Lessons #147 and 148
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Specific case of sexual immorality in Corinth (1 Cor 5:1-8)
... 3 Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. 4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. 6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
We have been considering the three responsibilities a local church must undertake to ensure that it does not tolerate sexual immorality among its membership. Let me refresh your minds regarding these as we have considered them. A first responsibility is being careful to recognize every unauthorized sexual relationship in its midst. This responsibility is important because it is possible that there could be a sexual relationship that a member of a local church may be involved in that is talked about, but believers may fail to recognize that such sexual relationship is wrong and so tolerate it. A second responsibility of a local church that must not tolerate sexual immorality is to maintain proper attitude towards anyone involved in unauthorized sexual relation. This requires first, that a local church never praises or otherwise consider such relationship acceptable or becomes complacent about it. Second, the local church must be in grief regarding the member involved in it. Third, the local church must practice excommunication of such believer, which leads to the third responsibility. The third responsibility of a local church that must not tolerate sexual immorality is the removal from the congregation of a person guilty of such sin by following the proper procedure of doing this given in the passage we are studying. As we indicated, many local churches fail to carry out this responsibility in part because of the problem of determining true membership in a local church since there are individuals that are admitted into the membership of a local church that may not meet the requirement of being a member of a local church, which is being born again through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Another reason is that some local churches have not seen the necessity for carrying out this responsibility. In our last study, we began considering the details involved in the removal from a local church of a believer guilty of sexual immorality. We stated that the main point Apostle Paul wanted to convey to the Corinthians is that the removal of such a person from the community or the treatment of such a thing should not be a private matter. In other words, the excommunication is not to be carried out privately, say, by some of the elders of the church in Corinth. No! It should be done publicly in the congregation of believers. We are sure that the apostle wanted to convey that the removal of the person involved should be carried out publicly in the local church because of the descriptions involved in 1 Corinthians 5:4 that convey the concept of public assembly of a local church. The first description that indicates removal of such a person requires public assembly of believers in a local church is given in the first clause of 1 Corinthians 5:4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus. We considered this clause in detail, so we proceed to consider the next.
Another description of the apostle that conveys that the removal of a person involved with sexual immorality, specifically in the local church in Corinth, is not a private matter is the presence of the Lord Jesus in a unique way in a local congregation. It is this description that is given in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 5:4 and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present. The Greek expression is difficult to interpret since literally the Greek reads and of my spirit with power of the Lord Jesus. Clearly, there is no verb in the Greek. Hence some English versions translated it without any verb while others supplied verbs using such words as “present” or “meet” or “is” that may affect the interpretation of the Greek phrase. That notwithstanding, there is a translation problem associated with the literal phrase with power of the Lord Jesus. The problem is to determine what the phrase is connected in the Greek text. There are three approaches to the problem. A first approach is to consider the phrase to be connected with the literal phrase being assembled at the beginning of verse 4 translated in the NIV as When you are assembled. It is this first approach that is reflected in the NIV I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present. A second approach is to connect the literal phrase with power of the Lord Jesus with the first part of the verse 5 that literally reads to hand over such a person to Satan. It is this approach that is adopted in such English version as the TEV, so we have the translation by the power of our Lord Jesus present with us, you are to hand this man over to Satan. A third approach is to connect the literal phrase with power of the Lord Jesus with the literal phrase my spirit of verse 4 leading to a translation and my spirit equipped with the power of the Lord Jesus. Each of these approach leads to different interpretation. Since the apostle is concerned with the public removal of the guilty person in Corinth, it is probably the approach that is adopted in the NIV that the apostle had in mind. This, of course, does not solve the problem of what the apostle meant to convey in the literal phrase and of my spirit with power of the Lord Jesus. Its interpretation is due to several difficulties.
