The devil has many tricks up his sleeve. There is, of course, the classic Genesis 3 assault. Twist God's word, cast doubt on His authority and character, and create evil desires. Such a strategy caused the downfall of mankind, and continues to spread sin and death across this world to this very day.
But Satan won't always use the same strategy. There are many ways in which he wields his power, and often, rather than blatantly causing us to rebel against God, He may even utilise our zeal for Him. As Christ says in John 16:2, "They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service." (Emphasis added).
Now, overall, at least in the Western world, I'm not too concerned that Satan will cause Christians to run around killing other Christians in the name of God. What I do notice, however, is the expert way in which Satan manipulates the concept of Liberty.
Liberty is, undoubtedly, a Christian concept. The New Testament covers it abundantly, making it clear that although there are some things our conscience can never justify, there are nevertheless many things it can. In fact, it calls those whose conscience cannot justify certain things "weak in faith" (Romans 14:1).
But there is a great irony here. The strong in faith may also be weak. As Paul warns, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." (1 Corinthians 10:12). Twice in this same epistle, even once in this same chapter, Paul warns "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful..." (1 Corinthians 6:12, 10:23). In these same breaths, he says "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." (6:12), and "all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify." (10:23).
Thus, to quote the famous line from Spider-Man, "With great power comes great responsibility". We have liberty, but how we use it matters. First of all, it matters precisely because there are weaker brethren. Thus, Paul makes it quite clear, "Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves." (Romans 14:16-20). Doubling down on this, he says "Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble." (1 Corinthians 8:13).
Thus, even for the stronger brethren, there are a large number of cautions. To begin with, we can be mastered by our liberties in ways weaker brethren are essentially immune from. Morally speaking, for example, we do have the liberty to drink, though there are, of course, limits. Drinking is not a sin, in and of itself, but getting drunk is. Now, who is more likely to get drunk? A strong brother, whose conscience purifies his drink, or a weaker brother, whose personal faith cannot handle such a thing? It's obviously the stronger brother. Thus, while the weaker brother is weak in the faith, the stronger brother has a greater potential to fall into sin! Thus, Paul warns that while all things are lawful, not all things are helpful, not all things edify, and of course, we can be mastered by the liberties we have. It's like a drug addict. "I can stop any time".
But more importantly, we need to be aware that there are weaker brethren. "Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food", we read. Love may compel us to give up liberties we know we have, purely for sake of keeping the peace with those who do not have them.
Now, with all of the above, what will Satan do? Here, he won't cause us to doubt God's word. Rather, he will use it. He will sear consciences, flash temptations, sever relationships, and even cause divisions within the Church, not by causing doubt on God's word, but by wielding it. "Go ahead and take another drink, it's totally fine. Look, even Jesus did it! And He didn't care when people spoke against Him for it either, He called the people hypocrites for calling Him a drunkard (Matthew 11:18-19). But now look... Your Christian friends over there are offended. Let's set them free! Fantastic! Now Bill has returned to the alcoholism I had him trapped in for years! But Ben is still being mean. He says alcohol is a sin, and even points to Bill as proof. What a jerk! Fight fight fight!" Such chaos, all because rather than having your faith to yourself, enjoying alcohol in private, you had to stumble one brother and do battle with another.
But of course, there is a flip side. Tell me, is it not beneficial for Satan to convince Christians to give up our liberties, not for sake of brethren whose faith is weak, but for sake of making our faith weak? Using alcohol as the example again, note how Scripture does show that alcohol is permissible in moderation. And it does call those who say otherwise "weak in faith".
This seems to be something Satan enjoys, but God discourages. God is, of course, patient with us. He doesn't use the cane on a baby, so to speak. Again in 1 Corinthians, we read "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?" (3:1-3).
So note here, he still regards the Corinthians as being "in Christ". But as babes in Christ. These were carnal people, "behaving like mere men". How? With their divisions and strifes. And so Paul tells us "Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature." (1 Corinthians 14:20). That's a 2:1 ratio. Only once does he tell us to be babes in malice, but twice he tells us to have a mature understanding.
And how do we gain this understanding? "The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple." (Psalm 119:130). Scripture repeatedly affirms its status as the word of God, which "...is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
But just as stronger brethren are at risk of temptation via their liberties, weaker brethren, more often than not, are in danger of temptation through abstinence. Scripture warns them "...let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand." (Romans 14:3-4).
