Satan has a way of making that which is holy seem unholy. Just as he has a way of making the unholy seem holy. He convinces us also to believe that, that which is moral is immoral … and the immoral is moral.
For anyone who may not know, the word “moral” is defined like this: “Of, or relating to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong.” And morality is a word which describes our adherence or conformity to whatever moral code we choose to live by.
We first evidenced how the enemy of souls can manipulate human beings into considering the unholy to be holy, or the wrong to be right, with Adam and Eve.
God gave the entirety of Eden to Adam and Eve. His only command was for them to not touch one tree in particular. God thereby declared what is holy for mankind to do. He didn’t simply mention what is unholy for man to do either … no, in His kindness, He also PLAINLY stated what the consequences would be if Adam and Eve decided to disobey the Lord’s commands.
Genesis 2:16-17 “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
God lovingly warned Adam of what disobedience would bring. He told Adam this because, like with Adam, God’s will is that all men would see eternal life.
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
The Lord ALONE defines what is true and what is false. The Lord ALONE reveals what is acceptable. When He says something is sinful, it simply is. God’s Word is true whether we believe it or not. Human unbelief cannot alter the character of God.
Romans 3:3 “For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?”
And this is where Satan comes in. Since he cannot attack God directly, he attacks humanity instead. The way he does this is by attacking God’s Commandments in our hearts. He takes that which is holy (the 10 Commandments) and convinces us it is unholy. His most widely accepted lie is the same lie he told Eve. His attack was to tempt Adam and Eve to violate Commandment #1.
Exodus 20:3 “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
And to attack this Commandment, this is the lie Satan used …
Genesis 3:3-5 “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
Since his trick worked so well against the first humans created, he continues using this tactic. With a great deal of success, I might add.
Too often, we become convinced that the only people who actually believe they are gods are those who openly declare as such. Hollywood has taught us that these people are dripping in gold, have legions of devout worshippers bowing at their feet, are power hungry, and have loads of money and power to enforce their will upon others. And though it is true that there are people who fit this profile (like the popes of Rome, for example), when it comes to the common people like you and me, the Devil’s tactics are much more subtle … much more hidden and deceptive. Whether it be the pursuit of $1 or $1B, the love of money is the same. And when it comes to disregarding the advice of God in order to pursue our own will, the pride and arrogance in holding such a position is still the same. All of this is done in an effort to convince us that people can be gods.
Until the last Plague of Revelation falls, Satan will continue his efforts to make sin less offensive … righteousness more offensive. Heaven less appealing … self-gratification more appealing. The hellfire of God less horrific … and the Gospel less urgent.
John 3:19-20 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”
The enemy of souls has conned the world into believing in a false sense of morality. Since God, in His supreme authority, is the only one who can define what is right and what is wrong, His moral guidelines are the only true guidelines.
Deuteronomy 32:4 “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”
2 Samuel 22:31 “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.”
How many times and in how many ways have we been told that violence and even murder are morally acceptable in certain circumstances? Though the Lord has clearly stated violence is immoral and unjustified, people can still fall to choose the will of Satan above the will of the Almighty because it seems or feels better. This is done despite the fact that God said the following …
Exodus 20:13 “Thou shalt not kill.”
Proverbs 28:17 “A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.”
Luke 3:14 “And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.”
But Satan loves to play with our emotions. He loves to trick us into believing the Creator God is wrong and there are plenty of justifiable reasons to hurt someone. He accomplishes this task, mainly, by tugging at our heartstrings. He plays with our hearts by convincing us that because we love our families, it is morally acceptable to harm someone else for their sakes.
Proverbs 12:15 “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.”
Proverbs 21:2 “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.”
This is precisely why God warns us against following our hearts (feelings).
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
Make no mistake, my dear brothers and sisters, Satan is not above using the feeling of love to draw us away from God. How many relationships have you known in your own lives that are sinful, but because the two people are in love, then they believe the relationship is perfectly fine in God’s eyes?
In his efforts to move us away from God’s Word, Satan continues using morality as a weapon by convincing countless numbers of people to believe the following lie … “As long as I’m a good person, I’ll be fine.” I will ask now as I have asked before: by what standard do they measure this goodness?
In order to be a “good person”, we require a standard of goodness to follow. We CANNOT create our own standard of goodness, or morality, based upon life experience or anything else! The Lord has already given His standards in His Bible. But have you ever noticed that those who hold to the belief, “If I’m a good person, then I’ll do fine” are the very same people who refuse to pick up their Bibles and study it with honesty?
There is a fear within them, given by Satan, which tells them to stay away because they will eventually find out that their moral compass is broken … and that they are, in fact, NOT a good person.
Mark 10:18 “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”
Romans 3:12 “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
In the end, the will of the enemy is accomplished when people, for whatever reason, refuse to open their Bibles. God is the only source of good. Man can do good when he strives to be closer to God. And man can only do evil the further he strays from God. The very dust upon their Bibles will rise up in judgement, declaring unto God Himself who they chose to worship.
God tells us that we, in our worldly flesh, simply cannot understand what real morality is. This is because morality, like the rest of life, is a spiritual issue. When we look into the world and the Word with our eyes only, we can only see worldly solutions. This spiritual blindness is mentioned many times throughout the Bible, but never more clearly than in …
1 Corinthians 2:13-14 “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man 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.”
Without God providing the understanding, people fall under the curse declared by the prophet Amos.
Amos 8:11 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:”
What the world deems as morally acceptable has never paralleled what God has declared are right and wrong.
Romans 8:4-5 “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.”
Galatians 5:16-17 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”
This lustful desire man has to exalt his knowledge above that of their Creator is entirely demonic.
But we have hope! For we know that, sooner rather than later, all these corrupt thoughts, beliefs, imaginations, and knowledge will be no more.
2 Corinthians 10:5 “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”
The Lord does not want us to be lost in the deceitful lusts of His enemy. His desire is for all men to receive His peace and happiness.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
With the corrupt sense of morality Satan has led the world to embrace, we have seen nothing, but war, famine, suffering, and destruction fall upon the earth for thousands of years … affecting billions of people.
So be it. Our God promises that, in the end, all the works of Satan will be destroyed.
1 John 3:8 “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”
After this, God lovingly reminds us that, in His Kingdom, all the suffering which the enemy has wrought upon the world will be turned into everlasting peace.
Revelation 21:4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
So, what are we to do now? What are we supposed to do today? How can we honor God and His perfect teachings? Let’s allow the Word of God to speak for itself.
Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”
Learn, preach, teach, so that others may be saved.
Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Mark 13:33 “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.”
Luke 21:36 “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”
John 5:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
1 Thessalonians 2:13 “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”
Titus 1:13 “This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;”
Hold each other accountable.
Hebrews 13:6 “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
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