A first difficulty, to my knowledge, is not considered by the interpreters of this phrase, is how to understand the conjunction “and” as it relates to the preceding clause of 1 Corinthians 5:4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus. There are at least three possible ways of understanding the relationship of the first clause to the Greek phrase we are considering because of the possible meanings of the Greek conjunction (kai) used. It could be understood as stating another fact that is of equal importance to the first clause of the verse in which case it may be translated “and.” Another interpretation is that the Greek phrase of my spirit with power of the Lord Jesus is intended to convey the result of the assembling together of believers so that it is possible to translate the Greek conjunction as “and then” or “and so.” Still another interpretation is that the literal phrase of my spirit with power of the Lord Jesus explains the significance of the gathering of believers in Corinth or the local churches of Christ. In other words, the phrase was used by the apostle to explain to the Corinthians the significance of believers meeting together.
Which of these three interpretations we have given did the apostle have in mind when he wrote the literal verbal phrase and of my spirit with power of the Lord Jesus as it related the first clause of verse 4 that the NIV translated as When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus? Each of these interpretations makes sense in the context but because of the action the apostle required of the Corinthians to take, it is more likely that the second and third interpretations were in his mind. In effect, the apostle wanted the Corinthians to recognize the result and understand the significance of believers assembling together for worship.
A second difficulty with the literal phrase and of my spirit with power of the Lord Jesus is with the word “with” that is translated from a Greek preposition (syn) with the general meaning of “with.” However, there are other usages associated with the Greek preposition. When the word is used with a person, it may serve as a marker of accompaniment and association as Apostle Paul used it to convey that he would be ashamed if someone from Macedonia accompanies him in his travel to Corinth only to discover that his boast about them is not true, as recorded in 2 Corinthians 9:4:
For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to say anything about you—would be ashamed of having been so confident.
Another usage of the Greek preposition is as a marker of assistance as Apostle Paul used it to indicate that God’s grace came to his aid in his ministry in 1 Corinthians 15:10:
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
The sentence the grace of God that was with me may, according to the standard Greek English lexicon (BDAG), be rendered God’s grace, that came to my aid. Another usage of the Greek preposition is as a marker of linkage. Hence, it may mean “in addition to, besides.” It is in this sense that the word is used to describe an additional information provided the two disciples that had hope about deliverance by Jesus but did not know He had resurrected and He was the One traveling with them, as narrated in Luke 24:21:
but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.
The expression And what is more of the NIV is literally and also with all these things which may be translated but in addition to all these as in the LEB or and besides all this as in the ESV. However, in some context, the preposition has the sense of “and” as in the description of Cornelius and his family in Acts 10:2:
He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.
The sentence He and all his family were devout and God-fearing is more literally a devout man and one who feared God with all his household. Be that as it may, the question is to determine how it is used in 1 Corinthians 5:4. There are two possible interpretations that are not mutually exclusive. The apostle used it either in the sense of “in addition” indicating that in addition to what he literally described as of my spirit is the power of the Lord Jesus or that when the Corinthians assembled they have the assistance of power of the Lord Jesus. In either case, the apostle assures the Corinthians of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in their assembly.
Another problem of the literal phrase is to understand the relationship of the word “power” to the Lord Jesus as in the phrase power of the Lord Jesus. There are at least three ways to interpret the phase. It could refer to the power that characterized the Lord Jesus or the power from Him or the power He produces. In the final analysis, there may not be any significant difference between these interpretation as the power that come from the Lord Jesus is also the power that characterize Him. Nonetheless, it is probably that the apostle had in mind the power that is derived from and characterizes the Lord Jesus. This brings us to the more difficult problem of the Greek phrase and of my spirit with power of the Lord Jesus, which is its interpretation.
There are two key words in the Greek phrase that help in interpreting it. The first is “spirit” which we have considered in detail in 1 Corinthians 5:3 when we considered the sentence I am with you in spirit that we interpreted to mean that the Apostle’s thought was with them but also implies his presence with them when the epistle he wrote to them is read in the assembly. This understanding of the apostle’s spirit as referring to his thoughts and the epistle he wrote is applicable in the phrase we are considering.
