The Scriptures are clear that Satan uses certain people to harm Christians. For example, 2 Corinthians 11:15 states that Satan has human servants. 2 Timothy 2:26 says people are captured by Satan to do his will. In John 8:44, Jesus said to those who hated him, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.”
While all non-Christians are following Satan to some degree (Ephesians 2:1-3, 1 John 5:19), it’s also true that there are certain people who are sent to us by Satan in a more intentional way. Like an assassin who isn’t just randomly trying to kill just anyone but has a specific target, there are times in life when Satan will send someone directly to you to do you harm.
So how can we recognize these people? It’s not going to be super obvious all the time. The devil and his servants are much more cunning than that. Thankfully, God has given us all the instructions we need through the Scriptures to expose these types of people.
By studying 2 Corinthians 11:3, we can identify 3 ways in which Satan-sent people try to deceive us.
1. Satan’s Servants Will Try to Deceive You Through Words That Will Lead Your Thoughts Astray
2 Corinthians 11:3, “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
When you read Genesis 3, Eve made a lot of mistakes. However, her first mistake was that she even talked to the devil in the first place. She would never have been led astray if she hadn’t chosen to dialogue with the devil.
Likewise, if you refuse to give your time and energy away to evil people who just want to twist your pure devotion to Christ, you won’t be tempted by their words and arguments. There are certainly times to engage in conversations with people who don’t know Christ and are saying unbiblical things. God wants us to help these people escape from the trap of the devil (2 Timothy 2:24-26).
However, that is a lot different than talking to someone who has no interest in learning the truth but is only talking to you so they can convince you of lies. Therefore, as soon as you sense that someone is not interested in being corrected but is sharing lies with you in hopes of deceiving you, your first step is simply not to talk to them anymore (2 Timothy 2:16, 2 Timothy 2:23, Matthew 7:6).
By continuing to talk with a servant of Satan seeking to do you harm, all you are doing is exposing yourself to unnecessary temptation.
2. Satan’s Servants Will Try to Twist the Plain Reading of God’s Word
2 Corinthians 11:3, “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
2 Corinthians 11 is really all about discerning true apostles and prophets from false ones. And yet, the principles Paul uses to help us expose false teachers can also be very helpful in helping us expose anyone sent by Satan to do us harm.
Satan’s servants try to deceive us just as Satan deceived Eve. How did he do that? First, the devil tried to confuse her about what God had actually said. In Genesis 3:1, the devil said to Eve, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” This was a very deceptive question because it is based on a false premise. He was trying to get her to question a command that God had not even given. God didn’t say not to eat from any tree, but rather he said not to eat from one tree. The devil was trying to make God seem more restrictive than he really was.
Therefore, we need to really know what the Scriptures state. Eve misquoted God’s command when she was trying to correct Satan. She added that they were not even to touch the fruit (Genesis 3:3). God never said that. While it would make sense not to touch the fruit to avoid temptation, it’s also wrong to add our own words to God’s word. This shows she was not properly valuing the power of rightly handling the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
3. Satan’s Servants Will Tempt You to Question God’s Motive Behind His Commands
Though Eve’s response was not perfect, she didn’t quite fall to Satan yet. So the devil took it a step further and said in Genesis 3:4-5, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
In other words, since the devil couldn’t deceive her by twisting “what” God said, he now tried to trick her by deceiving her about “why” God said it. He claimed that God only gave that command because he was holding out on Eve.
Likewise, when Satan sends someone to bring you harm, they will do these two things. First, they will try to get you to doubt what God has actually said. And then, if that doesn’t work, they will try to get you to doubt why he said it.
Therefore, we must always remember that God’s laws are not given to restrict us from joy but to protect us from pain. If God tells us not to do something, he is only saying that because he loves us and wants the best for us. Never question the heart of God for you. As Jeremiah 32:39-41 says:
I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.”
The fear of God and obedience to his word are for our good. People sent by Satan will always try to get you to doubt this.
