) and the assurance that he is a child of the King. Nothing can be done to him without God knowledge and permission (Job 1,2). What God allows is always intended for our good, that we might grow in Christian maturity and spiritual strength (Rom. 5:3,4).
However, even though we are saved we still possess a carnal, sinful nature which will not be removed as long as we remain in these fleshly bodies. Satan knows this and does not hesitate to attack us in areas of weakness in hopes of making us sin.
To do this, he tempts us with various things which appeal to us. We have already seen that he tempted Eve with the idea of having greater knowledge so as to be “like God” (Gen. 3:5). He tempted Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:2, 27). He tempted Ananias and Sapphira with greed and a desire to appear as if they had given all to the Lord. To accomplish this they had to lie (Acts 5:1-3). He tempts people to have illicit sex (I Cor. 7:1-5). He even tried to tempt Jesus to turn stones into bread, to cast Himself off a tower that angels might miraculously save Him, and finally offered Him all the kingdoms of the world if He would bow down and worship Satan (Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). Regarding the temptation of Christ Robert Lightner observes, “It is commonly said that the Savior was confronted with three different temptations from Satan in the wilderness experience. I believe it is better to view the three solicitations of Satan as three different attempts to get the Savior to commit the one sin of acting independently of God the Father’s will for Him” (Angels, Satan, and Demons, p. 107). I think that is a good insight and also applies to our own temptations. They are always intended to cause us to ignore what God says and instead do the things we wish to do. In effect we are encouraged to disbelieve that what God wants is best and instead believe that my will is the better option to get whatever it is I desire at that moment.
Why does the devil do these things? One reason is to render us ineffective in ministry (II Tim. 2:19-21). He also wants to take away our confidence and peace by making us feel guilty (I Tim. 1:18-19a; II Tim. 2:15). Another reason is so that he may accuse us to God (Job 1, 2; Rev. 12:10) when we fail to obey. Additionally, when a believer sins it can bring reproach upon both him personally and the cause of Christ (I Tim. 3:7; Titus 2:7-8) which drives unbelieving people away from Christianity. But perhaps most importantly, Satan knows that if he can entice a believer into a pattern of sin it can cause him to wander away from God and eventually forsake the faith he once had (I Tim. 1:19b-20; II Tim. 2:17-18; II Peter 2:20-22). In general, Satan knows God hates sin and, at the very least, is gratified when he cause a child of God to stumble in this way.
From a different perspective, Satan also attempts to manipulate circumstances in order to oppose the work of God by Christians throughout the world. He at times incites direct persecution of believers to make them fearful and perhaps even forsake the faith (Rev. 2:10). Paul was attacked by Satan which God allowed to keep him humble (II Cor. 12:7). He was also resisted by Satan when trying to get where he wanted to be in order to carry on the work of God (I Thess. 2:17-18).
The third broad area of Satan’s doings has already been touched on but we should probably discuss it separately. In John 12:31 Satan is called “the ruler of this world” and “the god of this age” in II Corinthians 4:4. Since we know that the Lord God Almighty is ultimately sovereign over all things, including this planet, we need to clarify what we mean by “the world.” InI John 2:15-17 we get some help and some insight into this matter. Robert Lightner quotes Charles Ryrie about this, who says it is “that system organized by Satan, headed by Satan, and run by Satan, which leaves God out and is a rival to Him.” (Angels, Satan, and Demons, p.81). Therefore the “world” (Greek cosmos) is not the material earth or even the people who live there but rather it is the philosophy which drives much of what is happening in our world. Notice that John sums it up as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (v. 16). These are the things that appeal to people and snare them so that there is no hope for escape unless they respond to the message of Jesus Christ.
Having this system in place makes Satan’s work much easier. We have already asserted that Satan is finite. He cannot be everywhere at once. His demons, whom he uses to promote the system, though perhaps very numerous, cannot be in all places either. But because the world system, established by the devil, calls out to the weak, sinful flesh of humanity and offers what is appealing to them, most respond, perhaps without any personal attention from Satan himself or even one of his minions. This can happen even to believers which is why John admonished his Christian readers to “not love the world or the things in the world.” Holding on to the values of the “world” will eventually end in destruction. Very often this ruin happens even in a person’s earthly life, but no doubt they will suffer in eternity.
Let us conclude, however, with a reminder that we are responsible for our own thoughts, words and actions. Though Satan is trying his best to get us to sin, he cannot makeus sin. All will be held accountable for the way they lived. We will not be able to use “The devil made me do it” as an excuse. He cannot force his will upon us. Believers are called upon to “resist the devil” (James 4:7) which is done by putting on the “whole armor of God” and calling out to God for help. The unsaved are to turn to God as He draws them and believe in Christ. We cannot fight Satan successfully on our own because we are too weak. We need God’s power on our side.
To sum up then, Satan is doing everything he can to thwart God’s purposes and destroy human lives. He has no other goals. Whether or not he thinks he can still overthrow God is a mystery. But even in defeat, his desire would be to hurt the Lord as much as possible by inducing humans to their own destruction or at least render them (as believers) ineffective and embarrassing to God by leading them to sin.