Satan's Ministers as the Ministers of Righteousness. Read more...

• Ye are of Your Father the Devil, the Liar - We read about the basic nature of Satan, “he is a liar, and the father of it [the lie]”. In John 8:44, Lord Jesus addressed the religious leaders of His day as “Ye are of your father the devil”, though in the larger context, this verse is directed to all who are without a Savior. The Greek word for “worketh” in Eph 2:2 is similar to our English word “energy” and conveys the idea of “working in”, “operating”, or “energizing” the unsaved: “Wherein in time past ye [believers] walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan], the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience [unsaved]” . “Worketh” is also employed in Php 2:13 with reference to the work of God in His children’s lives: “For it is God which worketh in you [saved] both to will and to do of his good pleasure”. Eph 2:2 reveals that all who are unsaved are under the spiritual domination of Satan, who is called “the prince of the power of the air”, also called “the prince of this world” in John 14:30: “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world [Satan] cometh, and hath nothing in me” , and “the god of this world” in 2 Cor 4:4 whose goal is to blind the minds of the unsaved to the Gospel: “In whom the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God [Jesus], should shine unto them”. Moreover, in John 8:23 Jesus pointed this out to the religious leaders of His day, “ye are of this world; I am not of this world”. 1 Cor 2:14 describes the unredeemed “natural man”, as the one that cannot receive “the things of the Spirit of God” because “they are spiritually discerned”. On the other hand, in 1 Cor 2:12 we read of the saved born-again believers, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God”, and are made able to “know the things of God”.

John 8:44 “Ye are of your father the devil [Satan], and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie [the lie], he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it [the lie].”

John 8:23 “And he [Jesus] said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.”

1 Cor 2:14 “But the natural man [unsaved] receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

1 Cor 2:12 “Now we [saved] have received, not the spirit of the world [of Satan], but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God”

• All Men are Liars - The usual dictionary definition of “truth” is “conforming to reality or actuality” and man can only make inaccurate guesses at what “reality” is with his limited knowledge. Now, man’s definition of lying is “deliberately making a false statement with the intention of deceiving someone”, which is really the opposite of honesty. However, according to God’s standard of Absolute Truth, and since the Bible is the Absolute Truth, then anything we say that is contrary to the Bible – the True Gospel – is a lie. Because we do not know the Absolute Truth about anything, that makes all men liars by nature: “The wicked [unsaved] are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies” (Psa 58:3). Even if a Bible teacher ignorantly teaches a wrong(or erroneous) doctrine, he is lying. For example, those who teach that human beings can somehow contribute to their salvation are lying – no matter how sincerely and fervently they believe they are teaching truth. Rom 3:4 also reiterates: “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged”. And God tells us that the fate of all unsaved liars is the “lake of fire”, as we read in Rev 21:7-8: “... all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death”. Just as there are many counterfeit “gospels” all over the world, there are also many counterfeit “Christians” within every congregation who claim to be saved – usually because of some effort on their part – but have not become “born from above”. Many embrace Christianity because they were born into or grew up in a family or culture that was part of a denomination, sect or cult that claimed an affiliation with Christ and the Bible. However, we see in John 1:13 that true believers are those who are “born of God” and “not of blood” (or man’s special bloodline or genealogy), “nor of the will of the flesh” (man’s natural procreation or heredity), “nor of the will of man” (man’s freewill, or individual or governmental endeavors, or works). Thus, God does all the work of salvation, and man’s efforts play no role whatsoever. In actuality, the “laborers” in Luke 10:2: “The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few”, are the ones whom God has redeemed and set apart to be His ambassadors (2 Cor 5:17-20). Sadly, there have always been those who masquerade as God’s servants, who are still in Satan’s kingdom and are his unwitting ambassadors. This phenomenon is even more pernicious in our day.

John 1:12-13 “But as many as received [as in recipients] him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

2 Cor 5:17-20 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us [born-again believers] the word of reconciliation. 20Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

• Satan’s Ministers as the Ministers of Righteousness - In order to maintain his hold on mankind, Satan works feverishly at his main objective, which is that of deceiving mankind with false gospels to keep them from hearing the Truth. As we approach the Last Day when the Lord Jesus Christ will return, Satan will be actively deceiving many unsaved churchgoers who profess to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. He accomplishes that primarily by keeping people in bondage to various religions and false gospels and using his lying human “ministers of righteousness”, as we read in 2 Cor 11:13-15: “... false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ ...”. Although there have always been false brethren in God’s earthly, institutional churches, the proliferation of today’s [end of times] worldly false gospels tends to increase the percentage of false brethren, or nominal Christians, within the various congregations. This expands the worldly influence in the churches and accelerates the worldwide “falling away” from the True Gospel, or apostasy, that is so much in evidence at the present time: “... that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first ...” (2 The 2:3). The popularity of most false gospels can generally be attributed to their appeals to man’s pride and basic sensual desires for political freedom, economic security and good health. Although they are spiritually dead, some of these unsaved churchgoers seek to teach others their unbiblical ideas about spiritual matters; but it is a very dangerous thing to be an unsaved, self-proclaimed “teacher” of the Scriptures. In Jam 3:1 God indicates there will be a “greater condemnation” in Hell for those hypocrites who handle His Word carelessly: “My brethren, be not many masters [teachers], knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.”

2 The 2:3-4 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he [Satan] as God sitteth in the temple of God [congregation], shewing himself that he is God.”

Isa 14:12-15 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God [believers]: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”

2 Cor 11:13-15 “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

Gal 2:3-5 “But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: 4And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: 5To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.”

Rev 19:20 “And the beast [Satan] was taken, and with him the false prophet [his ministers] that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”