How The Devil Does His Evil Work

As noted in my previous post, Jesus took Satan seriously and urged us to pray daily that we be delivered from his schemes. Two questions arise from such a prayer. What are the schemes of the devil? In other words, how does he and his minions go about their devious work? And the second question, how does the heavenly Father deliver us from the evil one? We focus upon the first today.

The best way to understand Satan is to examine the Biblical examples. The three temptations of Jesus in the wilderness serve as a summary. Note well that Jesus was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ... And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." - Mat 4:1 ESV

Jesus Tempted - by James Tissot (1836-1902)

Earlier I wrote about the word used for being led or brought into situations where we might be tempted:  Why Do We Pray, "Lead us Not Into Temptation." I urge you to review that blog. As I said there, "The Father does not take us out of the world, but rather permits us to be tempted in order that we may grow in faith and trust. He wants us to grow up in Christ. This is part of the discipling process, the training for life here and now AND for the life we will live in the age to come."

Satan's temptations can be divided into three major categories:

1. Lust: putting bodily appetites above all else: And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." - Mat 4:3 ESV 

2. Impatience: trying to manipulate God: Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, "'He will command his angels concerning you,' and "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" - Mat 4:5-6 ESV

3. Idolatry: tempting us to worship other gods: Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." - Mat 4:8-9 ESV

The biblical word for lust (epithymia) refers to any strong bodily appetite or desire, including hunger, thirst, hate, coveting, and sex. A second word, passion (pathēma), complements it. That word may even refer to the sufferings of Christ, as well as the suffering one who follows Christ may have to endure. But in its negative usage, it refers to the pain and anger that arise when you are frustrated and unable to satisfy any bodily desire or appetite. So Satan or the demons assigned to us urge us to do whatever it takes to satisfy our appetites. Give in to those urgings and you will be led to complain, mock, steal, commit adultery, find sex outside marriage, hurt others bodily and even murder. Follow that path and you will ultimately receive what you ask for. God gives you up to the lusts and passions of your sinful heart (Rom. 1:21-32).

The Biblical opposite of impatience is makrothymia, translated as patience or in the KJV as long-suffering. It is what the Children of Israel were unwilling to exercise when they complained about being thirsty and having no food in the wilderness. They did not trust that the LORD would care for their needs. Instead they grumbled and quarreled with Moses (Exodus 17:1-7). Other ways of putting God to the test include living recklessly or taking extreme risks in sports. Taking dangerous and extreme risks financially could also be included. 

The third major category of sin is idolatry. New idols constantly arise to promise anything and everything from fun and excitement to riches, power and glory. An idol is anything that takes our focus away from the LORD God who has revealed Himself to us in His Son Jesus. Many would make money or sex and pleasure their gods. Fame, power, glory and prestige are worshipped by many others.   Almost anything you can name has and can become a god. Jesus went so far as to point out that we are even in danger of making our families into idols or gods. 

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. - Mat 10:34-37 ESV

Satan's temptations are subtle, hidden and dark, but always present. This is why the Apostles remind us to "be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." - 1Pe 5:8 ESV

In my next post we will consider how the LORD God delivers us from these temptations.

More On The Christian View Of Divorce

Divorce happens, also among us Christians. Men and women divorce daily. Our courts are filled to the brim with case after case, quarrel after quarrel. Families are disrupted and destroyed. In the midst of all this it is critical that the church openly confesses what God says about this in His Word. Is it ever possible or proper for a believer to divorce his or her spouse?

 "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.'But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery (Matthew 5:31-32). 

 Who said, "give her a certificate of divorce"? Actually, Moses. Here's the quote: 

 "When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, and if she goes and becomes another man's wife and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the LORD. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance" (Deuteronomy 24:1-4).

