Satan’s Favorite Lies

Satan’s most famous lie was that first one, “You surely shall not die.” And believe it or not, he continues to bandy that deception about. In his little book Oprah, Miracles, and the New Earth, Erwin Lutzer, senior pastor of Moody Church in Chicago, points out that “redefining” death is one of the ideas that is spreading in our culture.

One influential writer teaches that death is an illusion. Others latch onto the Eastern belief in reincarnation. Whatever the means, these “redefinitions” are lies, and they stretch believability. You’d think any sensible person could see through it, but the way lies work, one leads to another, and another, and another.

Along with, You won’t die, Satan seems to be fond of propagating the idea that he is as strong as God. The typical picture of the world is a duality, with a powerful god and an equally powerful devil vying for supremacy. Where did that idea come from? Not God. Scripture makes it clear He is unequaled in power. That He already is supreme.

A corollary of the duality idea is that Satan is king of Hell rather than Hell’s chief prisoner and greatest sufferer.

Other lies Satan likes to throw around:

Jesus was a good man—not God, but certainly a good man, though a little idealistic.

Man is good, not sinful. In fact, Man is so good, he can find within himself the secret to happiness.

God is whoever you want him to be. The implication here is that god is a creation of Man. You want him to be mother nature, then that’s what she is. You want it to be the life force of the universe, then that’s what god is. You want god to be Allah or Jesus or Jehovah, sure, that works too. Because god isn’t actually a real person, just your understanding of what’s behind all things.

There are others, many others, but I see a common thread. These lies are either an attempt to bring God down to the level of Man, or to elevate Man to the level of God. Which goes back to Satan’s real problem. He has, since before time, wanted to be equal with God, and since the creation of Man has tried to sell Man the same bill of goods.

So here’s a pretty easy way to spot false teaching. If God—and I mean all three persons of the Trinity—is not represented as transcendent, as high and exalted, then that teaching is false. On the other hand, if Man is represented as equal to god or on his way to becoming god, that teaching is also false.

Rack those up as part of the collection of Satan’s favorite lies.