Satan Himself is Transformed into an Angel of Light. Read more...

• The Truth-God and His Word - God and His Word are Characterized by Truth. Absolute Truth is the very nature of God and His Word. The Lord Jesus Christ said that He is the Truth (John 14:6), that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13), and that God’s Word is Truth (John 17:17). In fact, the Bible is the Gospel of Christ, which is the Truth of God’s salvation program. Philosophers have struggled with the concept of “truth” for thousands of years, and in John 18:37-38 Pontius Pilate reflected man’s confusion about it when he said, “What is truth?”. If we try to go beyond God’s revelations about “God’s salvation program” – no matter how “logical” we try to be – we quickly get into “error” (or “falsehood”), which is the opposite of Truth. The only way we can come to Truth about any Biblical subject is by carefully comparing Scripture with Scripture. The main theme of the entire Bible is God’s salvation program – the Gospel – and “The Gospel” is synonymous with “The Truth”. One thing we can say with absolute certainty is that God created this universe and put His salvation plan into motion on this earth for His glory and honor, based on what God declares in His Word.

John 18:37-38 “Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.”

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

John 14:17 “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

John 15:26 “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:”

John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”

John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

• The Lie and The Liar-Satan and His Word - Satan and His Word are Characterized by Lie. Biblical notion is that all sin is based on deceit, or based on a lie. Deceit is the opposite of truth and is, therefore, the opposite of the Word of Truth, the Bible. Sin first reared its ugly head in the least likely of places – a perfect environment where two individuals who had been created perfectly by God and in His image existed in perfect fellowship with their Maker. Unfortunately, this idyllic situation was short-lived as their Creator presented them with a test, which they tragically failed, as “the serpent [Satan] beguiled Eve through his subtilty”, as we read in Gen 3:11-14. At the very onset we see how rapidly and to what extent sin manifested itself in the form of lies, and blaming others in verse Gen 3:13. The deceptiveness of sin affected every human being born after Adam and Eve as Rom 5:12 explains. Satan acquired control of this present universe by default, and became our spiritual father, owing to the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve. In John 8:44, Jesus declares “Ye are of your father the devil” and contrasts “the lie” with “the truth”. The most fundamental deception of sin denies the very existence of sin itself. 2 Cor 4:3-4 gives us more insight.

Gen 3:11-14 “And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.”

Rom 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”

John 8:42-45 “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44Ye 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 [or the lie], he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it [or the lie]. 45And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.”

Eph 2:1-5 “And you [believers] hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye 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: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)”

Tit 3:3-6 “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. 4But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;”

2 Cor 11:3 “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

2 Cor 2:11 “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

2 Cor 4:3-4 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 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, should shine unto them.”

• False Gospels are Characterized by Error - We know from earlier studies that Old Testament Israel was an earthly representative of the Kingdom of God and served as a type, or figure, of the New Testament institutional churches and denominations that also were earthly representatives of the Kingdom of God during the Church Age. Thus, it is important to understand what happened to ancient Israel, in order to relate those events to how God is dealing with the churches of our day. For example, in the following Old Testament passage God warned Ancient Israel not to turn away from drinking the pure, life-giving water of the Truth of God and imbibing the spiritual wine and strong drink of the erroneous and deceptive doctrines of salvation based on the faulty reasoning of men, which leads to the fire of God’s eternal wrath. God says “woe” unto those who indulge in that kind of spiritual foolishness and drunkenness and uses Ancient Israel in Isa 5:20-22 as an example of what is happening in our day as Satan has been loosed to “deceive the nations” (as we read about in Rev 20:3). Just as the Old Testament Israelites were overcome by error and apostasy, so too were the New Testament churches; and there is now a great “falling away” from the True Gospel, as we read in 2 The 2:3-4. The word “woe” in the verses we just read from Isaiah 5 is a pronouncement of judgment, and later God brought about the destruction of Ephraim by the Assyrians. The Southern Kingdom of Judah suffered the same fate due to their apostasy and rebellion. “The lie” is contrasted with “the truth” in 2 The 2:9-12, which is speaking about God’s judgment on the institutional churches and denominations during the Great Tribulation period.

1 Cor 10:11 “Now all these things happened unto them [ancient Israel] for ensamples [types]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”

Isa 5:20-22 “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! 22Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink [deceptive doctrines]:”

2 The 2:3-4 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [the day of Christ] shall not come, except there come a falling away [apostasia:G646] first, and that man of sin [Satan] be revealed, the son of perdition; 4Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God [the institutional churches], showing himself that he is God.”

2 The 2:9-12 “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie [or the lie]: 12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

• Satan is a Counterfeit Christ - Sin was not simply confined to the human race, but occurred among the spirit beings as well either prior to, or simultaneously with, the fall of man. Satan’s rebellion with the sin of pride and subsequent defeat at the Cross is outlined in Isa 14:12-15. God allowed Satan to deceive Eve, and Adam, consenting, followed her example of eating the “forbidden fruit”. Satan’s cunning is never to be underestimated, as we see from 2 Cor 11:14-15. He comes with false gospels that are so close to the truth, he comes with Scripture in a wrong manner, uses the Bible in such a way as to cast doubt upon the very character of God, that even the elect could be deceived if it were possible (Matt 24:24). 1 Pet 5:8 alerts us to Lucifer’s tactics that have been honed by use throughout the history of the world: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”. However, Satan’s greatest deception is at work now in the end times. 2 Cor 11:14-15 warns about Satan’s deceptive show as an imitator of Christ. We read that he comes as “an angel [or messenger] of light” with his counterfeit “ministers of righteousness” and he sits in “the temple of God [the institutional churches], shewing himself that he is God” (2 The 2:3-4). Rev 12:7-10 predicts the Devil’s ultimate defeat (which in principle occurred at the Cross).

Gen 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

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! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”

Luke 10:18 “And he [Jesus] said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”

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.”

2 The 2:2-4 “That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3Let 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 [Satan] be revealed, the son of perdition; 4Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God [the institutional churches], shewing himself that he is God.”

Rev 12:7-10 “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”