In spite of this, weaker brethren often do judge. Harshly. Here, the devil again raises his ugly head, not only causing the unjust judgments, but also encouraging the alteration of Scripture itself. See, Scripture not only tells us it is the word of God, but that we are not permitted to add to, nor take away from it. This, it does as both a statement of wisdom, and a stern command. As we find in Proverbs 30:5-6, "Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar." Many centuries before that, we also read "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you." (Deuteronomy 4:2).
So, what happens when you change the word of God? Well, first, there's the simple fact that He's going to expose you Himself. Trust His words, He'll be a shield for you, but add to them, you're a fraud, and you will be known as the fraud you are. But second, altering them will hinder your ability to keep them.
The first century is a cautionary tale that shows this abundantly. As Christ said to the Pharisees, "...All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”" (Mark 7:9-13).
So what's this "Corban" concept? Rather than helping their parents in their old age, the Pharisees would simply abandon them, giving their wealth to the temple for sake of appearing Godly. Were they Godly? Certainly not. They're well known for their hypocrisy, and many of them await the day they will be cast into the lake of fire with their father, the devil. There is no "Corban". They made that up.
By contrast, Paul tells us "Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh." (Colossians 2:20-23).
"Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle". What do these regulations sound like? Additions to Scripture. But not just additions to Scripture. Additions much like those brought to us by weaker brethren. Again using alcohol as the example, how do stronger brethren justify it? By going to Scripture. We show that Jesus drank, we show that the New Testament permits drinking, we even show that Paul told Timothy "No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities." (1 Timothy 5:23).
But how do weaker brethren justify their vocal opposition to alcohol? By claiming that the wine was non-alcoholic. By saying the water back then was just too dirty. By pointing out that modern drinks are often stronger than they were back then, making us get drunk faster. In other words, by adding to Scripture. The result is disobedience, not only by altering Scripture, but even by causing division and strife where none ought to be.
None of this is a new concept, either. We see, in the early 2nd century, the rise of radical Asceticism. Asceticism is, put simply, self denial. Worldly pleasures, ironically, are not seen as being for this world. Thus, Ascetics would completely reject any and all Earthly pleasures for sake of their spiritual lives. Remember what Paul taught us? "“Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh." Asceticism, therefore, is effectively useless. It is of no benefit, even to the individual.
In fact, the opposite seems to be the case. Whereas Ascetics would often swear by a life of celibacy, for example, Paul tells us "Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment." (1 Corinthians 7:1-6). In Hebrews 13:4, we also read "Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge."
What, then, are we to make of Jerome's assertion that "Do you imagine that we approve of any sexual intercourse except for the procreation of children? He who is too ardent a lover of his own wife is an adulterer."? What we have here is both an addition to, and removal from, Scripture. It removes "marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled", "render due affection", and "do not deprive one another except by consent for a time". It adds "sex is only for making babies", and "too much marital sex is adultery". The result? Disobedience. This is the false humility of which Paul warns, and of course, it is "...of no value against the indulgence of the flesh." Why? Well because if a husband and wife are depriving each other, Satan can tempt them. Asceticism doesn't solve the problem of sexual immorality, it merely denigrates the purity of the marriage bed.
One thing I haven't brought up thus far in this article is festivals. Much like food and drink, these are said to be a "...a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ." (Colossians 2:17). Having just passed Halloween, this concept is still fresh in my mind. During this season, I published two articles on the topic, one regarding Halloween and the freedom of conscience, and another outlining the entire topic. During this time, I also posted another article on the permissibility of Yoga.