The second key word in the literal verbal phrase and of my spirit with power of the Lord Jesus is “power” that is translated from a Greek word (dynamis) from which we get our English word “dynamite.” It may mean potential for functioning in some way and so means “power, might, strength, force, capability.” It is in the sense of “capability” that the word is used when Apostle Peter explained his miracle as not due to his own capability but that provided through the name of Jesus Christ, as we read in Acts 3:12:
When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
It is with the meaning of ability to function that the Greek word translated “power” is used in Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:16:
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
The Greek word may refer to “power” that works wonder as it is that which Jesus declared went out from Him after the woman with bleeding was healed in Mark 5:30:
At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
The word “power” may refer to effectiveness in contrast to mere words or appearance, as Apostle Paul used the word in 1 Thessalonians 1:5:
because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.
The word may mean “ability” to carry out something, as the word is used to describe the generosity of the Macedonian churches in 2 Corinthians 8:3:
For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own,
The word may mean “miracle, wonder” as it is used in Apostle Paul’s question to the Galatians who were gravitating towards the law as a means of justification, as we read in Galatians 3:5:
Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
The word may mean “power” in the sense of a being, human or transcendent, that functions in a remarkable manner so it is used for created supernatural beings in Ephesians 1:21:
far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
The word may refer to capacity to convey thought and so means “meaning”, as the word is used in 1 Corinthians 14:11:
If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me.
The phrase the meaning of what someone is saying is more literally the power of the voice. The word may mean “resource,” that is, something that serves as an adjunct of power. This is probably the meaning of the word in a passage where it is translated “strength”, that is, Revelation 3:8:
I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 5:4, the meaning of the word is “power” in the sense of “possession of controlling influence” although some understand the word to mean “authority.”
Understanding the Greek word translated “power” to mean “power” in the sense of “possession of controlling influence” suggests that the apostle was thinking of the Holy Spirit that Jesus has given to the church as He promised that He and the Father would. The Lord Jesus indicated that the Father would send the Holy Spirit, as recorded in John 14:26:
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Later in His teaching, the Lord Jesus indicated that He would send the Holy Spirit, as narrated in John 16:7:
But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
That the Lord Jesus stated He would send the Holy Spirit is another way to convey His deity since in His deity He is co-equal to the Father. That aside, the fact remains that the Lord Jesus associated power with the Holy Spirit, as implied in Acts 1:8:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Anyway, since the Holy Spirit is God wherever He is present Jesus Christ is present. This understanding is important in interpreting what the apostle meant in the literal Greek phrase and of my spirit with power of the Lord Jesus or in the words of the NIV and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present.
Having considered the key words used in the literal phrase of 1 Corinthians 5:4 phrase and of my spirit with power of the Lord Jesus, we can now interpret what the apostle meant to convey to the Corinthians. He meant to convey to the Corinthians that when they assemble his thought is with them through the epistle, he had written to them; in addition, the Lord Jesus is present with them through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The implication is that the Corinthians have the instructions to carry out the removal of the sexually immoral person and in addition they have the power of the Holy Spirit to execute the instruction they have received. This interpretation implies that any assembly of believers in Christ has the word of God in written form that should be expounded to them as well as they have the presence of the Holy Spirit in their midst to enable them function as the Lord of the church wants. There is a sense that this interpretation again echoes the promise of the Lord in Matthew 18:20:
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
Furthermore, when a local church of Christ carries out the instruction of excommunicating a member who is sexually immoral that local church complies with God’s requirement so that it can be said the local church has the backing of heaven as implied in the promise of the Lord to Apostle Peter after his confession about the Lord Jesus as stated in Matthew 16:19:
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
The application of this promise to Peter is that what the church decides in the context of excommunication agrees with what God had already decided. In any event, we want to emphasize that when local churches gather, they have the word of God in written form that should serve as the final authority of the church in any matter concerning our faith. If the church applies the instruction of the Scripture in excommunication, then the God of heaven stands behind the church. Of course, the Lord of the church is always present when believers gather in His name. The power of the Holy Spirit is also present so that the church should rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to execute whatever decision it reaches with the matter of church discipline.