 This passage was quoted by the Pharisees when they tested Jesus' teaching about marriage and divorce. There was an ongoing debate in those days about what "some indecency in her" meant. That's why these Pharisees asked, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" (Matthew 19:3). The same question is raised by the Pharisees in the account from Mark's Gospel (Mark 10:2), but Jesus' answer is somewhat different in Mark's account. We will need to examine both Gospels to get a complete understanding of His answer and His teaching about divorce.

Some have taught that sexual immorality or what is called fornication is the one sole ground for divorce. That is not so. There is no biblical reason to limit the values or meaning of marriage to sexual faithfulness alone. In other words, we must view the entire context of marriage and the commitments made by the two who bind themselves to one another in marriage in order to understand when or why it is legal to divorce. Bear with me. This is going to take several postings in order to get the full picture. For today let us examine the teaching of Jesus about divorce a few sentences before the ones quoted above.

As we proceed, above all remember that Jesus did not come to destroy or subvert the teachings of the Old Covenant, the Law and the Prophets. He is one with His Father and the Holy Spirit who gave them to us through Moses. Rather He came to fulfill those teachings (Matt.5:17). He came to fill them to the very brim with deep, rich meaning for our lives, including our lives together as man and wife. He came to teach us what this institution of marriage is all about. That, of course, is what I've been attempting to demonstrate in earlier blogs.

So lets take a good hard look at Moses' teachings about divorce. Listen and watch as Jesus fills our cups to the top. And then let us drink it all.

Jesus starts with the commandment forbidding both men and women to commit adultery. To commit adultery—moixeuō in Greek—refers to the sexual act with one other than one's spouse (Deut. 5:18). But is that the full meaning of the commandment? What sin is this commandment revealing? The physical act? To be sure, but there is more. Jesus turns especially to the men in his audience as He says,

"But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matt. 5:28).

 Lustful intent speaks about passion, longing, intense desire, even coveting and wanting what does not belong to you. It is not wrong to look at at another with interest. This looking may refer to finding a particular woman interesting, intelligent, discovering the two of you have common interests in addition or even instead of physical attractiveness. All this goes on in the heart, in the inner man. But what happens next is critical. If this looking turns to lust, adultery has already begun. The commitment to one's wife has been broken even though the physical act may never happen!

OK, guys, what about it? No sin in our marriages? We can sound so self-righteous, but let's be honest. That's what Jesus demanded when some of them dragged a woman in front of him who had been caught in adultery. "Teacher," they said, "this woman has been caught in the very act" (John 8:4). This was clearly forbidden and they had the required witnesses to prove it (Deut.17:2-7). Given that, they had the responsibility to stone her to death. So what did this vaunted teacher from Galilee have to say about that? Was he going to stand up for the institution of marriage and protect the community? Notice that they didn't drag the man along with the woman.

Jesus said nothing for a time, but merely scratched in the ground with his finger. Then he stood and spoke directly to the men who had dragged her out there. "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her," He said. Then he bent down and began to scratch again.

The older men were the first to leave. They knew their own hearts better than the others. One by one they walked away. And then so did the young men until there was no one left. When Jesus finally asked her where her accusers were she replied that there were none. "Neither do I accuse you," He said. "Go and sin no more."

Yes, she had sinned. She had broken her marriage vows. But so had all those men who condemned her. This is critical as we proceed with this discussion of marriage and divorce. We husbands and wives are all guilty of sinning against one another and against God. But in Christ we who are forgiven again and again forgive one another—even for adultery.

Is there ever then any reason for divorce? More on this the next time. 

True Love Is Not Mere Lust

A couple days ago a man flying first class from Salt Lake City to Boston was caught gazing on child pornographic images. This is but one of countless examples of men and women seeking to satisfy sexual appetites without concern for a committed personal relationship. In such situations sex is reduced to mere lust. C.S. Lewis described the situation in The Four Loves:

We use a most unfortunate idiom when we say, of a lustful man prowling the streets, that he "wants a woman." Strictly speaking, a woman is just what he does not want. He wants a pleasure for which a woman happens to be the necessary piece of apparatus. How much he cares about the woman as such may be gauged by his attitude to her five minutes after fruition. One does not keep the carton after one has smoked the cigarettes.

