We live in a world that likes to manipulate us; a world that wants to distort God’s truths, which is why it is extremely important that we learn His truths, so we don’t fall into believing Satan’s lies instead. For there are many lies the enemy likes to tell us… Satan likes to tell us that it’s too late for us to be saved or to forgive another. He likes to tell us God doesn’t care about us. He tells us nobody cares about us and that we are all alone in our battles. But with every lie Satan tells, God counters with His truth.
Here are 3 main lies Satan whispers in our ears and God’s counterclaims:
1. Satan says we’re slaves to God. God says we’re slaves to sin.
2. Satan says God is holding out on us. God says He is protecting us.
3. Satan says we are saved no matter what. God says His grace is not a joke.
Satan’s Claim #1: Satan tells us we are slaves to God.
Satan likes to tell us that we’re slaves to God. He wants us to believe that it’s a bad thing to bow down to our Creator and to worship Him only. Satan wants us to believe that God is a dictator who is prideful and mean.
There may be times that we get the feeling that maybe following God isn’t in our best interest. We start to think that maybe we would be better off if we weren’t so chained down by His laws. After all, couldn’t we just give into our temptations and then come back to God after and repent?
Satan tells us that we miss out on all of the good things in life when we give ourselves to God; we miss out on all of the fun we could be having if we didn’t have to obey the Lord.
But Satan is a liar. Any true Christian knows we don’t have to obey the Lord, we obey Him because we love Him and see that His ways are just and right. We don’t miss out on any fun because the kind of “fun” that could be had, isn’t worth having without God — and will just end in shame and guilt anyways.
God’s Counterclaim #1: God tells us we are slaves to sin.
When we fail to have the discipline to say no to any of our desires, aren’t we really just slaves to our desires? If we give into every temptation, aren’t we just slaves to our temptations?
Slavery is when somebody or something has so much power over you, you are immovable. If you lack the ability to say no to drugs, you are a slave to drugs. If you lack the ability to say no to alcohol, you are a slave to alcohol. If you lack the ability to say no to sex, lying, cheating, murdering, etc. — you are a slave to them all.
But when we become born again in Christ Jesus, He breaks the chains that sin had on us. He sets us free — completely free for that matter. We don’t follow Jesus because He has claimed us as His slaves. No. He sets us free because He loves us.
Those who choose to follow Christ’s commands, do so because they are grateful for being set free from their sins.
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”
God gives us grace, mercy and love when we live in Him. Those things are unable to enslave or control us — we can move freely within them. However, sin can enslave us out of fear, pain and hate. We are confined to a small world filled with negativity and limited movement in sin, for Satan is our master and he is certainly not gracious one bit. He will gladly watch us suffer in this life, and in hell, forever.
Satan’s Claim #2: Satan tells us that God is holding out on us.
Ever since Satan met Eve in the Garden of Eden, and had her question what God told her, all humans have had this lie drift through our minds. Satan likes to whisper it to us all: “God is holding out on you.”
Satan fooled Eve into believing that God was holding out on her, because when she ate the fruit that was supposed to kill her, but she didn’t die right away, she began questioning God. She questioned the validity of His Word and she questioned His motives. We do the same. We believe God is holding out on us when our prayers aren’t answered the way we want, or when we are struggling for years to reach a goal, or when we are not being healed. Why is God not allowing these things to come to fruition? He is holding us back from happiness!
But, of course, the enemy is a liar and all of this is untrue. God is not holding anything back from us, but rather, He does things for our own protection.
God’s Counterclaim #2: God tells us He is protecting us.
God was not holding anything back from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He simply did not want them to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for if they knew these things, their holy and perfect selves would die, because they would become corrupt and sinful… Which is exactly what happened.
God is not holding out on us either. He is for us (Romans 8:31) and He protects us, so much so that He sent His only Son to die for us so that we may be safe from the death that came into the world with Adam and Eve.
To believe the lie that God is holding out on us is to believe that God is not good at all. But God is good. He gives us commands to follow because He knows the detrimental consequences if we don’t follow them. He knows our destructive, irrational, and sinful nature. He knows what will hurt us and thus tries to protect us from those things.
When God doesn’t answer a prayer, or bring health, or allow us to reach a goal, it’s because He is protecting us from what those things might bring. We must trust in His sovereignty.
Satan’s Claim #3: Satan tells us we are saved no matter what.
My brother was the one who brought this lie to my attention. We were having a conversation about me becoming Christian and he said, “Can’t I just live my whole life sinning and then at the end of it repent to Jesus and I’ll be forgiven?”
It’s a very fair and reasonable question. The only problem? If you believe it to be true — that you can live your whole life sinning and then repent at the end of it before you die and Jesus will forgive you — you have been mightily fooled.
If you live your whole life with this thought in the back of your head, then you are claiming that you believe God to be real. If you believe God is real, why would you not want to follow His holy and true ways?
If we believe that Jesus can save us — that He died on the cross for our sins — but then we consciously live an unholy life, telling ourselves we can repent before we die, it demeans Jesus’ sacrifice. It’s treating Him as if He HAS to save us as long as we repent.
Not to mention, it’s quite a prideful stance to assume you know when you will die. What if you die before you’re able to repent?
God’s Counterclaim #3: God tells us His grace is not a joke (Romans 6:1-2).
I am unable to know one’s heart, therefore I cannot say for sure whether or not God will save the person who decided to sin his whole life and then repent in the last moments. However, I can discern the Lord’s word.
His word is quite clear about not playing with His grace. Some people may view this subject as a game, claiming that God will always come through for the one who repents, however that is simply untrue. In the book of Hebrews, it is said:
“For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.”
Thus, the one who has received the knowledge that Jesus Christ saves us from eternal hell fire, must not take His sacrifice lightly. For it will be as if it never happened at all. This person must turn from their sinful ways and not test the Lord.
“Not everyone that saith unto me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
When someone receives the knowledge of the truth, they must accept the truth in their hearts and turn to the Lord, Jesus Christ. If we do not allow ourselves to be transformed into Christ’s body, we will never reach true salvation. For true salvation will break us free from Satan’s grips and his phoney lie that we will be saved no matter what. True salvation will break us free from all of the chains of this world, and we will be given the understandings of the spiritual battles we face every day. True salvation will bring a burning passion to follow in Christ’s footsteps for the rest of our days, rather than banking on the presumption that God will save us even if we live without knowing Him…
One must ask themselves: Why would God want to live with me for eternity if I didn’t even want to live my short life knowing Him?
God’s grace is not a joke. It is a gift we must not take for granted.
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