Be that as it may, the apostle having conveyed that the removal of the one that is guilty of sexual immorality in the local church in Corinth is not a private act, but a public one that should take place when believers assemble in their local church where the Holy Spirit is present with them, and being assured that they would act in accordance with the will of God, instructs on the action that should be taken. The action required of the church is to hand over the guilty person to Satan. It is this instruction that is given in the first expression of 1 Corinthians 5:5 hand this man over to Satan.
What does the apostle mean in the instruction of handing someone over to Satan? It is not clear to us at the present time what he meant. Nonetheless, to try to understand what he means requires considering the context and the examination of the key words used in the instruction. The first key word is the expression “hand...over.” It is translated from a Greek word (paradidōmi) that may mean “hand down, pass on, transmit, relate, teach” especially of oral or written tradition. It is this meaning that is reflected in the rebuke of the Lord Jesus to Jewish authorities that nullify God’s word because of tradition that has been handed down to them over time, as stated in Mark 7:13:
Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
The word may mean “to hand over, turn over, give up a person,” as in the betrayal of the Lord Jesus by Judas Iscariot that Jesus referenced during His trial, as recorded in John 19:11:
Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
The word may mean “to entrust for care or preservation,” hence “to give over, commend, commit” as the word is used for the committing of Apostles Paul and Barnabas to the care of the Lord during their missionary trip, as stated in Acts 14:26:
From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.
The word may mean to make possible for something to happen, that is, “to permit, allow” as it is used in Mark 4:29:
As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
In this passage our Greek word is translated “ripe” in the NIV although the clause As soon as the grain is ripe is more literally but when the crop permits as in the LEB. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 5:5, the word means “to surrender someone to another, especially to an authority,” hence means “to deliver.”
The second key word in the command of 1 Corinthians 5:5 hand this man over to Satan is “Satan.” It is translated from a Greek word (Satanas) that is used as a title or the name for the enemy of God and those who belong to God. Some people do not believe in a personal Satan, probably to his delight so he could deceive them. However, the Scripture describes Satan as a real supernatural being created by God who is His archenemy. So, we will consider what the Scripture says about Satan before we continue with trying to understand what the instruction hand this man over to Satan means.
To begin with, we should recognize that Satan is described in several ways in the Scripture. He is described as the devil, the dragon, and the serpent in Revelation 12:9:
The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
He is described as “the angel of Abyss” in Revelation 9:11:
They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.
Satan is described as Belial by Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:15:
What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
Apostle Paul describe Satan as “Belial” because that is the name that was used to describe him in Jewish intertestamental writings. He is also the one the apostle described as “god of this age” in 2 Corinthians 4:4:
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
The Lord Jesus described Satan as “the prince of this world” in John 12:31:
Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.
The Lord Jesus described him as prince or ruler of this world because prior to the cross he was the indeed the ruler of the world as evident from the fact that the Lord did not dispute his claim of authority over the world, as narrated in Luke 4:6:
And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
Satan, as God’s enemy is evident in his opposition of God and His people. His opposition of God is evident in several ways. He opposes God’s purpose as in the rebuke of him by the Lord Jesus in Mark 8:33:
But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
The sentence You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men is a description of Satan and not Peter. Satan opposes the word of God sometimes using human agent as he used Elymas the Sorcerer to oppose the gospel message of Apostle Paul to the Proconsul Sergius Paulus, as narrated in Acts 13:8–11:
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
Satan’s opposition of God is described in terms of his blasphemy against God, as recorded in Revelation 13:6:
He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.
We indicated that Satan opposes God and His people. His opposition of God’s people is evident in several ways. He accuses believers, as stated in Revelation 12:10:
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.
