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What are the Real Enemies of the Christian?-Part 3, the Devil

by William Ryzek  
11/17/2010 / Christian Living

The third great enemy of the Christian is in league with the first two we looked at, namely the world and the flesh and is the source of their power and influence. He is called the Adversary (1 Peter 5:8), Father of lies (John 8:44), Prince of this world (John 14:30), a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8), Satan (1 Chronicles 21:1; Job 1:6; John 13:27; Acts 5:3; 26:18; Romans 16:20), the Enemy (Matthew 13:39) and many others. This enemy, of course, is the Devil. As I indicated in other articles effective spiritual warfare includes knowing the nature and tactics of our enemy; therefore, getting into the mind of our opponent will help us fight back effectively.

So, for example, by putting myself in the Devil's shoes so to speak, I learn that achieving maximum effectiveness at deceiving and manipulating the greatest number of people is achieved by getting them to believe I don't exist. Once I am out of the picture the blame game for the world's woes is directed at people, places or things without it ever entering their minds that something far more sinister and powerful is at work

This strategy is working successfully among some who claim to be disciples of Christ. You would think that followers of Jesus, who Himself was tempted by the Devil, would believe that the Devil exists but in some theological circles, such a belief has been 'demythologized' and replaced by psychoanalysis or secular humanism. For these folk's evil is not evil anymore but just bad behavior and social maladjustment while the idea of personal sin is considered an archaic attempt at mind control through guilt. And the idea of a real entity tempting, possessing and otherwise attacking human beings is just uncivilized, superstitious and mentally unbalanced.

For Bible believing Christians who know the Devil exists the response is getting us to think that he is not a very formidable foe and thereby underestimate both his power and his purpose. The truth is the Enemy is set on stealing, killing, and destroying along with a generous amount of lying and that, since he is an archangel, his power to do all of this is considerable. In fact, if God didn't restrain the Enemy (see Job) he could quite easily tear us to a shred which is why he is described as a 'roaring lion seeking whom he can devour'. Persuading believers that, he, the Enemy is 'tame' goes along with convincing the unsaved that the he doesn't exist; i.e. they are the two sides of the same coin.

An example of the power this approach has is demonstrated by the attitude many believers have towards sin; they acknowledge it, as any good Bible believing person would, but they simply don't take it very seriously. Consider the increasing worldliness among God's people; they buy into the culture and morality of secular, ungodly society and are hardly distinguishable from unbelievers. The prevalent lawlessness and shamelessness that abounds in human society is affecting them instead of them effecting society. And it is on the increase. It is even influencing preachers who give invitations to the unsaved to follow Jesus but never mention the word "repentance" nor explain the real meaning of sin and the demands of discipleship. This is like sowing seed in a heart that doesn't understand the real significance of the Gospel and "the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart" (Matt. 13:19). At bottom, not taking sin seriously is not taking God's righteousness seriously.

One of the most diabolical plans of attack the Enemy uses is appearing as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). When aimed at the religiously pious "who have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof" or those who mix Christianity with other philosophies and religions it is quite effective. Why? Because the target of this assault is the truth of the Gospel and the Devil's puts questions into people's minds by saying "has God indeed said" (Gen. 3:1). How people answer that determines what they end up believing; either the truth of God revealed through Jesus Christ or the ultimate lie from the Father of lies, namely that God doesn't mean what He says or doesn't say what he means. As an angel of light the Enemy and his cohorts provide an alternative to what God has said in His Word and with just enough Christian verbiage and clichd platitudes to make it all sound legitimate.

Jesus said that prior to His coming again, the deception in the world would be so strong that even the elect might become persuaded by the lies of many false teachers (Matt. 24:24). As it will be at the end of time, so it was at the beginning of the Church age. John writes about false teachers over and over again in 1 John who were attempting to lead those in the church at Ephesus away from the apostle's teachings concerning Jesus. Deception can only exist when something else is true. The enemy cannot create truth; truth already exists eternally and perfectly in the Divine wisdom, knowledge and counsels of God. What the enemy can do is distort the truth with a 'come hither and follow me' smile on his face and carefully change the meanings and applications of words used to convey the truth revealed by Christ and recorded in the Bible.

The sum of the matter is this: the Devil does exist, he is a formidable enemy and he is the father of lies. The darkness and death he brings to the world can only be overcome by the life and light of Him who came into the world to destroy the works of the Devil. We, therefore, do not fraternize with the Enemy but resist him and overcome him as soldiers of the Cross and warriors of God all the while remembering that it is not flesh and blood with which we do battle but unseen forces of evil in the world under the dominion of Satan.

William Ryzek, PhD has been both a pastor and academic for several years. He has published articles in various magazines and newspapers. He can be reached at [email protected]

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