Article by site founder, Connie Rice
Can professing Christians be taken in by the lies and deceptions of Satan? Sadly, this is a resounding yes! Satan is a master of deception – making sin look attractive until it has us in its grip or convincing us that we are good people whose own wisdom is sufficient or redefining sin so we don’t recognize it as such. Jesus came and endured immense suffering and death so that we could be free from the bondage of sin, but the father of lies (Satan) can make God’s way look like bondage and sin look like freedom to us. Jesus expects and deserves our obedience to His commands. It’s only when we recognize who He is and the depth of His love for us that we can completely surrender our lives to Him. As we do so, we are gifted with the Holy Spirit who helps us to understand the Bible, obey Jesus, and have the desire to live according to His commands because of our love for Him. The Holy Spirit also convicts us when correction is needed. The purpose of conviction is to warn us or to cause us to recognize any sin we’ve committed so we can repent (turn from it) and have fellowship with our Creator restored. Guilt is one of Satan’s tools and its purpose is to condemn.
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
Jesus’ words in John 14:21
The Holy Spirit empowers us to obey Jesus’ commands, but as long as we are on this earth, we also have a sinful nature that wants its own way and convinces us that we know better than God. We also have an adversary, the prince of this world, who knows our weaknesses and uses everything in his toolbox to take us down – lies, deceptions, temptations, distractions, discouragement, etc. to rob us of the abundant fulfilled life of purpose that Jesus would like for us to experience. We see how effective Satan is with increasingly destroyed lives, broken families, the rise of a death culture, addictions, immorality, corruption, selfishness, etc. Even if we aren’t intentionally choosing to disobey God, we have a tendency to think that our own way is somehow better than His plan for us or that our own wisdom is sufficient in this life. If we do not know the Bible well, we will develop false expectations, expecting our lives to be comfortable, so the trials of this life can derail our faith. We also tend to take for granted the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall obtainthrough the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
Perhaps it would benefit us to remember the story of Pinocchio. Jiminy Cricket did his best to guide Pinocchio with wisdom, recognizing that the path he was taking would be harmful to him. However, Pinocchio followed his own pleasure and desires until he realized that it was not the best for him. One of the scenes from the Disney animated film has the following quotes (from IMBD quotes):
- The Blue Fairy: You must learn to choose between right and wrong.
- Pinocchio: Right and wrong? But how will I know?
- Jiminy Cricket: [watching] How’ll he know!
- The Blue Fairy: [to Pinocchio] Your conscience will tell you.
- Pinocchio: What’s a conscience?
- Jiminy Cricket: What’s a conscience! I’ll tell ya! A conscience is that still small voice that people won’t listen to. That’s just the trouble with the world today…
God created humans with a conscience so we will know right from wrong. He has also gifted us with free will – not forcing us to follow Him, but providing us with the Holy Spirit to speak wisdom into our lives as we read the Bible, pray, and seek the Lord with all of our heart, mind, strength, and soul. Jesus’ death conquered both sin and death, allowing us to have a close relationship with our Creator and Savior – a bit of heaven on earth. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to live a life that reflects the Lord’s love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, & self-control (fruit of the Spirit) to those around us and guide us according to God’s will. What an amazing gift! Only a loving and compassionate God would do this. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if professing Christians learned the commands of Jesus and lived them out? This is what happened to create Western Civilization with care for the poor, care for orphans and other children, care for the sick, the building of universities & hospitals, the pursuit of science, and was instrumental in the founding principles of America. That’s why knowing past events in history is so important (being careful that our sources have not allowed a biased agenda in how they document the past). See pages under History on this site for sources using original quotes and documents (ie. wallbuilders.com):
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
As we study Scripture, not only do we learn more of who God is and who we are, but we also learn what is true so we can develop discernment and more easily identify the lies and deceptions of this world. There are helpful resources in addition to Scripture that have helped me in my walk with the Lord to better understand the unseen epic battle between good and evil that has existed throughout human history. Here are some of them:
- “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis
- “The Non-Profit’s Guide to Spriritual Warfare: What Every Christian Needs to Know” by Todd Hampton (one of the Prophecy Pros from https://prophecyprospodcast.com/ which I highly recommend).
- “The Strategy of Satan: How to Detect & Defeat Him”by Warren W. Wiersbe
- “Winning Your Spiritual Battles”by Tony Evans
- “The Overcoming Life” by D.L. Moody
- “The Covering: God’s Plan to Protect You from Evil”by Hank Hanegraaff
- “Armor of God”: Bible Studyby Priscilla Schirer (I also recommend her “Unseen” Bible studies for younger elementary & preteens).
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”
Jesus’ words inJohn 10:9-11
“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
As we get closer to Jesus’ return, may we seek the Lord with all of our being and trust in His revealed Word. He patiently waits for us to figure out our need for Him. May we not fall for the lies and deceptions of this world, but instead recognize that Jesus is the source of all truth and goodness. Let’s not be patsies for Satan through ignorance, deception, or through following our own sinful nature, but let’s also not be discouraged when we fail (as we all will no matter how much we strive to be like Jesus on this earth). Let our hearts be broken by our sins so we will be quick to acknowledge and repent from them, asking God to forgive us out of His rich mercy and help us to be more faithful. Let us focus on the hope that Jesus made possible for us, both here and in heaven for eternity. May we be worthy of the calling He has given us and may others find their way to Him through our witness of His love for us all. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
© Constance Rice 2025
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