Lewis goes on to say that modern society's focus on sex per se has led to the idolizing of sex. In that sense devotion to the old goddess of love has returned. Venus or Aphrodite or Freya or by whatever name this goddess was known still has millions of devoted worshipers. However, this is not mutual love. It is mere self-centered lust.


The ancient Greeks had a word for mutual love. They called it Eros. This type of love makes a man want a woman not as a piece of apparatus. No, he wants a particular woman for who she is. He wants to be her lover. If all goes well that particular woman wants that particular man in turn. She wants to be his lover. Thus the two become captive to one another. They want no other. They have discovered the mystery of life. It is this sweet mystery of life they celebrate. The mutual love implanted by their Creator into their very being is fulfilled. No longer is the man alone. No longer is the woman alone. The two have become one, flesh of flesh and bone of bone. Such love naturally leads them to promise to be faithful for life.


Marriage as a permanent institution flows from this love. This is the very definition of marriage, the lifelong union of one man and one woman. Yet in itself Eros is not enough to sustain marriage. Eros within us has been damaged and impaired by our sinful nature. It is all too easy to "fall out of love" and revert to that natural self-centered tendency within us all the Bible calls sin. So we create laws to protect and sustain marriage, even when that happens. But such laws are often powerless to do what they were designed to do and we must create yet other laws to contain the damage of quarreling, separation and divorce.


Only the selfless love of God revealed in Christ can renew and sustain Eros. The Apostle Paul speaks of this as submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21-33). In such love a husband and wife gain glimpses of an even deeper mystery, the eternal love of God that will be fulfilled in all of His children in the age to come. Of this the Apostle says, "This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church."


We will return to this later. Next time we will examine the second purpose of marriage: the procreation of children. 

The Relational Purpose of Marriage

The Bible knows what it means for a man and a woman to fall in love. The Song of Songs is an out and out love song. Samples: 

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine . . . His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me! . . . Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains.

 This Song is all about the "one flesh" union of love. It describes in detail the wondrous bond between husband and wife. And this is not mere friendship. It is erotic love in the context of commitment and marriage. And this is good, very good. Neither is alone any longer. This is why they were made, the very purpose of their existence. Barbra Streisand sings of this in a wedding song—

I've dreamed of you
Always feeling you were there
And all my life
I have searched for you everywhere
I caught your smile in the morning sun
I heard your whisper on the breeze of night
I prayed one day that your arms would hold me tight 

And just when I
Thought love had passed me by
We met
That first look in your eyes I can't forget
You melted me with your tender touch
I felt all fear and sorrow slip away
Now here we stand
Hand in hand
This blessed day

I promise you
As I give to you my heart
That nothing in this world
Shall keep us apart
Come happily ever after be
The man I'll love until the very end
I've dreamed of you my great love
And my best friend

For God must know
How I love you so
He's blessed us here today
As man and wife
Come dream with me
As I've dreamed of you
All my life

Though but a secular song, it is a reflection of Adam's loneliness in Genesis 2. All the creatures he named had mates, but there was none for him—until the deep sleep came upon him and the LORD took half of the man and made woman. Then He made Adam whole. And  overwhelmed with joy, Adam cried out, "At last! This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!" 

This is what sexual intercourse is meant to be. This is the most intimate sharing of self, an act the Bible calls knowing—"but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he (Joseph) called his name Jesus," Matt. 1:25. In this union partners come to know themselves even as they know the other. They know themselves in relation to each other. 

It is vital that we remember we speak here of mutual love, not mere lust. To settle for lust alone is to fall far short of the person to person relationship for which God has created us as man and as woman. To allow the sexual act to be merely the satisfaction of lustful appetite is to reduce us humans to the level of animals—though even they know of lifelong commitments. 

I'll continue this discussion next time to look in more detail at attempts to satisfy sexual urges outside of a lifelong commitment to the other.