Satan is for Real
It’s pretty easy to discount the devil when he’s thought of as an imaginary figure like the Easter bunny or the elf on the shelf. Red skin, horns and a long tail. Exhaling smoke. Eyes on fire.
But what if he’s not imaginary? What if he’s real? What if he’s a pervasive, invisible spirit? Powerful, stealthy, infectious, divisive, confusing, brilliantly deceptive, and bent on destroying everything you have and believe in that’s good?
You can’t read the New Testament without learning there’s a mighty dark power behind death, disease, pain and sin. Christianity believes this dark power was good when created by God, but went wrong.
Other religions also believe there’s a war between good and evil, darkness and light . “We (Christians) think it’s a civil war, a rebellion, and that we’re living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel.” Enemy-occupied territory – that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in this great campaign of sabotage. When you go to church, you are ‘listening in’ to the secret wireless from our friends, that is why the enemy is so anxious to prevent us from going. He does it by “playing on our conceit and laziness and intellectual snobbery” says C.S. Lewis.
Terrorists leaders all over the world may not believe in stealth technology built into U.S. drones until they wake up dead and have to face the one true God. Denying something’s existence doesn’t make it go away. Confusion over its presence is actually the reason for its effectiveness…you don’t know it’s there until it has done its damage. So it is with the devil.
It’s more comfortable to push the idea of his existence and his activity into the category of “I’m not sure” and keep on keeping-on.
Satan is ‘old school’ and for Christians, is an example of a true paradox. We say we believe in an invisible spirit-God who created everything, sent His Son into the world to die for our sins, and whose promise of unconditional love and eternal life fuels our hope every day. Yet we struggle to believe in an invisible spirit of evil whose handiwork is plain as day. God’s Word, which we totally depend on for truth about everything, speaks of Satan more than 50 times. Jesus, the reason for all our hope, encountered Satan personally and suffered “all the temptations known to man’. Yet only 57% of us believe Satan is real. Older surveys put the number closer to 35%.
A close friend is going through one of the toughest situations I’ve ever seen. His wife has turned on God and turned on him. As our group prayed and listened for God’s guidance, I heard “She is not the enemy.” The next morning, my Bible reading just happened to include 2 Timothy 2:25-26 which says “Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”
Forewarned is forearmed. Satan is real and he’s working against you and the God you love and serve.
Question: Do you believe Satan is real? Will you spend some time in the Scriptures and learn how to deal with him? Tell us here.
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Responses (9)
Great post. Our struggle is not against flesh & blood. That really puts things into perspective. I’m convinced that Satan’s goal is to get me to believe my struggle is against the people & things around me. This post has helped me to get my perspective right. Thanks!
You are so right! Read the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis to discover how the enemy practices deception.
An ancient enemy, but our enemy none the less!! Sad thing is he is not mentioned or taught about in most churches today. Eph 6!!!
I read the blog, “Satan is for Real,” and said, “Right on!” I then saved it to my computer for later reference as you have many blogs that are very insightful and valuable. However, when I saved the file, I had another file by the exact same name authored by Daniel Kosmala, from Feb 18, 2014 07:01 pm. The article was word for word as the R. Campbell blog of Feb 19.
I don’t know who wrote this blog originally but on the surface there seems to be an ethical issue. I don’t think both authors could come up with the exact same wording. If one borrowed the other person’s blog, it seems to me that credit could be given. I don’t know who is at fault here, but I haven’t found a way to say the same thing to Daniel Kosmala.
Hey Clarence,
Regi wrote the blog. I’m the behind the scenes guy for Radical Mentoring and part of my job is posting the blogs that Regi writes. There is no ethical issue.
I was logged in to my account and accidentally posted the blog under my name which has now been corrected and posted under Regi’s account since he is the author.
Thanks for your diligence! Glad you enjoyed Regi’s post!
Yes, Satan is real. There is a danger however in focusing on him or giving him too much attention. It seems that there are not very many Scriptures that go into a lengthy description of Satan. There are however many lengthy Scriptures that focus on who Jesus Christ is, his relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit and also what he has done for us. Exalting, meditating on, and worshipping Jesus Christ is the best way to push back the enemy. http://www.lifefromheaven.com
I have zero doubt about Satan. Here in the USA we seem to be too modern to accept such “nonsense”, but I have been to Africa and felt the presence of evil in numerous places where the witch doctors abound. I have close African friends whose stories I believe completely. I have even sensed the presence of an evil spirit attempting to threaten or scare me in my Texas home when we were preparing for a mission trip to Africa. Satan is alive and well; however, he uses different tactics in different cultures.
I am in the midst of experiencing Satan’s work and I am surer than ever that he is real. Division and lies are his vapor trails and they are pulling a marriage, a family, friends and church members apart. We might think that believing in Satan is uncouth in our modern world. Uncouth or not, I am watching the battle unfold with the cosmic powers of this present darkness. I see the casualties of the battle, most especially little boys who may have their dad ripped out of their life. Even now I am reminded that we don’t fight with the weapons of this world but with divinely powerful weapons of the spirit.
Any thoughts on why we see the New Testament through an imported Greek filter of dualism that wasn’t there in the Old Testament? In other words, I don’t think it’s about good versus evil, a phenomemin of Greek and other cultures that so much of our literature is predicated on, but about good and excellence or godliness as we contribute to building the kingdom. Any focus on Satan is a huge distraction. Maybe that’s one of his main strategies.