I know this isn’t a newsflash, but Satan has a longstanding history of lying and deceiving people. The first instance of such behaviors with mankind was in the Garden of Eden, where he successfully promoted doubt and rebellion into the heart of Eve.
You may also recall the instance where Satan tempted Jesus in the desert. One does not have to read too far into the exchange to see how Satan looked to twist the meaning of the Scriptures and to get Jesus himself to rebel.
So, it should be no surprise that he is at it still at it today.
One such example came to my attention recently. I was talking with someone who told me that he has made a decision to follow Satan. He announced that he was a “Luciferian” and that the ideology associated with this belief has helped him to make the most sense of the world.
I will do my best to paraphrase what they said:
“They always say that God comes in your time of need, or that He works in mysterious ways. I prayed and prayed since I was a kid, and got nothing from it. Prayer doesn’t work. If something happens in life, you caused it”. Interestingly enough, a short time later, they blamed God for the tragedy that had recently come upon them.
Then they shared something which I found extremely interesting. They explained that one of the tenants of the Luciferian faith is:
“If you want to be a good person, be a good person. If you want to be a bad person, be a bad person, and stop playing the blame game.” Based upon this, they commented, “People will go to heaven or hell for a reason.”
Now, I don’t know about you, but I was quite taken-aback when the person shared that one of the options you can choose as a Luciferian was to “be a good person”.
Hmm, something sounds askew.
The comments reminded me of The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, where he portrayed Satan and his minions as having no problem with people being good, as long as in the end, they are eternally damned. As a matter of fact, their hope was that someone would deeply invest themselves in a life of good, including going to church and doing very charitable things, as long as they never found Christ’s salvation.
The world has lots of philosophies that seem harmless on the surface. They sound reasonable, and offer some genuinely practical advice that works and helps people to feel better. I guess you can say that if you only consider someone’s purely earthly existence, they are “good”. Yet how “good” is something if it deflects people from acknowledging their need for God, and coming to learn who He is. Sadly, all religions besides Christianity, and all philosophies contain enough logical tenants to be attractive and help people to feel like they are in a good spot, only to usher them into eternal condemnation when they pass from this life.
Such thoughts made me think of when Jesus said,
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.(AH) 35 For whoever wants to save their life[b] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.(AI) 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man(AJ) will be ashamed of them(AK) when he comes(AL) in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Mark 8:34-38
Jesus asks people to consider all that can be gained in the world, and how much value it really contains if, in the end, a person loses their soul. He challenges and encourages people to follow after Him and find the salvation He offers, for it is the only true path that contains value for this life and the next.
I am taken by the name given to Satanic worshipers. It sounds so nice. “Luciferian”. “Lucifer” means “bearer of light”, so when you put it all together, a Luciferian can be a light-bearer too. How lovely … until they die, and find that they are bound for eternal darkness.
Pray for the lost. They are deceived and will soon be asking for someone to dip the tip of their finger in water and cool their tongue, for they are tormented by flame.
We must share the Gospel.
For Jesus,
Rob