Satan is very sly. Sometimes he tries to get you to question what God has said and to twist God’s words to mean something that is not true. - Tammy Melton(1)
The Word of God is a powerful weapon against the devil. Proverbs states, “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him” (30:5). The words of the Lord serve as a shield, or a protective covering, for believers. We earlier learned how “the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb 4:12a), and a sword is both an offensive and defensive weapon. The words of the Bible, therefore, can be used as weapons for battle!
Satan realizes that the Word of God is a mighty weapon in the “war against demonic terror.” His plan, therefore, is to break down our defenses and plunder and steal our weapons, thereby leaving us completely defenseless. The way in which he tries to steal the Word is by tainting our ammunition, for he knows that without the dynamis power of the Word (cf. Mt 22:29; Rm 1:16), that we will experience spiritual misfires as we try to withstand his onslaught of attacks. The devil taints the Word by adding to it, subtracting from it, or substituting his own defective formula.
In 2 Corinthians 4:2, Paul referred to the tainting of the Word as “walking in craftiness” and “handling the word of God deceitfully,” and craftiness and deception are indicative of the plans and schemes of the devil. John emphasized his deceptive nature, stating how “the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Rv 12:9a). The devil is a compulsive liar (Jn 8:44), and in our message tonight we will examine some of the subtle ways in which he tries to taint and subvert the Word of God in order to deceive believers.
The Tainting of the Word (Genesis 3:1-6)
From the very beginning, the devil has tried to taint the Word of God, for he began utilizing his scheme shortly after creation; and he was able to succeed at deceiving the first man and woman, resulting in sin and death for the entire world. The battlefield in which he fought to deceive Adam and Eve was – you guessed it – within their minds. In 2 Corinthians 11:3, Paul expressed his concern for all believers, stating, “I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (NIV).
I want to remind us that the battlefield is within the mind. The devil appeared to Eve in physical form; however, he will come to us speaking to our heart and mind, seeking to taint and twist the Word of God. If we wish to overcome his deceptions, then we must become aware of what he does to trick believers. The example of Satan’s first-ever deception is recorded in Genesis 3:1-6. Let us stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word:
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die’.”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 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.” 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.
Right here, we observe six deceptions the devil might attempt to use to steal from us the dynamite power of the Word. We will examine in great detail these six forms of tainting, in order that we might guard our heart and mind.
Satan Will Question God’s Word
The first deception that Satan utilized on Eve was that he questioned God’s Word, basically asking her, “Did God really say what you think He said?”
[The serpent said to Eve] “Has God indeed said?” He did not deny that God had spoken; he simply questioned whether God had really said what Eve had thought He said. “Perhaps you misunderstood what God spoke,” is Satan’s suggestion. “You owe it to yourself to rethink what He said.” It is worth noting that in this suggestion Satan is also questioning God’s goodness. “If God really loved you, He wouldn’t keep something from you.”(2)
Satan can lead us to question God’s Word within our mind. He does so through the temptation to sin. Sin can be attractive, because it is sometimes pleasurable; but to replace God’s eternal joy with the temporary pleasures of sin only leads to misery, and it ultimately results in spiritual death. However, it is the desire to commit sin that causes people to look for loopholes in God’s Word. So, I wish to caution us to stop searching for loopholes in God’s Word, lest the serpent deceive us.
Satan Will Deny God’s Word
The second deception that Satan utilized on Eve was he denied God’s Word. Satan said, “You will not surely die!” (Gn 3:4). “It is but a short step from questioning God’s Word to denying it. Of course, neither Adam nor Eve had ever seen death. All they had to go on was the Word of God, but this was all they needed.”(3)
Maybe this will sound a bit old fashioned to some, but there’s a bumper sticker that says, “God said it! I believe it! That settles it!” This seems like some good advice. If the Lord tells us something in His Word, then we need to believe it and not deny it. What God tells us is for our own good, and not for our harm.
If we deny God’s Word it will lead to death, but if we heed His Word we will find life. Joshua delivered this truth to Israel, saying, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8).
There’s a familiar hymn that says, “Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.”(4) God’s Word contains words of life, which we should heed if we ever hope to be successful in our Christian walk. Satan’s words, with his lies and temptations, are words of death.
Satan Will Substitute His Own Lie
The third deception that Satan utilized on Eve was he substituted his own lie. He said, “You will be like God!” (Gn 3:5). “Adam and Eve were already made in the image of God, but Satan tempted them with an even greater privilege: to be like God! This was of course, Satan’s great ambition when he was Lucifer, God’s angelic servant.”(5) In Isaiah 14:12-14, we can read the account of the devil’s rebellion against the Lord. This passage says:
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:12-14).
“Satan is a created being, a creature; but he wanted to be worshipped and served like the Creator”(6) - and through the countless years after his fall, and the fall of mankind, he gained a great following of worshippers by presenting them the same temptation to become like God. The Bible says, “Although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were they thankful, but . . . exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:21a, 25b).
It was this specific attitude that led the devil to rebel against God and seek to establish his own kingdom. “You will be like God, is the one gigantic lie that has controlled civilization since the fall of man.”(7) Anytime a believer feels that he or she has all the answers and stops listening to God, then that individual is trying to assume God’s position and is attempting to become like Him!
You Can Subtract from God’s Word
“How did Eve respond to Satan’s approach? She responded by making three mistakes that led her into sin.”(8) Now we’re going to see the last three deceptions out of six, learning how Satan attacked Eve’s mind by planting sinful thoughts. The fourth deception that the devil used on Eve was he fooled her into subtracting from God’s Word.
