The devil made me do it!

This is a famous saying by comedian Flip Wilson, as a joking way of excusing his behaviour. I remember a friend of mine's son using the same excuse. “Well then” his mum said, “we'll just have to spank the Devil out of you won't we!” I am aware I may well have opened a can or worms in terms of spanking kids, but if I may, I want to avoid that issue (at least here), and go to the point I am wanting to make. I recently watched a debate on youtube over “Does Satan exist”, and one of the protagonists was pew-pooing the idea of Satan claiming “We do not need a boogyman to blame it on, we just need to take responsibility for our actions”.  There is of course a danger of using the Devil as an excuse, and certainly that was Eve's first recourse (Genesis 3:13) but the point of the story is that her excuse was rapidly taken for what it was, an excuse, and she and her husband had to suffer the consequences of their choices. So then the Scriptures teach the exact opposite of what this protagonist was saying. In particular, it teaches both that Satan exists and that we do have to take responsibility for our actions.

To imply that those who believe in Satan don't need to take responsibility for their actions, is to probably to confuse the temptation to do something,  with yielding to that temptation.   For the Christian, knowing that some of the temptation comes from outside of himself, can be helpful in dealing with the temptation. This is because  he has been given weapons to help him wage this warfare (II Corinthians 10:3-5).  Actually temptation comes from three sources, the World, the flesh (inner lusts) and the Devil. We are responsible for resisting temptation in all three areas, after all we reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7) no matter where the temptation comes from.  

But there is one area, again for the Christian, where that debate missed completely where it is helpful to know that Satan and his minions are real. I am thinking about the times when somebody does something to us and it really really hurts.  I am of course thinking about the need to forgive.  At such times it is helpful to read that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against spiritual wickedness in high places”.  In other words, the perpetrator is not the real enemy, the real enemy are the wicked spirits that are influencing him.  When I see this, it becomes part of what I need to separate the sin from the sinner, to start to love the sinner but hate the sin.  How else can we even start to obey Jesus' command to love our enemies?    Knowing that the god of this world has blinded the eyes of those who do not believe, can help me to see them for what they are,  deceived and influenced by their own enemy who, at least in the West, has convinced them that he does not exist.

The title of last day's blog was “You believe in Satan, give me a break”. I can tell you this much, he will not give you a break, and if you deny he exists (as in the West he seems to want you to), then he is likely influencing you a lot more than you have even begun  to imagine.  Again, he seems to have two strategies to get you to see him behind every rock and tree, or to believe he does not exist.