What is the Nature and Strategy of Satan?

  
His Name Gives Him Away
We’ve already spent some time studying the reality of the existence of the personal being that we, as Christians, call “Satan”. You can examine the philosophical and Biblical evidence for his existence HERE. But once we are confident that he exists, we may want to be wise enough to try to understand how he operates, since evil often targets humans. And in order to understand how Satan operates as he tries to impact our lives, we are going to have to understand his nature, for it is out of his nature that he acts to corrupt and ruin the lives of God’s Children.

So, what is the nature of Satan? How are we going to discover his nature so that we can be prepared to defend ourselves from him? Our limited human reasoning is not sufficient for us to discover the specific truth about the Devil. To understand who and what he is, we are going to have to rely on wisdom that is far greater than ours. We are going to have to rely on the Word of God. And a good place to start, as we examine what the Bible says about Satan, is simply with his name. two words are commonly and prevalently used to describe this being. The first name given to this being is “Satan”:

 
“Satan” = “Satanas” (GREEK) = “Adversary”

 
That’s an interesting name to give this fallen angel. He is God’s adversary, his opponent. This simple title already tells us much about the nature of Satan. As an adversary to God, Satan must exist in opposition to the very nature of God. He opposes God; he is God’s opposite. And we already know who and what God is. God is TRUTH:

 
1 John 1:5-7
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

 
If God is LIGHT and TRUTH, then Satan must simply be DARKNESS and DECEPTION. And guess what? The ‘other’ name given to Satan makes this very clear:

 
“Devil” = “Diabolos” (GREEK) = “Slanderer” or “False Accuser”

 
Satan’s names say it all. From these two words, we already understand the nature of the Devil. He is God’s adversary because he is the opposite of God. Satan is all about darkness, deception and slander:

 
John 8:43-45
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

 
The Relationship Between Deceit, Sin and Death
According to this passage, the very nature of Satan is that of DECEIT. But look again at John 8:43-45. Did you notice that Satan is not only described as a liar, but also as a murderer? According to this passage, Satan is a murderer because he is a liar. He murders by lying. In essence, this means that it is our acceptance of Satan’s lies that causes us to die:

 
Accepting a Lie = Death

 
These two things are related. Interestingly, we also know from scripture that something else leads to death. Read this passage in the Book of Romans:

 
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death

 
According to Paul (the author of Romans) it is sin that leads to death:

 
Sin = Death

 
OK, let’s do a little thinking. Let’s see what both passages teach when considered together:

 
Accepting a Lie = Death
Sin = Death
Therefore, Accepting a Lie = Sin

 
By way of this simple examination, we can see that sin can be very simply defined as accepting a lie. Now we are not simply saying that it is a sin to accept a lie, we are saying that ALL sin is the result of accepting a lie. Think about that for a minute.

 
1 John 1:8-9
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

 
All sin is simply the result of our willingness to accept a lie rather than the truth that God has given us in His Word. This is important reality for us to understand, because it illuminates the strategy that Satan employs when trying to cause us to sin and relinquish the gift of eternal life. After all, this is Satan’s nature and goal; he is a liar and he attempts to get us to accept lies and commit sin. Let’s illustrate the relationship between accepting a lie and committing a sin with a few examples:

 
What is Adultery?
It begins by believing the lie that sleeping with someone other than your wife is alright if it satisfies a need in your life or can be done without your spouse knowing. This sin is committed when we reject the truth that God has already given us about the nature of adultery

What is Stealing?
It begins by believing the lie that it is alright to take something that is not yours if your situation is bad enough or if the person who owns the property does not ‘deserve’ or ‘need’ it. . This sin is committed when we reject the truth that God has already given us about the nature of theft

What is Murder?
It begins by believing the lie that it is alright to take the life of another if they have angered you enough or if you personally think they deserve it. . This sin is committed when we reject the truth that God has already given us about the nature of murder

 
Satan Hopes to Convince Us
Satan’s power is the power of deception. This is his tool. We talked earlier HERE about how all evil is accomplished as the result of the perverted attempt to satisfy three desires: the attempt to satisfy physical needs, the attempt to satisfy personal gain, or the attempt to attain power and glory. God has already given us truth in these three areas, but it is Satan’s goal to convince us that God’s Word is not as important as our fallen human nature and desire. Want to see how Satan tries to accomplish this. Let’s look at two examples in the Scripture.

 
The Bible gives us two examples of how Satan tempts us to accept his lies and commit sins against God. Let’s read and compare Satan’s temptation of Eve and Satan’s temptation of Jesus. 

Did you notice what Satan just did here in these two passages? He tempts both Eve and Jesus by appealing to that first area of temptation that we have already talked about:

 
Satan Lies to Tempt Us to Sin in the Area of
Satisfaction of PHYSICAL NEEDS

 
Satan appeals to a basic human desire. He still does this with us today. Maybe it will be a desire for food or for sex or something else that is basic to the physical needs of humans. Satan wants us to satisfy these basic human needs by SHORT CUTTING the TRUTH of God’s Word. He wants us to ignore the commands of God and ignore the limits and blessings that God offers us in these areas. Now let’s read on:  

Once again Satan is acting within his nature and appealing to the second area of temptation that we previously discussed: 

Satan Lies to Tempt Us to Sin in the Area of
Satisfaction of PERSONAL GAIN

 
There is certainly nothing wrong with wanting more than we have. It’s not morally wrong to want to be more comfortable or to have a better life than the one that we already have. But Satan tempts us to take short cuts. He tempts us to sin and violate even the simplest of commandments of God. He operates in the same way today. Is there some short cut I can take to have more money or more leisure or more property? Is there some way that I can have a better life, even if it might have to come at the expense of someone else? This is the way that Satan operates in our hearts and minds. Let’s finish the passage:
 

Satan appeals here to the final area of temptation that we discussed at the very beginning of this comparison:

 
Satan Lies to Tempt Us to Sin in the Area of
Satisfaction of POWER AND GLORY

 
The Devil understands that all of us have been wired with a desire to know our purpose and understand our personal value as a part of the creation. All of us want to ‘matter’. We all want to be important in some way and to be important to somebody. Satan perverts this by tempting us to satisfy this desire through our relationship to PEOPLE rather than through our relationship to God. He still does this today. How many times have you found yourself more concerned with what people think of you than with what GOD thinks of you?

Satan is truly a deceiver. And he knows that his deceptions have the final effect of separating us from the will of God. The lies of Satan truly do lead to death.

Our Best Defense
So, how are we to defend ourselves from the strategy of Satan? What, if anything can we do? Well, I hope you noticed a big difference between the way that Eve responded to Satan and the way that Jesus responded to Satan. Eve failed to resist the Devil’s temptation, while Jesus succeeded! Jesus succeeded because he understood that the best defense one can have for ANY lie is to simply know the TRUTH. The best defense is simply to have an ANSWER at hand to respond to each lie of Satan. And where are we going to find the truth? You guessed it, right in the Word of God. That’s why Jesus repeatedly returns to the Scripture as he responds to each lie of Satan:

 
…Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"…

…Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"…

…Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"…

 
Jesus has modeled for us the perfect defense for the strategy of Satan. We are simply to return to the TRUTH. We are simply to return to the Scripture:

 
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Ephesians 6:14-18
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 
When we do this, the result is crystal clear. The truth of God’s Word acts as a SWORD. It defends us. It protects us. It sends Satan running, just as it did over two thousand years ago when Satan tempted Jesus:

 
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.