BELIEVE NOT EVERY SPIRIT (PART II)

“Effectiveness of Satan’s Deception”

By Akin Ojumu

Satan is a liar and the father of lies. This diabolic being is forever at war with the people of God. From the creation of man until now, the Devil is all out striving to destroy God’s creation. 

Just like he did in the Garden of Eden, when he used deceit and sleight of hand to get Adam and Even to transgress God’s command not to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, Satan continues to perpetuate his true and tested tactics of chicanery and dissimulation even today.

With great cunning and dexterity, Satan creates myriads of false belief systems with the sole purpose of muddling the water of faith and belief. As a means of blurring the lines between truth and lies, the Devil has established an elaborate system of counterfeit religions all adorned with Christian slogans and symbols. 

But they are nothing but fortresses of speculations and strongholds of lofty ideas raised up against the knowledge of God.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).

Satan’s strongholds of human reasoning are alluringly formidable, and his labyrinth of false arguments are uncannily imposing. Imprisoned in these impregnable belief systems are many perishing souls. Multitudes upon multitudes are condemned to the heavily fortified fortresses of human reasoning and false arguments. For many, these fortifications in which they are locked up will ultimately end up as their tombs. 

Unfortunately, there are also many Christians who have found themselves ensnared in Satan’s maximum-security prison of false beliefs. Having bought into the lies of false apostles and false teachers, the vast majority of Church people are trapped behind heavily fortified fortresses of false doctrines and erroneous theology.

To free these doomed captives, God’s call to every true Christian is to rise up and lay siege to Satan’s fortresses of false belief systems wherever they may be found. It’s the assignment of every true believer to besiege the ideological fortresses of the father of lies. All who serve the Lord in Spirit and in Truth have been commissioned to storm the gates of false beliefs and set free all the prisoners.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; 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.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

Blessed be God who has not left us alone all by ourselves to fight this war. He has graciously equipped us with divinely powerful weapons of warfare for the destruction of Satan’s fortresses. We do not fight this fight with fleshly weapons. The battle of the mind is not won by using fleshly ideas or human reasoning.

Satan’s false belief systems of speculations and lofty ideas raised up against the knowledge of God can only be fought with the Truth of God. The only thing powerful enough to demolish the Satan’s stronghold the Word of God. It’s in the preaching of the true Gospel that Satan’s fortress of lies is brought down.

The effectiveness of Satan’s cunning deception is evident in the proliferation of charlatans of different shapes and sizes and the mushrooming of houses of worship which are at best houses of horror where Satan dwells. 

Assortments of articulate men and eloquent women, speaking perverse things in the Name of God, have risen in the Church drawing away disciples after themselves. Lacking proper discernment, many Church people have made a shipwreck of their faith by following after these doubly dead, clouds without water.

It's for this reason that all believers have been called by God to be vigilant and discerning at all times. This is why the Bible commands all Christians to test every spirit. Next time we’ll examine how we go about the important task of doing just that.