The Existence of Evil and the Reality of Satan

In discussing the existence of evil and the reality of Satan the devil, an associate professor of a New Testament School of Theology is quoted as saying, “For the most part, you don’t hear mainline Protestants talking about Satan, the devil or the demonic; I think we’ve handed that kind of language over to the fundamentalists.” There’s no suggestion that this is what the professor herself has done, but in her line of work and communication she observes that multitudes of Protestant Christians have. Another New Testament professor said, “Most mainline Protestants don’t take Scripture literally, and so are reluctant to embrace the idea of Satan as a personal being.”

Both these statements were made in recent months, but they line up exactly with what I discovered over twenty years ago when communicating the gospel with church-going residents in my community for three and a half years. Most of them could barely engage in a meaningful conversation about Almighty God’s reality, let alone a conversation on the reality of the devil. I used to think the sole reason for this was because of their failure to take Scripture literally. And whilst I knew that Satan was behind it all, now I have a clearer picture of how he did/does it. Firstly, if he can convince you that he doesn’t exist, then he can go to work on convincing you that the Bible should not be taken literally.

If he’s successful with this objective, then it’s not all that difficult for him to fill you with an everlasting vagueness about the reality of God, Who He is, what He is like, what He requires of us and what He promises us if we meet His requirements. Of course, Satan didn’t start with the church-goers, he started with the Seminary Professors and Scholars; he went to work on them, who in turn went to work on the Bible students – the future church pastors and ordained reverends. So no “fundamentalist” should be surprised to learn of any one of them telling their people they have a problem understanding Satan as a created being, or, that he is simply an analogy concerning evil, rather than the first cause of evil.

Whether such people be pastors, reverends or church-goers, that’s all they are; they are not Christians. And all too sadly, these are the people who do most harm to the truth of the gospel and the way, the truth and the life, John 14:6, the Lord Jesus Christ. They don’t have God at the center of their hearts; they have Satan himself even if they don’t know it! When ministering on those streets, I used to think the people needed to get the word of God into them. That’s still very true, but equally they need to get the devil out of them! They need to see their foolishness for what it truly is and who’s behind it all. But only a love for truth makes this possible, and there’s not much love for truth around, anywhere!

There’s a love for ears to be tickled with smooth things and for someone on hand to  prophesy deceits of any kind over them Isaiah 30: 10, but not truth. Old Testament Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah teach us that. One who is prepared to deny the truth about the reality of Satan needs to realize that they are one step away from denying the truth about the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ too. For example, if it was not Satan Jesus spoke to during His 40 day & night fast, then who was it He spoke to? Matthew 4:1-11. Jesus said, Away with you, Satan! He didn’t say, “Away with you, personification of evil,” or, “Away with you, evil thoughts.” Again, if it wasn’t Satan Jesus spoke to, who was it? Was He hallucinating? Was He off His head?

When Jesus rebuked His disciple Peter, He said, Get behind Me, Satan! Matthew 16:23. Why did He not simply say, “Get behind Me, Peter”? The same applies to the woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years Luke 13:11-17. When Jesus loosed her from it, He told a religious hypocrite that it was Satan who’d kept her bound all those years. He was the root cause, not some psychosomatic disorder that originated from mental or emotional causes. Those Seminary people have got a lot to answer for on the day they stand before the Lord. Based on what’s declared about them from Revelation 22:19, they will have all eternity in hell to dwell on how arrogant and foolish they’ve been.

In my post: The Great Regret, I mention that I’ve experienced a touch of hell. I praise God that it was only a touch, but it most certainly is a place of Great Regret. It’s also a place of great shame. The great shame for these people will be the realization that they were the servants and tools of the very one they spent all their earthly lives denying. No doubt some of them knew what they were doing and made a deliberate choice to sell their souls to Satan. What a shock to find themselves in the place that was only ever originally prepared for the devil and his angels Matthew 25:41. How this crowd loves to put down the “fundamentalist” Christian. Even in hell they will come into the knowledge that there’s no other kind of Christian.

