Satan’s Greatest Deception

Let’s give credit where it is due, though it is awful to consider: Satan is very good at what he seeks to do. If we as Christians were as persistent and effective at our job of teaching and encouraging, this would be a very different world.

Paul tells us that we are not ignorant of the devices that Satan uses (2 Corinthians 2:11). If we will just “be sober” and “be vigilant” (1 Peter 5:8), we can see how the devil operates.

Some of his tactics are overt and clear. While things like prostitution, cold-blooded murder, and lying in a courtroom may be obvious sins, they still are done by many who have been totally blinded by sin.

Other wiles of Satan are more subtle, and can easily draw people in, often slowly. Consider immodest apparel, social drinking, and betting on the horses, for example. Many who profess to love Christ don’t see these as “any big deal,” though they clearly violate Scripture. Satan is able to deceive.

Satan’s greatest deception, in my mind, though, it a worldview. It is a mindset. It is a paradigm. And it is ruining the lives and eternal destinies of countless individuals.

What it is? It is making us think that we are alive, when in reality we are dead.

“Satan can’t do that!” you say. Really? Read carefully what Paul wrote:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is no at work in the sons of disobedience. (Ephesians 2:1-2)

Writing to Christians, Paul explains that they were dead. But did you notice? They were just “following the course of this world,” and whose “course” was that way? “The prince of the power of the air.” That’s Satan.

But how many people actually think they are dead? How many consider that they are totally separated from God, which is spiritual death. How many consider that, when this life is over, eternal death (i.e., separation) will be their fate?

And…let’s be honest…how many of us actually think that about those we know who are lost?

You see, Satan’s greatest deception is to have us think that we are really living. We use phrases like “living it up,” and “that’s real life.” In reality, millions are dead, and they don’t even know it.

Let’s help them realize that Jesus did not just come to make sick people well; He came to make dead people live.