After the publication of those articles, I made a Facebook post on the Bible Brain Facebook page. In its entirety, I said "With Halloween coming up, I've been thinking a lot on the liberty issue. It's interesting, I note a lot of "weaker brethren" (Romans 14 terminology for those who do not feel an otherwise permissible thing is permissible) will appeal to the teachings of false religions/prophets to prove their point, like with the yoga thing. "If you knew what Hinduism teaches...". Well, I don't know what Hinduism teaches. As a matter of fact, there are hundreds of religions from across the world I know nothing about, and have no desire to. Why? Because I know the TRUE God! The teachings of false religions have no impact on my life what so ever. There could be some religion out there, somewhere, that teaches some strange thing about anything I do. I'm wearing red right now, maybe the priests of some religion or other do too. I'm about to shower. What if some religion has a showering ritual? After shower, I'm having coffee with my breakfast. What if some religion has a weird teaching on coffee? One thing I do know is that when I go to church this morning, I will be worshiping on a day dedicated to the worship of the sun: SUN-day. I am giving no power to a single demon by doing any of this. So why should I care, when considering celebrating Halloween, or looking at yoga (which I don't actually do), or practicing Krav Maga, or celebrating Christmas (again, not really my thing), or any number of other things, what other religions teach regarding the practice? Indeed, the scary thought for those who say I SHOULD care is that there ARE so many false religions, and every pleasure they enjoy might be enjoyed also by one of them. The only escape from that possibility is Asceticism. But guess where that comes from..."
The discussions that flowed from these posts were quite interesting. What's especially interesting is the variety of people who commented. On the one hand, there were those who vehemently opposed yoga, yet were quite fine with Halloween. On the other hand, there were those who didn't blink at my presentation of yoga as a liberty issue, but believed it was impossible to separate the celebration of Halloween from devil worship. One brother even brought up the Anton LaVey quote "I am glad that Christian parents let their children worship the devil at least one night out of the year."
But do we imagine Satan is as scared of my parallel saying? Rather than "letting children worship the devil one night a year", I say, one night a year, rather than taking the Gospel out into the world, the devil brings the world to us!
Regarding Halloween, what is the most beneficial thing to Satan? I would contend the scenario he wants most is for as many worldly people to participate as possible, but as few Christians. Why? Well because the world will show no restraint. Do you think they care about the evil parts? They have no qualms about dressing as devils, witches, spooks, and many other evil things. They will happily play with Ouija boards, mess with tarot cards, conduct seances, and other horrific things. But none of these are essential to Halloween. A Christian can participate in Halloween without ever once touching a demonic element.
Now again, the problem for the stronger brethren is the difficulty of avoiding it. This year, for example, my household payed special attention to our decorations. We were quite happy to use things like bats and spiders, because not only are these beautiful creations of God, but when He made man, He gave us dominion over them. But we also had this twirling light display, quite innocent on the face of it. That is, until I looked up and noticed a spooky face reflecting off the roof. We had goofed.
But as stronger brethren, we also have an opportunity. Along with the candy, we offer tracts, many of which were happily taken by trick or treaters who will now have access to the Gospel, which I would never have given them had the devil himself not brought them to my door! And all I did was sit outside with a cat puppet in a box of candy.
Now tell me, do you think Satan was pleased with this? He was probably thrilled whenever a child rejected the tracts, but overall, my efforts undoubtedly caused his schemes to backfire. People now have the Gospel who not only wouldn't have it if he hadn't brought them to my door, but also wouldn't have it if I had not answered.
So what if LaVey's quote is just another of Satan's tricks? What if it's a bluff, and I'm calling it? I can tell you this much, I'm not thinking of Satan when I celebrate Halloween. I'm not obeying him when I take a drink. I'm not doing his will when I listen to rock music. I'm not sinning at all. In all the liberties I take, every day of the year, I am either serving God, or at the very least thanking Him for giving them to me. Now pay attention to what Paul says to Timothy: "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer." (1 Timothy 4:1-5).
Sometimes, demons do not preach "do this sinful thing". Sometimes, they instead preach "do not do this permissible thing". If God says "thou shalt not", the devil will say "you may". But when God says "you may", the devil will say "thou shalt not". "You shall not use your liberty. You shall not give thanks to God. You will glorify no one but me."
Satan's tricks come in many forms, but they won't always be the form you expect. In truth, the greatest of his tricks will be the ones you don't expect, for if you expected them, you wouldn't be tricked. Would you eat, drink, or celebrate, that which you thought would please the devil, or offend the Lord? Would you condemn that which the Lord approves, if you knew He indeed approves it? The obvious answer to all of these, for a Christian, is no. Therefore, beware, keeping in mind we serve a Holy God, but are plagued by a ferocious adversary. The solution is to cling to God's worth with every last ounce of faith we have, studying it diligently, and seeking to apply it to our own lives. If we do this, the devil will never prosper, however we use our liberties.