I’ve heard preachers and Christians say something like, “We don’t talk about Satan; we give him no glory. All glory to Jesus!” And with that, talk of the devil gets shoved aside. It sounds so Christ-honoring, yet it’s Christ-dishonoring. It borders on Satan-denial. It’s shallow talk too. Who said anything about giving Satan glory? I’m of the opinion that they say this because they’re afraid to discover that it’s Satan or his demons that are playing around with them. In other words, there’s a sin of some kind they’re into and don’t want to let go of it. Any discussion about Satan’s nature, character and subtle ways of working might expose that sin therefore the topic dare not get off the ground. More on that later.

If you were to go through the New Testament and blot out all that it says literally about Satan and demons, one of the first questions you’d find yourself asking is “What was the purpose of Jesus coming amongst us all those years ago?” In fact, the Old Testament wouldn’t make a lot of sense either because each time you read the word ‘Redeemer’ you’d ask, “Redeemer of what – and of whom?” Isaiah 54:5. For the benefit of anyone who reads this post but has never and may never read the Scriptures, this is God’s message to you … He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil 1 John 3:8 … the works of the devil in you.  

The fact that people don’t take Scripture literally will never nullify the fact that when they stand before God and give Him an account of their life, they will do so according to the Scriptures – literally! In other words, one can say whatever he likes about the Bible here and now, but on that Day of Judgment it will change nothing. It is the (one and only) written word of God to the entire human race, it tells us what we need to know about God, the Lord Jesus Christ and ourselves outside of Christ or inside of Christ should we humble ourselves and receive Him as Lord and Savior of our life. The gospel message has never changed; we are all sinners in need of a Savior and there’s only one – His name is Jesus!

I’ve covered the nature and character of Satan extensively on two previous posts: What is Satan Like? and How do I know Satan Is Delusional? So I won’t repeat them here. But if you’re not up to speed on him and his devices I strongly urge you to click on these links and read them. The Bible shows us that Satan will do everything in his power to undo God’s work, make people renounce, reject or deny God, instigate evil and secure people’s worship. People who dismiss this as old religious superstition need to understand that that’s not their language they’re using, that’s his! One day God will consign him to hell for all eternity, but in the meantime in His infinite wisdom, God permits Satan to operate within the boundaries set for him.

Church-goers who don’t take Scripture literally don’t take God seriously. That puts them among those whose minds the god of this age (Satan) has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them 2 Corinthians 4:4. To believe you can win God’s favor by your independent religious busyness is to follow Satan’s agenda and he only has one – to drag you into hell! Think of it. The reason these people go to church in the first place is because they’re afraid of dying and going to hell anyway, yet here they are giving no thought nor respect to the one WAY, one TRUTH and one LIFE who died and rose again so as to get them there. That’s madness!

Of course, people who dismiss the reality of Satan the devil also dismiss the reality of evil spirits or demons (devils). In other words, Satan is a created being – there’s only one of him therefore he can only be in one place at any one time. But not so, the evil spirit beings under his charge; they’re numerous and they’re everywhere! They do Satan’s bidding. And given that he’s the father of lies, deceptions (including man-centered and false religions), addictions, perversions and murder, to name just a few … that’s what they’re out there doing all across the earth. Demons possess human beings and cause them great spiritual, mental, moral and physical harm. That’s why casting them out of people was an important part of Jesus’ ministry. It still is.

Sadly though, even most Bible churches don’t want to know about the demonic realm. You can get away with it if you mention Satan and evil spirits in a general, sweeping sense, but the moment you get specific, both pastor and people will clear their throats and squirm in their seats. That’s a great pity because churches are rampant with demonic activity of all kinds and Jesus would love to have them face up to it, name the sin, repent of it and get released. Evil spirits of all kinds are controlling people in society, business and in all levels of government in every nation throughout the world. And, they have a legal right to do so. Why? If the church refuses to deal with them inside, it is powerless to deal with them outside. Satan knows that. “Do not be afraid; only believe” Mark 5:36. “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” John 11:40.