Our Lord Jesus tells us:<\/p>\n
[The devil] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.\u00a0 When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar, and the father of lies. (John 8:44)<\/p>\n
What lies does Satan tell you?<\/p>\n
Here are seventeen that he has used against me over the years \u2013 and responses to each from God\u2019s Word. I encourage you to make your own list, adding additional lies, and developing a list of Scriptures to use in our battle against the enemy.<\/p>\n
(1) THE LIE: There is no such thing as Satan<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: Satan tempts (Matthew 4:10-11), can be rebuked (Zechariah 3:2) and resisted (James 4:7), fell from heaven (Luke 10:18), asks to be able to accomplish his purposes (Luke 22:31-32); our battle is neither against flesh and blood nor against an abstract force, but against rulers and authorities (Ephesians 6:12).<\/p>\n (2) THE LIE: “You’re so bad, you might as well never try to be good.\u00a0 God will never forgive you for all that you’ve done.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: “Don’t you know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?\u00a0 Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.\u00a0 And that is what some of you were<\/u>.\u00a0 But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (emphasis added)<\/p>\n “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9<\/p>\n (3)<\/em><\/strong> (Satan doesn’t aim to be consistent: Note that this third lie is virtually the opposite of the second, but he uses both against the same person, sometimes within minutes):<\/p>\n THE LIE: \u201cAren’t you becoming a wonderful Christian now!\u00a0 Look at all the things you do for God!\u00a0 Isn’t it too bad that all those other Christians aren’t doing so well.\u00a0 And all those unbelievers . . .\u00a0 Well!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d (Matthew 5:3)<\/p>\n \u201cFor it is by grace you have been saved, through faith– and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– 9\u00a0 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10\u00a0 For we are God’s workmanship.\u201d Ephesians 2:8-10a<\/p>\n (4) THE LIE: “Don’t even try to resist this temptation — you can’t do it!”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.\u00a0 But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”\u00a0 1 Corinthians 10:13<\/p>\n (5) THE LIE: \u201cShouldn’t a great mind like yours take an academic interest in Christianity?\u201c<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: \u201cBrothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.\u00a0 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.\u00a0 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things– and the things that are not– to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.\u00a0 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God– that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: \u2018Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 1 Corinthians 1:26-31<\/p>\n (6) THE LIE: \u201cThis<\/u> is more important right now!\u00a0 You can (read the Bible, pray, serve others) tomorrow.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: \u201cWe do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.\u201d\u00a0 Hebrews 6:12<\/p>\n (7) THE LIE: “God’s way is no fun; you will miss out on life if you follow him!\u00a0 My<\/u> way is the way to life!”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.\u00a0 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of?\u00a0 Those things result in death!\u00a0 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.\u00a0 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”\u00a0 Romans 6:20-23<\/p>\n “. . . the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace . . .” Galations 5:22<\/p>\n (8) THE LIE: “You’ve been good for quite a while now – come on, you deserve a little fun.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”\u00a0 1 Corinthians 10:12<\/p>\n (9) THE LIE: \u201cThis sin really doesn’t matter . . . It’s only a little one.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: \u201cBe perfect, therefore, as your father in heaven is perfect.\u201d Matthew\u00a0 5:48<\/p>\n (10) THE LIE: “Everyone else is doing it, so it must be ok!”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2<\/p>\n (11) THE LIE: “Just this once. Come on, just this once!\u00a0 See what it’s like!\u00a0 No harm can come from this one time!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: \u201cEach one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he\u00a0 is dragged away and enticed.\u00a0 Then, after desire has conceived it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.\u201d\u00a0 James 1:14-15<\/p>\n \u201cThis is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.\u201d\u00a0 1 John 2:5-6<\/p>\n (12) THE LIE: \u201cNo one will ever know!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD:\u00a0 \u201cThere is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.\u201d Luke 12:2<\/p>\n (13) THE LIE: “You’ve already blown it — you might as well give in the rest of the way and ask God to forgive you later.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: “What shall we say, then?\u00a0 Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?\u00a0 By no means!\u00a0 We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”\u00a0 Romans 6:1-2<\/p>\n (14) THE LIE: “You’ve given plenty to God — keep this for yourself.\u00a0 He can’t expect you to give him everything!”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life<\/u> — he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26 (emphasis added)<\/p>\n (15) THE LIE: “God doesn’t love you!”\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: \u201cFor God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.\u201d John 3:16<\/p>\n \u201cI am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d Romans 8:38-39<\/p>\n (16) THE LIE: “God couldn’t possibly intend for you to do that!\u00a0 Here’s an easier way to accomplish the same thing!”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”\u00a0 Isaiah 55:8-9<\/p>\n (17) THE LIE: “If anything looks good to you, go after it!” <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n THE WORD: “Do not love the world or anything in the world.\u00a0 If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.\u00a0 For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and his pride in his possessions — comes not from the Father but from the world.\u00a0 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”\u00a0 1 John 2:15-17<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our Lord Jesus tells us: [The devil] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.\u00a0 When he lies, he speaks…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,15],"tags":[2101,2103,2089,2102,532,571,733,856,2098,2099,950,997,1138,1265,1995,2100,1392,1396,1540],"class_list":["post-2863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-devotions","tag-be-perfect","tag-be-transformed","tag-devil","tag-do-not-be-conformed","tag-fight-of-faith","tag-fruit-of-the-spirit","tag-holiness","tag-joy","tag-lies","tag-lies-of-satan","tag-love-of-god","tag-maturity","tag-peace","tag-purity","tag-resist-him-firm-in-your-faith","tag-resist-the-devil","tag-sanctification","tag-satan","tag-temptation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2863"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2865,"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2863\/revisions\/2865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hi10.in\/dgcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}