Since Satan a Major Agent in Sanctification
Is he then our Friend?
In our last two posts I have laid the foundation to ask the question, “Is Satan our friend or foe in our sanctification?” This is the forced conclusion of the two suppositions: 1) Man has no free will and 2) Satan the major agent in testing us, preparing us through the sanctification process.
Throughout the Bible man is constantly asking the wrong questions in order to justify himself and blame God. This is a very interesting approach for modern man demands that he, or she, has free will while demanding that God overcome his free will to keep him from sinning! This is the thrust of Theodicy.
Let us read again the discussion between God and Cain (Ge 4:6-7). Cain, who is supposed to be the Messiah has his offering rejected by God He accepted the offering of Abel (worthless one).God meets Cain in his crisis and tells him that he must control sin if he is to the a messiah! Cain misses the point though he demonstrates that he cannot control sin. This is the essential issue. Sin stalks us using our flesh, the world system and Satanic forces.Herein is the issue, man cannot realize the weakness of his flesh (lack of control) except through the experience that demonstrates our lack of self-control. It is Satan who provides the circumstances that tests us, demonstrating our lack of control through our sin. Adam and Eve would not have sinned except through the actions of Satan. Thus, while Adam and Eve were supposed to control themselves, they proved that they could not control their desire for sin. They sinned not because of Satan but because they wanted to obtain what God had declared unobtainable.
Paul asks this question in a more direct manner and provides an answer. “Should we sin more so we can get more grace (Ro 6:1-2)?” Or, to put it another way, “Is Satan, and myself, blameless when we sin since God has opportunity to demonstrate the fullness of His grace toward us?” The real question is, “Can I sin whenever I wish because God must forgive me when I ask?” The answer is no. The desire to sin demonstrates a lack of self-control {fruit of the Spirit (Ga 5:22-23)}. You sin because you wish to obtain something God has denied you but do not want the responsibility for the results of that sin (Ja 4:1-4). Sinners demand that free will be the only prevailing answer but then demand that God override their free will to prevent them from sinning!
Paul also asks and answers this question, “Is there injustice with God? (Ro 9:14)”. Who can resist God’s will? No one but this also implies that God allows you to sin or that He has an obligation to prevent you from sinning. God is not obligated to save anyone. The fact that He saves anyone should make those who become saved stand in awe of God’s work which was accomplished in spite of man. Man wants to scream, “Injustice,” in order to blame God and thus avoid the judgment. God is not responsible for sin (Ja 1:13-14). He cannot sin nor does He tempt man to sin. Each of us sins because we want to sin. Satan just makes the opportunity available for us to sin. God provides the forgiveness for those who seek Him in repentance.
God is not obligated to save you from your sin (Ro 9:14-16)! In fact, God says that He gives up sinners to their sin (Ro 1:24-28). Does this make God unjust (Ro 9:19-21). No! God is the creator. He can do what He desires according to His will. The amazing issue is not that God does not save everyone but that He does save some people! This is the real question to ask, “Why did God save me?” He saves whom He saves according to His own will which He does not share with anyone. Religions detail what the believer must do to live eternally in bliss (of some sort). God’s Word shares the awful knowledge of God Himself dying in judgment for sin in order that some people might be saved as He determines.
The lost launch themselves into an insane corner. They claim they have free will to choose their own actions. They demand that God does not have control them. At the judgment they will demand that save them because they had no choice but to sin and if He does not it is because He is the greater sinner! In other words, they want their sin without the consequences of their sin. It is from this perspective that Theodicy was born, asking the wrong question, “Why is their evil in the world if God is sovereign?” There is evil in the world because man loves his sin, desiring all those things that God would not give him. The consequences of anger, hate, violence, disobedience, murder, sorceries with and without drugs, to name just a few, flow from our sin. The more one sins, the more one wants to sin despite the consequences.
Satan is an active agent in the sanctification process not because he wants to do you good but because he wants to do you evil. This condemns him. The fact that God can turn Satan’s evil to good for you is a testament to God’s grace. Sin cannot snuff out God’s grace but succumbs to the omnipotence of God’s love. The person who sins is a slave to Satan and sin and cannot be freed just because he does not wish punishment. He is freed from the bondage of sin upon repentance of his sinful state and the recognition that only God can save and wishes to save those who come to Him. The fact that this illumination is entirely dependent on God to choose whom He wills for salvation is immaterial to the fact that when I was a sinner, I wanted to sin. It was God who saved me in spite of my sin, against my will to sin, in order to show His love in the world. The question I constantly ask is, “Why me?” Like Paul, I am the least of all people who willfully sinned at the expense of others; yet, He saved me. His grace awes me, as it should.