2: Reflection on Satan "Deceiving the Nations"

Revelation 20:1-3 says, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. ² And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, ³ and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.”

If everything that I write in sections 1 through 5 is true, Satan has not just deceived the nations outside of the Church; he has also deceived the Church to some degree. Believing Jesus is God when he is not, for example, is not something small to be confused about. Some may find this discouraging. What is most discouraging, I think, is the violence done in Jesus’ name and the blood spilt throughout history via Christian on Christian, Christian on Muslim violence, and Christian on Jew violence to those who did not believe in the Trinity Doctrine and Jesus’ divinity (this happened throughout history from the 4^th – 18^th century). I find it much less discouraging that the current Church, if what I is true, is deceived on some topics, as the Church now is peaceful and striving to love God and neighbor. It is way better to not understanding something and be wrong than to have a violent heart toward others.

That being said, it is best to have a heart that loves God and others and a mind that understands, as fully as we can, who God is, Jesus is, and who we are as God’s children. This can actually help us love others better because this increases our wisdom. Many times, well-intentioned people do more harm than good in their actions. For example, if Jesus is not God, many well-intentioned people in preaching that he is God are actually hurting the Christian witness, albeit completely unintentionally, as belief that Jesus is God is an unnecessary barrier to becoming a Christian. This would especially apply to ministering to Muslims and Jews, as Jesus’ deity is one of the greatest barriers to them coming to faith.

To give another example, preaching the gospel to others by scaring people with hell fire from an angry God may be done by people with good intentions, but this actually can push people away from God and give them a distorted view of God, who, if what I write is true, wills for all to be saved and whose punishments are corrective and restorative. If the gospel was preached without emphasizing hell fire, which is how it was preached in the book of Acts (just look through Acts and see if you can find any examples of the gospel being preached that include hell fire!), and instead simply emphasizing the truths of what the gospel is (see my tab on “The Gospel”), perhaps more people would be receptive. People respond to love and truth as image bearers. Love and truth are greater motivators than fear. We should not hide as Christians that God does judge and discipline all people, but the reason is because of His love, not His wrath. God is never said to “be wrath”, but He is said to be love (1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:16) – twice. He has wrath because of His love, not separate from it. True love must also be just and punish sin. But, as I explain in section 3 of my blog, God has not made an eternal conscious torment chamber for most of the human population. He intends to save all, and the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:28 that He will be all in all. That is not possible aside from universal salvation.

Additionally, much of the Church bars women from teaching the Bible to men. I talk about this at length in section 2, but I think this is quenching the (feminine) Holy Spirit and handicapping much of the Church, namely Christian women, from living out their callings. If the whole Church was not deceived on women’s roles and united such that men and women can lead and teach as gifted by the (feminine) Holy Spirit, the Church would be more empowered to minister to the world and be an example of a community that is “neither male nor female… you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Think of Junia (an “outstanding apostle” in Romans 16:7), Priscilla (a teacher to the man Apollos, Acts 18:26), Phoebe (a deaconess, Romans 16:1), and Mary Magdalene (an apostle, or at least an evangelist, to the apostles), to name some prominent women in the early Church – and this in a society much more patriarchal than our own! Right thinking about men’s and women’s roles would lead to encouragement in and outside of the Church, just as right preaching regarding “eternal” hell would lead to greater encouragement in and outside of the Church. How we think about theology and what we think impacts Church life and ministry: for better or for worse.

And who has the belief in Jesus as God, in some ways, negatively impacted the most (if what I write is true)? I think in some ways, sadly, the Church. We are not meant to worship Jesus as God – we are meant to be Jesus. Now, many may not disagree with that statement. After all, we are God’s hands and feet. We are Jesus’ body. Of course we are meant to be Jesus in this world.

But how many people actually believe this while also believing Jesus is God? His life is an impossible standard to emulate if he is God. But if he is not…! If he was truly made like us in every respect, as Hebrews says and is not God… then, we need to grow up as a Church and strive to be perfect and sinless like Christ, realizing it is indeed possible. Jesus did not command in Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect as my heavenly Father is perfect,” and not except people to follow that command. John did not say in 1 John 2:6, “whoever says he abides in him [Christ] ought to walk in the same way he walked” and think this was impossible. Further, Jesus, a human man with the Holy Spirit, did not command something he himself was not willing to follow. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6) because (I believe) he became sinless and perfect himself. He is the model. He had no “God-advantage”. He was fully human – is fully human. We have what Jesus did: the Holy Spirit. We are fully equipped to be exactly like Christ. Where in Scripture does it say differently?

But the enemy does not want us to believe this. He wants us to believe in the lie of original sin (see my theology of sin in section 5 of this blog) and that we could never be like Christ in our lifetime – never become sinless, overcome sin in any sort of definitive way, and truly be like Christ. But is that what God’s Word says? God’s Word says we are fully equipped to live like Christ and God promises to fully sanctify us (Philippians 1:6)!

I think Satan is afraid of the Church and our potential. Satan is afraid that if the Church knows the truth – that we are to be Jesus, not worship him as God, no excuses, in addition to not quenching the Spirit (as many churches do) in the lives of Christian women who are gifted teachers and leaders, and also recognizing the incredible truth that God intends to save all and is an amazing Father and Mother – the world would be transformed.

He is right to be afraid, because the Church is filled with people who deeply love God and their neighbor. A Church of sinless, undeceived people would be unstoppable – and God is at work to accomplish just that.

Finally, the fact that Satan has deceived Christians to a certain degree (if what I write is true), will not backfire on the Church and the world. This will backfire on him. Once the Church (if what I write is true) realizes that Jesus is not God, among the other theological topics I have written on, I believe this will only serve to grow the Church’s humility and compassion for the lost world more not less. If what I write is true, we have all been deceived by Satan – Christians and non-Christians. We all need grace. We can all learn from each other about what is true – Christians and non-Christians – because we all have some truth, and have been deceived in other areas.

This is true across all religions: if what I write is true, Christians can learn truth from Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and even the non-religious, because they are all image bearers who have learned truths about God we can learn from, and Christians have also seriously errored in our understanding in certain ways too. This deceit of the Church will help serve for greater unity globally as we are all deceived in some way and all are not deceived in some way. For example, if what I write is true, Jews and Muslims are right in rejecting Jesus' deity and original sin. Hindus and Buddhists are right in affirming the possibility of universal salvation and reincarnation. Minority groups of Christians like Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and Biblical unitarians are right in rejecting Jesus' divinity. Hindus and Mormons are right in acknowledging there is both masculinity and femininity in God. The majority Church believes and are right to affirm that Jesus is the Son of God and is our Savior and Messiah. Even the nonreligious are right in rejecting all religions, as no religion has the complete truth and has some aspect that is seriously off (if what I write is true).

What is more, Christians have an opportunity to lead the way, if what I write is true, in confessing we were wrong about who Jesus is, among these other topics, and affirm the truth others from other religions believe and respect them. God is not a respecter of persons. He does not show favoritism. The reason other religions also have truth that is in the Bible, which I believe is completely true, is because God loves all people and reveals Himself to all who seek Him, regardless of religion. Yes, Jesus is the only way and the gospel is what saves – and I think the Bible is the only completely true religious text – but that should serve only to humble as Christians more, as we are the only religion that has all the truth, and we have still been very deceived.

People respond to love, respect, truth, and humility. Satan has unintentionally opened a great opportunity for the Church to continue in love, deepen their respect for non-Christians, and humbly acknowledge the errors we have made. If we do this as a Church and unite as a Church, perhaps the world will all be saved and believe in the gospel. All things are possible with God!