The missing translation in Satan’s deception to Eve – Part B ….More on how demonic suggestions work

In Part 1 of “Sin vs Sinfulness”, we ended with the question of “Why would a person who has been freed (delivered) from his (her) old sinful nature (the old man) ever sin again?” This question was based upon the last two verses in Romans 6 that we studied.

Romans 6:6-7: Knowing this, that our old man (inner sinful self or personhood) was crucified with Christ, that our body of sin (the sinful nature we were born with) might be destroyed (“destroyed” In the Greek: katargēthē - literally brought to an end, abolished, and done away with), that we should no longer serve sin. For he that died is freed (made pure) from sin (the sinful nature).

Romans 6:17-18: But thanks be to God, that you used to be slaves to (of) sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you. Since you were made free (pure) from sin, you became the slaves (servants) of (to) righteousness.

The verses above, along with all of Romans 6, show what happens at the very moment a sinful person (born with & possessing their sinful nature or the old man or the body of sin) cries out to Jesus Christ to save them, redeem them from their sinfulness, and take over their life as their personal Lord & Savior.

At that very point, the Holy Spirit takes that sinner back in time (in a retroactive experience), places them on the cross with Christ and crucifies them and their sinful nature with Christ. Then the Holy Spirit buries them with Christ and then raises them back to life, as a part of the body of Christ…without the sinful nature.

The body of sin within them, called the old man or sinful nature, was crucified and destroyed and buried forever. Now that person who used to be sinful has been freed and made pure from their sinfulness…the sinful nature they were born with and lived with right up until this spiritual transaction (we call conversion or the experience of salvation).

And as the last part of Romans 6:18 states, now that saved sinner has become a child of God with the eternal spiritual nature of Jesus Christ living in him or her (no matter what their biological age is at the time). Now this person is a true child of God, who has become a servant (slave) of or to righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:17 sums this up so clearly as it says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he (she) is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”.

This is literally a “spiritual Metamorphosis”. What used to be a caterpillar becomes a brand new butterfly through the biological process of physical metamorphosis and what used to be a sinner (sinful person) becomes a brand new born-again Christian (Christ-like one) or that new creation in 2 Cor 5:17 above through a “spiritual Metamorphosis”. John 1:12-13 put it this way…“Children of God who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God”.

Now this new child of God must begin to grow up spiritually and mature into Christian adulthood, just like a new born baby begins to grow up physically, with the right nurturing and care, into full human adulthood. Just as a baby, a toddler, a teenager, etc… will face challenges, so a growing Christian will face spiritual challenges as they grow into Christ-likeness. Remember the salvation experience in these 3 categories:

1st: Salvation takes place in your spirit once and for all at the time of conversion.

2nd: Sanctification (spiritual growth & transformation & Christ-likeness) takes place in your soul (in your mind, will, emotions, values, opinions, etc… over time).

3rd: Redemption takes place in your physical body when your current feeble fleshly body is transformed into the kind of resurrection body the Lord Jesus has.

Three of the main challenges to a growing Christian (that no longer has a sinful nature) will be:

1. All of the patterns and habits of the old man, that they developed up until the day of their salvation, that grew from the sinful nature. Their thought life, their emotional perspectives, their physical habits, etc…(everything in their souls) must be re-programmed or transformed according to the mind of Christ and the Word of God. This happens little by little, day by day, week by week, and month by month….Romans 12:2:Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (of your soul).
2. The deceptions of Satan: Satan cannot make a Christian sin. He can tempt you and deceive you into sinning like he did with Eve (Just being tempted is not a sin), but he cannot make you sin. Eve did not have a sinful nature at the time she was tempted and she took that bite of the forbidden fruit and Adam did not have a sinful nature when he chose to join her. Adam and Eve were created totally innocent of guilt and sin, but their innocence had to be tested. If they would have been obedient in that first temptation, their innocence would have been translated into permanent personal holiness. They would have never been tested again and all of us, as their offspring, would have been born into the world without a sinful nature and in no need of salvation. BUT - Satan deceived Eve and Adam chose to go along with her! This is why Paul warned us in 2 Corinthians 11:3 by saying…But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
3. Satan can imitate and counterfeit the old man (the sinful nature) in our minds (our souls). It is easy and natural for Satan, being the original source of sin in the universe, the tempter, and the deceiver to project thoughts into our minds that resemble how we used to think and act when we had the sinful nature. BUT - these can be thoughts we are not really thinking ourselves, but it sure resembles how we used to think. So, many times we just accept these thoughts as our own and the thoughts and ideas stay in our mind. BUT - they are demonic projections or suggestions to see if we will accept them as our own thoughts and act on them.
   1 Chronicles 21:1 explains how Satan wanted to hurt Israel, so he prompted King David to count up the number of soldiers he had nationwide. 1 Chronicles 21:1: Now Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel. How did Satan move David to do this? He simply projected the thought or idea into his mind in a very strong way (like a high-pressure prompting), that he needed to know how strong his army was. It was not God’s will to do this and General Joab did his best to stop David, but to no avail. God did not want David to glory in how many troops he had, but to always rely on the Lord’s help and power. God judged David for this and killed 70,000 of those men. That was such a costly mistake.
   In Acts 5:1-11, Satan projected into the minds of Ananias and his wife Sapphira how they could sell a piece of property they owned, secretly keep part of the money for themselves and give the rest to the church, but be claiming to have given up everything they had - for the work of the kingdom - like Barnabas (who really had given up everything for the needy). The Apostle Peter asked them why they allowed Satan to so fill their hearts (minds) with this lie to carry out in secret. He then told them they had lied to the Holy Spirit (not just the church) and they both died. How long would it take for a revival to break out in our churches today, if the Holy Spirit began to strike down insincere church members operating with hidden motives? 

One time I was driving my car down a major two lane highway. There was another car coming towards me in the opposite lane. We were both driving the full speed limit at that time (60 or 70 mph). As the other vehicle got closer, the thought popped into my mind out of nowhere to pull over across the highway in front of the oncoming car. It startled me so much, I grabbed my steering wheel and held on tightly until the other car got passed me. I knew shortly after that, this idea was not something I came up with on my own (not a original thought). Demonic forces would have probably laughed and enjoyed this if I had acted on the idea and maybe killed the other driver and myself.

There are so many really important concepts that could be shared illustrating the three points above, how a born-again Christian (without a sinful nature) can be tempted to sin and led astray or do something foolish or stupid. BUT no more time or space for this now. Thanks for staying with me for this long.

Yours in Christ,
Gene