Deception – The number one tool of the devil
“Then the LORD God asked the woman, ‘What have you done?’ The serpent deceived me,’ she replied. That’s why I ate it" (NLT) Genesis 3:13
The major tool of the devil is deception. This tool is so potent and efficacious such that the devil, a former archangel of Jehovah God, turned a great multitude of the angelic population against God Almighty in heaven.
“Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. This great dragon – the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world – was thrown down to the earth with all his angels” (NLT) Revelation 12:7-9.
The devil and his defeated cohorts were thrown down to earth (Revelation 12:12) and since time immemorial, they have built a very successful company whose mandate is to ‘steal, kill and destroy’ (John 10:10a).
This same tool of deception was employed by the devil to cause the Paradise Loss of man until we regained Paradise through Christ our Saviour.
“Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life” (NLT) 1 Corinthians 15:22.
A major concern of Paul for the Corinthian church was the great likelihood of corruption of their pure and undivided devotion to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3). It will be very naive and utterly presumptuous on our part as newborn babes or matured Christians to ever think that we can stop praying, adopt a casual attitude towards bible study, forsake the assembly of the saints, allow ungodly people into our inner circle, etc. and yet remain committed to the Lord. Don't be deceived!
The devil is very smart! He can delude you into thinking that you are strong and standing (1 Corinthians 10:12). He can delude you into thinking that stolen water is sweet (Proverbs 7:17). He has led countless souls into destruction and eternal death because he has paved the road to hell with good intentions. He will never give up and he will always be on your trail, therefore we should stay vigilant and not be ignorant of his ways (2 Corinthians 2:11).