In verse two, Eve omitted the word “freely.” God’s original word in Genesis 2:16 was, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat.” We get the impression that Eve caught Satan’s subtle suggestion, “God is holding out on you!” When you start to question or forget the grace of God and the goodness of God, you will find it much easier to disobey the will of God.(9)
As an example of how someone can subtract from God’s Word, let’s suppose that an individual knows about how the Bible warns that sin leads to death and hell. The individual might declare, “How can a loving God send someone to hell? I don’t want anything to do with a God like that!”
The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death” (Rm 6:23a). An individual lacking an in-depth knowledge of Scripture will tend to focus only on the first part of the verse, and delete the second part within his mind. The person will then conclude that God sends people to hell, and that He doesn’t really love anyone.
However, the second part of the verse says, “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rm 6:23b). God does indeed love people, for He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life (Jn 3:16); and the Lord is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pt 3:9). When people want to believe the devil’s lies then they’ll often forget, or delete, the parts of God’s Word that hold them accountable.
You Can Add to God’s Word
The fifth deception that Satan utilized on Eve was he fooled her into adding to God’s Word.
We do not find the words “nor shall you touch it” in God’s original command. They may have been there, but they are not in the record. Not only did Eve make God’s original word less gracious by omitting the word “freely,” but she also made the commandment more grievous by adding “or touch it.” [John says] “His commandments are not burdensome” (1 Jn 5:3). Satan wants us to believe they are burdensome, and that he has something better to offer.(10)
An example of adding to God’s Word in a way that becomes burdensome and enslaving to others, is when an individual adds his own interpretation of what a passage means in light of his own sinful plans.
For example, a husband wishing to say that men are superior to women and that a wife must be submissive and serve his every whim, will emphasize how God created the man first, concluding that the man must be superior to the woman. The Bible doesn’t say that man is superior; but in fact, in Ephesians 5:22-23, it speaks of mutual submission for both the husband and the wife. The Bible is only enslaving when it is added to and misinterpreted in light of one’s own sinful agenda.
You Can Change God’s Word
The sixth and final deception that Satan utilized on Eve was he fooled her into changing God’s Word.
God did not say, “lest you die.” [In Genesis 2:17] he said, “For in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.” The penalty for disobedience as presented by the enemy did not seem as harsh; therefore, Eve could consider forsaking God’s will and then obeying Satan’s will.(11)
There is a cult today that has changed God’s Word in every place where Jesus is said to be Lord, and has made Jesus appear to be lesser than God the Father. For example, in the New World Translation, John 1:1 states, “In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” The statement “the Word was a god” should be properly translated as “the Word was God” (NKJV). Reducing Jesus to lesser than God the Father removes the weight and authority of His commands, and allows a person to pick and choose what they want to believe.
Living Apart from God’s Word
Take a moment to consider whether or not you’ve ever changed the Word of God to say something that you wanted it to say. If you have, then you need to repent before you wind up in further trouble by going astray from the Lord. In response to the six ways that the devil tries to taint the Word of God, commentator Warren Wiersbe says,
Once you have treated God’s Word in this fashion, then you are wide open for the devil’s final trick. He merely permitted Eve to consider the tree apart from God’s Word. [He said], “Get a look at it! See it as it really is!” It was “good for food . . . a delight to the eyes . . . desirable to make one wise” (Gn 3:6). She had to make a choice: God’s Word or Satan’s word? She rejected God’s Word, believing Satan, and sinned.(12)
Have you ever believed any of these six lies of the enemy? Beware, for Satan’s lies lead to sin against God and spiritual bewilderment.
God accomplishes His will on earth through truth; Satan accomplishes his purposes through lies. When the child of God believes God’s truth, then the Spirit of God can work in power; for the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth” (Jn 16:13). But when a person believes a lie, then Satan goes to work in that life; “for he is a liar, and the father of lies” (Jn 8:44). Faith in God’s truth leads to victory; faith in Satan’s lies leads to defeat.(13)
If we find ourselves living in defeat, or experiencing a dry spell in our life, then we need to ask ourselves this question: “Have I believed Satan’s lies, instead of the truth of God found in the Bible?”
Time of Reflection
The devil, through his lies, has deceived many believers into falling away from the Lord. They have been tricked into believing that Satan has something better to offer than Jesus can provide.
I wish to once again remind us of how we can do battle with the Word of God (Heb 12). When we rely on the Word, and stand on the truth of God, then the One who does all the fighting is Jesus Christ, for according to 1 John 3:8, “the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”
If we wish to walk in the light of truth, and we’re searching for the truth of God’s Word, then we should look no further than Jesus Christ who is the embodiment of the Word (Jn 1:1, 14). Jesus declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (14:6); and He is the truth that will set us free (8:32)!
If you’ve never before trusted in Jesus as the truth that sets you free; meaning, you’ve never trusted in Him as Savior and Lord; I want to invite you to walk the aisle and pray to receive Him tonight.
NOTES
(1) Tammy B. Melton, Loving God with All Five Senses (Longwood, FL: Xulon Press, 2007), p. 33.
(2) Warren Wiersbe, The Strategy of Satan (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1979), p. 20.
(3) Ibid., p. 20.
(4) Philip P. Bliss, “Wonderful Words of Life,” The Baptist Hymnal (Nashville, TN: Convention Press, 1991), Hymn # 261.
(5) Wiersbe, p. 20.
(6) Ibid., p. 21.
(7) Ibid., p. 21.
(8) Ibid., p. 21.
(9) Ibid., p. 22.
(10) Ibid., p. 22.
(11) Ibid., p. 22.
(12) Ibid., p. 23.
(13) Ibid., p. 23.
