Satan’s Lies to Christians
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:3
We have to be on our guards against Satan’s deception, and no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). Spiritual warfare is our fleshly desire warring against the Holy Spirit over possession of our eternal souls.
Satan gently tempts us to justify the desires of our flesh, twisting the truth just like he did to deceive Eve. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’” (Genesis 3:1). Here Satan tempts Eve through a serpent, but today Satan might tempt us through a friend who will validate one of our fleshly desires. Adam was with Eve and there is nothing in the Bible to indicate that Adam said anything in response to Satan’s words. Maybe Eve interpreted Adam’s silence as approval to eat the fruit. When we see a Christian brother or sister yielding to their fleshly desire instead of obeying the Lord’s will, we have an obligation to speak to them in a wise, gentle manner.
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ Here Eve quotes the Lord’s command, and at this point Eve should have claimed victory, walked away, and told Satan to flee. If we don’t leave in victory, Satan will twist the Truth to increase our fleshly desires and lead us in the wrong direction. “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Satan twisted the truth by telling Eve, ‘you will not certainly die,’ and ‘when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, — knowing good and evil.’ Eve wouldn’t die an instant physical death, and she would know good and evil. So in her mind Eve is saying “I will not die and I will be like God.” How often does our fleshly desire lead us to believe Satan’s lies over God’s truth?
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Here Eve has yielded to the fleshly desire and commits the first sin. The final temptation is the pleasing sight of the fruit.
For everything in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–comes not from the Father but from the world (1 John 2:16). Eve yielded to the three temptations given in 1 John 2:16. She decided to do what she desired, forgetting what God had said. This is pride. She could have called for God’s help, but she didn’t. How often do we make choices without asking for the Lord’s guidance? When she saw the fruit, the lust of her eyes took over and she ate the fruit. The overall temptation was lust of the flesh; Eve gave in to what she wanted to do, to satisfy her fleshly self.
Today don’t let Satan deceive you, and don’t let the truth of God be overridden by your fleshly desires. Always seek God’s will first and forget about justifying any other desires, because Satan will attempt to drive us to justify anything that is displeasing to God. His goal is for us to be displeasing to God and for us to think we are pleasing to God.
Let’s Pray: Lord, help me to always live in your truth and never to be deceived by Satan’s temptation of the flesh. Give me the strength to overcome any fleshly desires that are displeasing to you. In Jesus name, Amen