Satan quotes some scripture , too .
The perilous times we live in include the peril of satanic attack via the misuse of the Word of God . The selective , short – sampling of scripture can defeat proper circumspection and proper balance of the whole counsel of God . Satan uses this type of attack to contribute vastly to the Great Falling Away . Earlier this week , I was at church , and Pastor was preaching straightness from Matthew 4 . And Holy Spirit was surfing on the message right then, more than Pastor knew at the time …
Satan Tried the Same Thing on Jesus
We see it here in Matthew chapter 4 where Satan quotes scripture :
Matthew 4:1-11New King James Version (NKJV)
Satan Tempts Jesus
4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”[a]
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’
and,
‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”[b]
7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”[c]
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you,[d] Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”[e]
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
Satan can Quote Scripture Perfectly .
We see that satan quoted perfectly portions of Ps 91 : 11 – 12 :
Psalm 91:11-12New King James Version (NKJV)
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
—————————————————————————————————-
And that Jesus parried with Deut 6 : 16 :
Deuteronomy 6:16New King James Version (NKJV)
16 “You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah.
Jesus Shows We Must be Circumspect and Balance the Whole Counsel of God !
The nerve of satan ! Trying to overcome The Word incarnate with the Word ! But this example exists precisely to show us what to do when some enemy spirit tries to mislead by getting Christians to mis – apply an under – sized sample of scripture ! I call it the selective , short – sampling of scripture ; and it can lead to a very dangerous place, based on erroneous conclusions resulting ! For it is risky to base too big a conclusion on too small a sample of data ! The scientists call that extrapolation , and too much a degree of extrapolation is likely to result in serious error ! Better to have several , sure boundaries from which to draw a conclusion . That is much more likely to be correct ! Extrapolation like this is carelessness or ignorance by the well – meaning Saint .
Satan ” extrapolated ” beyond the boundaries of what is acceptable according to the Word , intentionally peddling error . Jesus sampled a more adequate amount of scripture and stayed within the boundaries of the Word . Jesus wins . Satan retreats . Submit yourselves to God , resist the devil, and he will flee from you … ( James 4 : 7 )
I like that word , ” Circumspect . ” As Christians , we need to be circumferential spectators of the balanced , whole counsel of God in an attentive and studious way . The Bible is never contrary to itself, for Jesus says that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand … ( Mark 3 : 24 ) .
The Application to Issues of Eternal Security
Lack of circumspection and poor balance of the partial counsel of God give satan a deceptive “handle ” to leverage Saints at risk to misuse their free will and lose salvation forever . I was almost one of them ! I will never forget the horror . How can we see the peril ?
We can properly identify when the Bible is talking about Christians or about people groups that MUST include Christians .
For instance :
Hebrews 10: 26 says ” For if WE sin willfully … ” A Calvinist type on Twitter has pointed out to me that the book of Hebrews was written … to the Hebrews ! It sure was ! And the Christian author was writing to a Hebrew population that by then contained both Christians and also adherents of Judaism ! Also, in verse 29 , those affected had been sanctified by The Blood and turned back to Judaism . The point being , if it was possible to forsake Christ then , it is still possible today , whether for another religion or just for sheer love of carnality .
James 5 : 19 – 20 says ” Brethren , if ANYONE among you wanders from the truth … ” The last time I checked , the brothers of the Christian author of the book of James were most closely other Christians , though it is addressed to the twelve tribes . At any rate , the word ” Anyone ” means just that ! At the very least , it would have to include Christian Hebrews . And the death of the soul mentioned can only be in hell, as shown in Matthew 10 : 28 . Believers can destroy their own salvation !
2 Peter 2 : 18 – 21 mentions those who have ” escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ … ” Do tell me, dear brother or sister , how this could be anyone but the Christian ? You get clean only in Christ . These are entangled again in the pollutions of the world AND overcome , and the latter end is worse for them than the beginning . Yes, because in the beginning before becoming Christian, they were lost . But the lost are generally still redeemable ! Worse than the beginning means worse than lost ; that is to say lost again and thus irredeemable !
For those who like to confuse Christians and non – Christians in scripture , remember the following :
2 Corinthians 6:14-16New King James Version (NKJV)
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you[a]are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”[b]
1 John 5:4-5New King James Version (NKJV)
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Colossians 1:21-23New King James Version (NKJV)
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
1 Thessalonians 3:4-5New King James Version (NKJV)
4 For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know. 5 For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain.
Matthew 13:5-6New King James Version (NKJV)
5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.
And :
Matthew 13:20-21New King James Version (NKJV)
20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
1 Timothy 1:18-20New King James Version (NKJV)
Fight the Good Fight
18 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,19 having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, 20 of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Folks , I hope this is evident . How do you suffer shipwreck if you were never on the ship ? Maybe if the ship ran aground on top of you ? Or if the ship fell upon you while suspended in dry dock ? Some of the explanations of the OSAS crowd are just as silly . Others simply short on scripture !
Some rules of Biblical Interpretation I’m sure could help !
Please see other posts on this blog regarding the possibility of losing salvation . And please spread the word ! Somewhere down the line , real brothers and sisters will be warned , alerted , educated , edified and fortified and pulled back from fire !
