Can we trade something we already lost?

The modern version of the Devil lurks around shady bars and lonely cross-roads looking to make a one-sided deal with the foolish and forlorn.

The Devil has everyone convinced that all we have to watch out for is someone wearing a red suit with horns on their head and a tail on their backside.

He wants us to think his job is to trick or treat us into giving up our soul. Then when we die he can take us to a prison he runs called Hell.

All of these ideas about the Devil developed hundreds of years after the last pages of the Bible were written. The real Devil, Satan, looks nothing like the popular description. We could be looking right at him and never know it.

The Bible describes Satan as a powerful fallen principality who is seeking to dethrone the Creator. His main strategy is to poison the relationship between God and Adam and his descendants. Satan wants as many as he can deceive to join his rebellion.

In the garden Adam first believed a lie that broke the relationship he had with God. Satan convinced Adam and Eve that God could not be trusted, and they would have to look out for themselves.

After that Adam was easily persuaded to break God's laws. Adam felt he was on his own and had nothing to lose. That is how the devil works. He likes to divide with lies and then conquer. Temptation is often greatest when we feel alone with no better options.

We have been told to watch out for what we have seen in horror movies or as decorations on Halloween. A lot of the scare of Halloween involves the fear of death. Jesus said it was not our mortal death we should fear. He called that the first death.

There is a second death that Jesus said we should fear. This is why Jesus said that in this world there would be tribulation but to be of good cheer for He has overcome the world.

Following Satan to prolong our life in this fallen world system will keep us from going through the door God has opened to eternity through Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us that Satan usually comes as an angel of light. This is why people often say that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

We have an enemy of our souls, but what he wants is for us to never hear and believe the good news that we can be saved through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Even though the Bible is one of the bestselling books in the world, it is also one of the least read. If we did read about Satan we might be surprised that the Biblical version differs from the modern one.

The Bible does not say Satan is the ruler of a place called Hell. Hell is actually where Satan and his followers are destined to go at the end of this age.

Through his 14th-century epic poem The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri helped popularize the idea of Satan ruling Hell, depicting the underworld in vivid detail in the poem's first book, Inferno.

The idea of Satan stealing souls was based on the legends about Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approx. 1480-1540). Some said that he was a con man. Others said he had made a deal with the Devil.

Stories about Faust persisted and were expanded upon, and were finally written about in popular books including Goethe's Faust. The term “Faustian bargain” has since been used to describe persons who betray principles and values to achieve their goals.

It was from stories like these that the idea developed of the Devil seeking to steal or buy souls. But these ideas were not derived from any passages in the Bible.

Concerning salvation, the lie the Devil tells is that we are in complete possession of our soul, that it is ours to keep or give away. We think all we need is a little religion and some adjustments here and there and that in general, we are good for eternity. But if it were really within our power to save ourselves, God would not have sent Jesus.

In truth, the Devil loves religious people as much as he loves sinners so long as neither realizes the way to escape this fallen world is the salvation that God is offering through faith in Jesus Christ.

In reality, we are all destined from birth for an eternity separated from God. It is true there are those who have gained the whole world and have lost their souls. But there are those who own far less in material goods who are no better off. It is harder to let go of a lot of nice things than it is when we have little in our hand.

This is why many people come to faith in Christ during times of trial and tribulation. But the Bible tells us that all have fallen short of the glory of God. No one can come to the Father but by faith in Jesus Christ.

In the Bible Satan is called the accuser (Zechariah 3:1-5, Revelation 12:10). He wants us to think our relationship with God is hopeless because we can never make ourselves perfect.

It is Satan, not God, who will keep reminding us of our sins and failings. Satan wants us to keep looking at ourselves and not to the salvation God is offering us in the gift of His Son.

God wants us to look to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. Jesus came to take the punishment for our sins. He tasted death for all of us.

In His resurrection, Jesus allows us to stand before our Creator clothed in His righteousness. When we are born again by faith in Chirst, He is the new foundation on which we stand.

Our own righteousness is not the issue. We are not sinners because we sin. We are born in fallen state inherited from Adam. Our names are written in the Book of Life when we place our faith for salvation in Jesus, not when we perfectly follow a set of religious rules.

God is looking for obedience from a heart that has recieved a revelation of His love for us in Christ.

The Bible teaches that when our heart changes toward God, our actions will change toward ourselves and others. The Bible says that Christian faith works through love.

Our faith in Jesus and trust in the love of God is what Satan is really trying to prevent. Our souls are already lost if we are without the salvation that God is offering the world in Jesus Christ.

While we remain legalistic, and afraid of God and mortal death, Satan can easily manipulate and control us. Jesus came to set the captives free. The yoke of Jesus is easy, and His burden is light.

The Bible tells us that every spirit that is not from God will deny, directly or indirectly through subtle means, that Jesus is the Son of God. No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Spirit of God. It is really as simple as that.

We don't have to go around looking for someone in a red costume trying to trick us into selling our soul. The Devil does not have to steal our soul. He just needs to keep us from giving our heart to God.

For further study

Genesis 3:1‑6, Ezekiel 28:12‑17, Zechariah 3:1‑5, Matthew 4:1‑11, John 3:1‑21, John 8:31‑59, John   17:1‑26, 2 Corinthians 11:1‑15, Ephesians 6:10‑20, Hebrews 2, 1 John 4, Revelation 12:7‑17, Revelation 20:1‑10

Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®),
© 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.