Believing Christians are not impressed by Satan's spurious threats. When they hear him bluff and intimidate, they systematically cast down
"" imaginations, and every thought that exalts itself
1~ against the knowledge of God. 2co.1o:5 They renounce and reject whatever challenges biblical intelligence about Satan's defeat and about their own
righteous standing in God's sight.
When Satan's emissaries suggest thoughts or when situations are confronted that are contrary to Gospel fact and redemptive truth, Christian believers realign their thoughts, vocabulary and actions with God's Word. That is what fighting the good fight of faith is all about.
Remember: Our faith is against "wiles" - fraudulence and cunning craftiness -not reality. We are believing God's Word in the face of forgery and deception by the enemy who is a liar
and a deceiver.
If a Christian can be intimidated, frightened or manipulated by the devil's masquerading maneuvers and deception, he or she is believing Satari s lies instead of what God says. That is what Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden and, as a result, forfeited the blessed lifestyle that God
planned for them. 322
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WHAT THE FIGHT OF FAITH IS AGAINST Tricks And Traps Of The Traitor
When Paul referred to Satan's strategy, He
'* talked of the subtlety of the serpent (Satan), 2c°.11:3 of his craftiness,"3:19 of how people can be be
guiled, Co1.2:1s of how Satan deceives the hearts of simple people.Ro"'.16:1s He warned the Ephesians of Sa tan's cunning craftiness by which he deceives. Epn.4:14
The fight of faith is to stand against the devil's wiles -not facts, but fraud. Today's English Version of the Bible says, Stand up against the devil's evil tricks. The Living Bible calls it, strategies and tricks of Satan. The New International Version translates it, the devil's schemes. Phillips Modern English translation uses the term, the devil's craftiness. The New English Bible is translated, the devices of the devil.
Believers in conflict with Satan are not confronting fact, but fraud. Satan's pretense is a charade. Paul reminded believers that we are not ignorant of Satan's devices, and therefore, he shall not get the advantage of US.2co.2:11
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WHAT IS THE REAL meaning of these wiles and devices of Satan? 000 r 323 C.14T APTE R SEVENTY-ONE "i4AT THE -ICHr OF f--AITH is INI I
PART 2 (ISSUE No. 11) Wiles And Devices Defined
Protestants, Catholics and Hebrew
~, Rabbis alike, is Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. It defines the words, wiles and de
vices thus:
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WHAT THE FIGHT OF FAITH IS AGAINST
Sensual and mental impressions. Philosophical perceptions. Purely mental activity having to do with emotional life and disposition. Sensual awareness, all in the mental sphere, as mental visions, sensations, modes of
thought, mysticism. Echoes of religious mystery. Philosophical reflections. Corrupt or irrational human thoughts of persons lacking in understanding. Adverse religious judgments by those deficient in an understanding of salvation. Foolishness or folly in the sense of insipientia and also of dementia. [And much more.]
Satan's fraudulent duplicity and craftiness against Christians is a grand charade, a phony
display of non-fact. Satan's trickery works only on those who attribute reality and substance to his wiles.
Satan's Only Power Over Believers Is What They Concede To Him
Satan's power is only authentic in the nonconverted world, not in the lives of God's children. Believers have been rescued and delivered
out of the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son.Co1.1:13 How could Satan's
wiles (un-truths) affect those who are redeemedunless they chose to believe his quackery?
A great degree of incapacitating superstition has historically manifested itself, in various forms, among church people.
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( SECTION VII - VICTORY RETRIEVED
Jesus said, The devil has been a murderer from the beginning, and abides not in the truth, because there is I no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his
own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.Joh.8:44 That is
very strong language! I cannot imagine how our Lord could have made it more clear that Satan is a farce who has no authority in our lives.
Satan The Deluder
A Liar From The Beginning
To fight the fight of faith and stand against the wiles of the devil means to believe what God says instead of what Satan lies about. There is no truth
in him, Joh.8:44 Jesus said. Nothing that he says is authentic. His threats are empty-that is, for believers. lievers.
The only knowledge about Satan that the Christian should embrace is that he is an eternally defeated foe, stripped of all legal authority and power by Jesus Christ.
Satan's Rule Is Only Authentic In The Non-Converted World
sin of Adam and Eve gave him lordship and supremacy over every person who does not embrace the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
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WHAT THE FIGHT OF FAITH IS AGAINST
Among Christian believers, Satan cannot succeed because they know truth.Joh 8:32 They do not
believe lies. Jesus is The Way for them.Joh.14:6 They are the sheep of His flock.Joh.10:14 A stranger they will not follow Joh.10:5 nor will they be moved or deceived or tricked by Satan's manipulation.
ooa 327 CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO )'1HAT THE f?HT OF fAiTH s PART 3 (ISSUE 40-Faith Against Fraud
THIS CHAPTER CONCERNS the Christian posture of standing against the wiles of the devil. We fight the fight of faith believing what God says instead of what Satan lies about.
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WHAT THE FIGHT OF FAITH IS AGAINST
We do as Solomon admonished: We attend to [fix our mind on] God's words; we incline our ears to His sayings. We do not let them depart from our eyes; we keep them in the midst of our heart. For we know that they are life to us who find them, and health to
all our flesh.I 04:2x22 A Charade-An Illusion
John called our enemy that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world. Rev.12:9 Note that he can only deceive. His works are a charade, an illusion.
No wonder John wrote with such joy when he said, I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brothers and sisters is cast down, which accused
them before our God day and night.Rev.12:10 Satan
constantly lies to us, and about us. He is a fraud, an accuser, a maligner. Response To Deception
John said that he heard a loud voice in heaven saying... they overcame the enemy by the blood of the Lamb, and by the Word of their testimony.Re°.12:10-11
Christians resolve to see, to think, to believe and to speak only what their Lord has said in His Word. They are not influenced or intimidated by the liar's charade of crafty deception.
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SECTION VII - VICTORY RETRIEVED