The Tainting Scheme Series

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)