Let's first establish what the Bible says about this:
"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Rom 10:17
It seems pretty clear to me that our faith in God comes from hearing (reading) His words - the Bible! And because this is God's instruction to men, Satan knows that if he can make men neglect God's words, they will be weak spiritually.
Let's revisit the scene of the first temptation which happened in the garden of Eden. Let's scrutinize how Adam and Eve fell so that we may learn to avoid that trap. As you read, keep Rom 10:17 in mind, and you will clearly see that the spiritual battle took place on the word of God.
And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Gen 2:16-17
He (Satan) said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' ""You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
Gen 3:1b-4.
I have highlighted several pertinent phrases so that we can break down the situation into a few manageable parts:-
1. God gave a command to man (His word).
2. The command and the consequence were clear - "You are free to eat.... you will surely die".
3. Satan came along and twisted God's words - "Did God really say,'You must not eat...'".
4. Adam and Eve were not exactly sure of what God had instructed and so added, "and you must not touch it".
5. Satan exploited the gap and distorted God's words further, "You will NOT surely die."
6. Adam and Eve believed the distorted words of the Tempter and fell into sin.
The good news is that Satan has not changed a bit. He still uses the same trick on men.
The bad news is that many of us still fall into his trap because we are NOT sure of what God has told us. For many, this is a result of not spending enough time reading and digesting God's love letter to us.
The best news is that our Lord, when he was tempted as a man, sent Satan packing by quoting exact words from Deuteronomy (Matt 4:1-11). He showed us the way to stay victorious over the fallen archangel. Praise the Lord.
So dear beloved, we have a decision to make, one that will determine if we are able to live life abundantly as promised in John 10:10 or to "make it to heaven by the skin of our teeth" as Rev David Lim (Grace AOG Singapore), puts it.
I pray that you will ask the Holy Spirit to help you make a determined effort to delve daily into His words.
God bless.
Steven
1. God gave a command to man (His word).
2. The command and the consequence were clear - "You are free to eat.... you will surely die".
3. Satan came along and twisted God's words - "Did God really say,'You must not eat...'".
4. Adam and Eve were not exactly sure of what God had instructed and so added, "and you must not touch it".
5. Satan exploited the gap and distorted God's words further, "You will NOT surely die."
6. Adam and Eve believed the distorted words of the Tempter and fell into sin.
The good news is that Satan has not changed a bit. He still uses the same trick on men.
The bad news is that many of us still fall into his trap because we are NOT sure of what God has told us. For many, this is a result of not spending enough time reading and digesting God's love letter to us.
The best news is that our Lord, when he was tempted as a man, sent Satan packing by quoting exact words from Deuteronomy (Matt 4:1-11). He showed us the way to stay victorious over the fallen archangel. Praise the Lord.
So dear beloved, we have a decision to make, one that will determine if we are able to live life abundantly as promised in John 10:10 or to "make it to heaven by the skin of our teeth" as Rev David Lim (Grace AOG Singapore), puts it.
I pray that you will ask the Holy Spirit to help you make a determined effort to delve daily into His words.
God bless.
Steven
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