THE VICTOR'S MENTALITY 9 (The devil is a Liar)

 

In this article, I will begin sharing about the second phase of our series: understanding who our opposition is.

We’ve already explored the first phase, which focused on the type of strength we have and its source. Let’s revisit our reference text:  "Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11 NKJV) 

It is crucial to know who our opposition is—the one who does everything possible to hinder you from walking in everyday victory. Many grace-based believers argue that it’s unnecessary to talk about the devil. Sure, we are not devil-conscious, but as ministers, there’s nothing wrong with presenting the devil the way Jesus and His Apostles did. My issue is with those who attribute to the devil what he does not possess. Nowhere in Scripture do Jesus or the Apostles describe the devil as having any power or authority. If we can see the devil as the Bible presents him, that alone is the victor’s mentality. This is what I’ll be sharing over the next few articles, by God’s grace.

 In the Old Testament, there are about three places that highlight the devil’s role in an individual’s life: 

·        In Job 1-2, we see him as the accuser of the brethren. 

·        In 1 Chronicles 21:1, he incites David with pride to conduct a census. 

·        In Zechariah 3:1-2, Satan stands to accuse the high priest Joshua before God. 

However, in the New Testament, the devil is fully exposed. You might wonder why he was obscured from people in the Old Testament. That’s why we must always interpret Old Testament scriptures in light of the New Testament—things appear more vividly there because the Light, Jesus, had come. We cannot take Old Testament scriptures in isolation from the revelation of the New Testament.

Back to the context of our discussion: 
The shift in how the devil is presented between the Old and New Testaments could be rooted in the different roles and purposes of God’s revelation in each period. In the New Testament, Jesus came as the fulfillment of God’s plan for redemption. One of His missions was to fully expose and defeat the works of the devil, thereby revealing the true nature of evil.

 So, let me begin discussing the revelations of Jesus and the Apostles as they show us the true nature of the devil. I pray that if any trace of his identity is found in your life, the light of God’s Word will eliminate it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it." (John 8:44 NKJV)
 
1. The devil is revealed as a murderer and liar.
Here, Jesus was addressing the Jews who sought to kill Him, saying they were spiritually fathered by the devil. The devil has three characteristics here: murder, covetousness, and lies. These were the same traits embodied by those Jews. They wanted to kill Jesus because they were driven by covetousness, feeling insecure about themselves due to the authority Jesus manifested. This mirrors what happened with the devil and his cohorts. They feel insecure when a believer manifests the authority they have in Christ. The devil isn’t afraid of a believer who doesn’t exercise their authority—that’s what he aims to achieve, and he does it through lies. The Jews tried the same against Jesus, thinking that if they could lie about Him, they’d get rid of Him. Little did they know they were unwittingly contributing to the fulfillment of God’s plan for His life. The devil will always try to sell you lies about your destiny, your future, your health, and who you are in Christ. His goal is to nullify the life of God from manifesting in the lives of those who are born again.
 
This is exactly what he did to Adam and Eve. From the beginning, the devil has been insecure about who God made man to be. He knows the man is the one given authority to cancel his activities here on earth. He’s already been expelled from heaven, and now he seeks to make the earth his terrain. Though he succeeded through the first Adam by feeding him lies and making him insecure about his identity (2 Corinthians 11:3), his tactics remain the same.
 
The real temptation of the devil isn’t immorality, fornication, cheating, or the like—Adam didn’t even know about those things in the beginning. The actual temptation is to cause you to doubt your identity in Christ. The devil might yoke a man with an addiction to pornography until he begins to believe, “I can’t overcome it,” and starts doubting the Word of God. That’s what the devil wants to achieve!
 
But glory to Jesus, our authority has been restored in Christ.
 
We’ll continue to explore other revelations Jesus shared about the devil.
 
Prayerfully meditate on these things. See you in the next article.

 


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