The Lord Jesus Christ called Satan the "father of lies." And if the Bible calls him the "accuser of the brethren ... who accuses the brethren day and night before God," we can be sure that he will also throw his lies at us nonstop to try and derail us and hinder us from living the life that God has enabled us to live in Christ.
John 10:10 describes both the work of the devil and his target: to prevent us from living the life that God wants us to have in Christ:
"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
How he does it
There are a variety of ways the devil does his work of destroying our relationship with God and thus preventing us from living the abundant life that Christ brings. This article seeks to focus on one certain attack that he loves to do: lying.
Being the father of lies, the devil injects his lying and misleading statements in our system. These statements are so cleverly formatted that many Christians often fall prey into these lies.
How it works
I'm no expert in these matters, but I can say that I also was deceived into believing Satan's lies before. Thanks be to God for His Spirit that guides us into all truth that we can see the lies being exposed and we can be free! Here are some ways the devil effectively uses lies against us.
1. Satan's lies come disguised as our thoughts
Satan's lies often come disguised as our thoughts. Have your ever personally thought of statements like "God doesn't love me," "I have been defiled and can't be cleansed anymore," "I am such a pervert," "just a little compromise won't hurt," and "What if there's no God?" These and many other thoughts are contrary to the Word of God, and appear to be your own, with your personal voice.
2. Satan's lies contain Biblical half-truths
Half-truths are no truths at all. Let's be honest: Satan knows the Bible and uses it to fool us. However, he knows that if he says the truth, he'll be exposed, so he'll twist it in such a way that it will sound legitimate but still is not true, even in simple context. Read Matthew 4:1-11 and see how Satan used Scripture to tempt our Lord Jesus, and how Jesus shut him up with the true usage of Scripture.
3. Satan's lies magnify our sinfulness and avoid God's grace and judgment
When Satan lies to us, he makes us appear hopeless and without hope in God. It's like we are always at fault, and our faults are beyond God's ability to forgive. On the other side of the spectrum, Satan's lies avoid God's judgment, and make it appear like it's OK for us to commit sin. He says something like "after all, God loves you anyway, so it's OK."
Check yourself
Have you realised that you've been a victim of Satan's lies? Ask God to reveal the enemy's lies to you, renounce them when you find them and be free in Jesus' name!
