For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
2 Corinthians 11:1-15
Let us look at what Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has to say about angels by considering the work of that fallen angel and chief enemy of God’s people, Satan. Our foe is also known, in Revelation 12:9, as “the deceiver of the whole world.” It is not surprising that, at times, Satan “disguises himself as an angel of light” and that his demons, as Paul writes in our verses today, “disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.” In James 4:7, James tells us, “resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” It would be much easier to identify and resist him if he were always to act in a plainly wicked manner. That may be one reason why he frequently hides himself under what may seem good and reasonable and under half-truths and almost-full-on lies. Consequently, we must grow daily in the wisdom of God’s Word so that we can recognize Satan when he acts most craftily. Revelation 12:10 also calls Satan “the accuser of our brothers.” So, we see that Satan and his demons tend to attack believers in Christ through accusation. We see him doing this with righteous Job when Satan claimed that Job did what is right only to get something from God. Satan made that accusation to God, and his work, in accusing us, is similar. He is fond of bringing up our sin and reminding us that our motives in serving the Lord are mixed. When Satan does this, he is hiding under the guise of an angel of light. After all, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, and part of that work involves calling our transgressions to our attention and forcing us to think through the reasons for our actions. How, then, can we ever hope to tell the difference between the accusations of the devil and the convictions of the Holy Spirit? When we pay attention to the effects of their work, we understand the Holy Spirit comes as our “Helper” or our “Comforter,” according to John 14:16–17. The Holy Spirit’s work of conviction can be painful, but its goal involves our healing and restoration to fellowship with our Lord, as we learn in Psalm 147:1-3. When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, we are driven not to despair but into the arms of our merciful Savior. Satan, on the other hand, according to John 10:10, “comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” His accusations against us and our sin make us think that God could never love us or forgive us. But Jesus says, in John 6:37, that all, who come to Him in faith, He will never cast out. When we are not being driven to Christ, we must remind the devil that, in Romans 8:1, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. In Micah 7:18, we read that our Creator delights to forgive sinners, so, we can be sure that when we repent and turn to Christ alone, He pardons our wickedness. We must never forget the holiness of God, which reveals our need of forgiveness, but we must also never forget the mercy of God that tells us we are forgiven in Christ. Let us take some time today to meditate on God’s grace and holiness.
Source: S C Ball January 3, 2024
Leave a Reply