Who are the Lost? Who are the lost? They are those who are in the original state we all come into the world, dead in sin, unable to be in fellowship with God. The only way out of that state is to be born again spiritually by placing one’s faith in Christ. In the beginning there was no such thing as being lost. Adam and Eve were created as children of God, in full fellowship with Him. They broke that fellowship for both themselves and us when they sinned. Now, natural man doesn’t come into the world as a child…
Satan’s Human Helpers The Christian can’t understand the nature of evil or the proper response to it without knowing and accepting the Bible’s teaching regarding Satan and his demons. Paradoxically, though all this is critical information in order to avoid confusion and error about Satan and his activity, it all occurs in the unseen world. We’ll never knowingly converse with a demon or recongnize demon possesion with certainty. Though we will come under Satanic attack, we won’t likely know with certainty, as the Apostle Paul knew in at least some cases, when that occurs. That’s not always the case when…
Satan’s motive is to be like God. Satan’s the most evil being who has ever existed. The most obvious evidence of that is the physical and spiritual human toll his evil has taken. He caused physical and spiritual ills to come into the world when he deceived Adam and Eve and continues to foster physical and spirutual suffering today. Does that mean he’s primarily motivated by a hatred of humanity? No. The fruit of Satan’s pride, his desire to be like God, is the primary motivation behind all he does. Human pain and suffering is a side-effect of his efforts…
Satan is probably the “star of the morning” who desired to be like God. The Bible doesn’t give plain specific details regarding such things as Satan’s pre-fall history, or when and how Satan and his angel followers sinned and fell from grace. It’s an instance of the fact that the Bible provides all the information we need to know to be rightly related to God but doesn’t answer every possible question we may ask. Two passages probably, but not definitely, give insight into Satan’s early history. The first is Isaiah 14:12-17. It speaks of the “star of the morning,” who…
Satan is Real In the introduction to his book, “Satan: His Motives and Methods,” Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote: “The name Satan has by no means been lost. It has, however, been associated with a most unscriptural fantasy. Without reference to revelation, the world has imagined a grotesque being, fitted with strange trappings, who has been made the central character in works of fiction and theatrical performances, and by this relation to that which is unreal, the character of Satan has come to be considered only one of the myths of a bygone age.” Chafer’s comment isn’t particularly striking today because…