His accusation, of course, is usually based on actual sins that believers have committed although our Lord Jesus defends us because He has paid for our sins. Nonetheless, Satan may also slander us, that is the reason believing widows are advised to remarry so that they will not give Satan the opportunity of slander if they acted in certain ways that may be misconstrued to mean what they did not intend to do sexually, as indicated in 1 Timothy 5:14:
So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander.
Another evidence of Satan’s opposition of God’s children is engaging in spiritual warfare with them. It is for this reason that we are instructed to be equipped with spiritual armor so that we will be able to withstand what he throws at us, as commanded in Ephesians 6:16:
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
The Scripture portrays Satan as the tempter of God’s people. His description as the tempter is revealed in his temptation of Jesus where he was described as the tempter in Matthew 4:1–3:
1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Because Satan is described as the tempter, he is always looking for opportunity to cause believers to rebel against God. It is for this reason that we are instructed not to give him any opportunity to cause us to sin, as stated in Ephesians 4:26–27:
26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
As the tempter of God’s people, he strives to fill the thoughts of believers with sinful thoughts or ideas so that believers would sin against God. It is this action of his that Peter rebuked Ananias for succumbing to Satan filling his mind and that of his wife with the concept of lying to the early church which is tantamount to lying to God in Acts 5:3–9:
3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. 7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” 9 Peter said to her, “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”
Satan not only tempts believers to sin but he also brings about hardship on believers to test them towards rebelling against God’s word because of their suffering. Hence, the Lord warned the church in Smyrna about impending suffering in the hand of Satan, as stated in Revelation 2:10:
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
It is this tactic of using hardship to try to cause believers to sin that under God’s permission Satan applied towards Job, as we read, for example, in Job 1:12–15:
12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. 13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
We know that Satan’s goal was to cause Job to sin against God. This we learn from the commentary of the Holy Spirit about Job’s reaction to the tremendous losses that he sustained because of the activities of Satan, as we read in Job 1:22:
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
By the way, it is true that Satan is the tempter, but we have been provided the power and the means of resisting him. For unless this is the case, we would not have been commanded to resist him with the assurance that we will be victorious over him, as stated in James 4:7:
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Add to this fact that we have been equipped with the power to resist his temptation, is the truth that we have a high priest who is ready and able to help us when we are tempted, as we gather from Hebrews 2:18:
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Another description of Satan is that of a deceiver. His deception is related to his character and activities. In term of his character, he is described in several ways. He is a liar, as the Lord Jesus described him, according to the record of John 8:44:
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Apostle Paul describe him as devious, that is, he is skillful in using underhand tactics to achieve his goals so that we can say he is cunning, as we read in 2 Corinthians 11:3:
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.
It is because Satan is devious that he is also good in camouflaging things that he wants to use to trip us. No wonder, the same apostle describes Satan as one who knows how to masquerade, as stated in 2 Corinthians 11:14:
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
Because Satan is devious, he knows how to come up with schemes that are intended to trip the believer. It is for this reason we are instructed to put on spiritual armor to be able to detect his schemes, as we read in Ephesians 6:11:
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
Satan being a deceiver uses various activities to deceive. He can misuse the Scripture in his deception. This is illustrated with his misuse of the Scripture in his temptation of Jesus Christ who corrected him in his misuse of the Scripture, as recorded in Matthew 4:6–7:
6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Satan’s misuse of the Scripture means that the believer should be careful even when people quote the Scripture to be sure that the quotation is correctly applied. His misuse of the Scripture leads him to use his own agents, the demons, to promote false doctrines, as we read in 1 Timothy 4:1:
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
In fact to make people believe him as he sponsors false hood, Satan performs what we often describe as counterfeit miracles which may be genuine miracles of God but granted through Satan’s agent so that Satan would use them to deceive as we read in 2 Thessalonians 2:9–10:
9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
In any event, the descriptions of Satan that we have considered are the ones believers should recognize and be on their guard against so not to be deceived. This brings us to the question: What does the apostle mean in the instruction of handing someone over to Satan? We will consider the answer in our next study.
07/19/19