The Sin of Unbelief
Hebrews 3:12
12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Again and again in the life of Jesus he saw in scripture and was made aware by God that He was the Son of God. Finally John with the spirit of Elijah witnessed it to Him at His baptism:
John 1:34
And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
The devil is primarily concerned with your efforts to walk in faith. You are saved by faith, so he has to do something about faith to prevent your salvation from being effectual. Jesus was tempted by satan. Satan tried to dissuade Jesus from believing the words that God had spoken to Him.
Satan said (twice)
"IF you be the son of God..."
He was not tempting Jesus with bread... he was tempting Jesus to questioning who He was and what God said. He wanted Jesus to doubt He was the Son of God.
SATAN DOES THE SAME THING TO US!
He wants us to doubt and deny who we are, what we are, and what God has done for us by Jesus in the gospel. He tempts us to deny the word.
Here are a few evil things the devil has successfully planted in many believers minds:
He gets them to deny the words of Jesus. Jesus said: Matthew 21
22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive The devil does the same thing he did to Eve and to Jesus. He suggests something. "Did Jesus really say you will receive all things you ask for if ask believing???" He presents a long list of doubts and reasonings as to why this could not be true. Most believers fail in this temptation and end up agreeing with satan. If you ask the average believer if they will receive all things they ask and believe for, they will say no. The devil has successfully led them away and tempted them to deny the word.
Here is another one.
The word says God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ:
Acts 2:36
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. In fact: Jesus is already Lord and Christ of everyone:
Acts 10:36
36 The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all) Romans 10:12
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. Again, the devil tempts us subtly. He indirectly suggests that Jesus is in fact not lord of all. He tells us we have to "make Jesus Lord" (as if we had the power or authority to do so) and in so doing suggests that Jesus is fact not Lord and Lord of all right now. The devil suggests that we have some part in the lordship of Jesus over us and that Jesus will only be the lord if we allow Him to be(that alone is laughable if it were not so serious). This is classic statnic temptation. It plays upon our ego by suggesting that we are lord of our own lives, and entices us to deny by default the declaration of God that JESUS IS LORD and LORD OF ALL.
All the word tells us to do is to call on the name of the Lord, and that the Lord will be merciful to all who call on his name. The present and universal lordship of Jesus is never up for discussion. It is not a matter of our approval or invitation. How would one "make Jesus Lord" of their lives? What a silly proposition. What is worse we do the devil's work for him by passing along this absurd concept to potential believers. We tell others that they have to "make Jesus Lord of their lives" and in so doing sublty suggest that He is not presently Lord and Lord of all. When we do this we indirectly deny the Lordship of Jesus, refute the direct declararion of God that Jesus is in fact Lord and Lord of all, and invite others to join with our denial. We are actually inviting others to deny the Lordship of Jesus. We are suggesting that they can, if they so choose, refute His lordship over them.
Lets look at another one closely akin to the first.
Jesus said: John 14:12-14
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on (Gk = "into") me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. The name of Jesus has all authority and power. The Father always honors the name of Jesus. ALWAYS. Yet again and again we hear good believers deny the name of Jesus by refuting these verses. Satan suggests to them that He will in fact not do anything believers ask in the name of Jesus. He provides them a long list of reasons why God will in fact say "NO" to whatsoever believers ask in Jesus name. In so doing, God would be saying "NO" to Jesus because believers ask in His name. When we do this, we are both denying the name and the power and authority behind that name, and denying the integrity of the Father who is ignoring the name of Jesus and just refusing Jesus the request.
Notice in each of these the devil successfully gets the "believer" to deny something about Jesus.
He wants us to:
deny the name of Jesus,
the Lordship of Jesus,
and the standing of Jesus in heaven.
He wants us to deny the integrity of the Word and therefore the integrity of God.
He always uses the same method:
He suggests to you that something God said is not true,
He supplies reasonings and logic that would seem to imply what he is saying is true
He plays upon your own pride and ego to accept your deep and profound "theology" as truth
He gets you to side with him in the lie
There are many other such instances where satan has deceived modern religion into denying the word of God and successfully convinced believers to side with his lies.
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