Smoodock's Blog

According to the scriptures, mankind has three enemies: the world, the flesh and the devil. In all actuality, however, there is no Biblical text that says this. What may come closest is James 3:15, which reads: “This wisdom descends not from above, but is earthly (the world), sensual (the flesh) and devilish” (the devil). Another might be: “Herein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (the devil), the spirit (the flesh) that now works in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2; all parenthesis in the citations are mine). How should we understand this?

Our first enemy, the world, is a system or manner of life that leads men away from God. It is what was created when mankind rebelled from God in Eden (Genesis 3). God’s plan was to guide mankind to image God (Genesis 1:27). Mankind refused and decided to remove God from his manner of life (Romans 1:28). What resulted in man’s separation from God is the world. The world represents mankind’s effort to bring good out of evil (cp. Genesis 2:17; 3:6). This event, the rebellion or eating of the forbidden fruit is what is termed elsewhere as “the foundation of the world” (Matthew 13:35; 25:32; Luke 11:50; John 17:24; Ephesians 1:4; Hebrews 4:3; 9:26; 1Peter 1:20; Revelation 13:8; 17:8).

Our second enemy is the flesh, and it craves satisfaction. The flesh is engaged in a never-ending battle against the spirit for control of the body (Galatians 5:16-17). Its fruits are manifestly contrary to that of the spirit (cp. Galatians 5:19-21 with 22-24). One cannot enjoy the peace of the spirit and at the same time be filled with hatred. One cannot manifest the temperance of the spirit and also the excess of drunkenness. How can one love and at the same time separate brethren. The power of the flesh supports the life in the world, and the world creates a market for its goods by communicating to the excesses of the flesh. The world exploits the weaknesses of the flesh, by titillating men’s desire for its goods or way of life.

The devil or satan is mankind’s third great enemy. He is the leader or god of this world’s system (2Corinthians 4:4). Now there’s a traffic-stopping statement, if there ever was one! So, what does the text mean by “god of this world?” In Paul’s letter the context points to the high priest at Jerusalem, because he was the influence behind the opposition to Paul’s Gospel in the Diaspora. However, the enemy or devil could be a political leader who leads his nation into error, like Hitler did to Germany, which pushed the world toward World War II. Nevertheless, the world could also be a smaller place, like one’s own circle of life. What or who is the prince or power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) of our passions like our prejudices, social peer pressure and personal value system? More often than not, some person guides us for good or for evil purposes. Men tend to surrender the direction their value systems take them to others, whom they trust know better or who are better able to express what’s in their hearts.

In our present context of our guide being our enemy, the devil, he is the one who exploits the fruits of the flesh (John 8:42-44). His disciples are people who don’t understand the word of God. However, he is able to influence folks who do understand, but have given up their understanding to an erring man they trust. The devil’s disciples are or become deaf to God’s word (John 8:42; cp. 1Corinthians 2:9-16). The scripture (John 8:44) claims that satan or the devil has children. It is his desire that those children spend their life’s energy bringing into being a system of influence that draws mankind away from God (John 8:43-44; James 3:15; 1John 2:16, 5:18b). The truth is not in him. Therefore, his children, as well as believers, whom he has overcome, will manifest the lie and not the truth. He is a murderer and therefore his offspring will produce strife, envy, hatred etc. (sounds like Galatians 5:19-21). He is a liar (Matthew 15:18-19; Mark 7:20-23; cp. Galatians 5:19-21) and that which is not true is produced in those who follow him. What scripture calls the fruits or works of the flesh is manifest in this devil or satan.

It is the position of this study series that our traditional view of Satan, the Devil is wrong. He is not a spirit. He is human, just a man, but powerful enough to lead folks away from God.[1]

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[1] This study is a major redo of my original study: Satan and Adam, which no longer exists under that title. I kept some arguments and revised others, making the study shorter and, hopefully, more to the point.