To Christians, is it true (as you see it) that Satan can't do anything without God's permission?

Question

I've seen it a few times here, but it seems very odd to me. Is God permitting, or even instructing, Satan to do bad things in the world? If so, what's the reason?

I worded the question the way I did because any longtimers at R&S will know that I don't believe (and newcomers might understand it from my avatar), but that doesn't mean I don't want to understand Christian theology and its effects on morality.

The whole issue of Satan confuses me in many ways actually, but this is as good a place to start as any.

Don't worry - despite what some people imply, I addressed the question to Christians, so I _will_ choose the Christian who explains the theology most cogently.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

No, it is not true. Satan can do whatever he wants on earth without God's permission. Why? Because he has freedom, just like us. Now, if one day God wanted to stop him, he could, because God is almighty and would win the battle against Satan. But for now, God is letting Satan do whatever he wants. Why? Because men and women are free to follow whoever they want and be good or bad or something in the middle. Freedom is the key word here. I'm sure it would be much easier if we didn't have freedom! That's why freedom is the greatest gift but the most difficult one to handle! I hope your questions come from your wish to know and understand and not to make Christians angry. You seem like an interesting person who are eager to learn.

Answer 2

Satan is a created being who has free will and rebeled against God ,was cast to the earth and took a third of the angels (better translated messengers) with him, the sin of pride was found in him. Now ,God is not and old man with a white beard sitting up in heaven waiting for us to sin so he can punish us ,He is spirit and needs to be worshiped in spirit. God gave us free will because true love can only exist when there is choice. Satan made the wrong choice, his first word in Genesis:3 are "Did God actually say ,'you shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" He is questioning God and His authority, this is what Satan does.He is the father of lies and the founder of secular humanism ,from which Nazism and other death worshiping groups came from. If you start with man and not God there is not true reason for morality. Humans become a thing instead of a being created in the image of God. And human life becomes relative to who's in charge(racism ,Islam etc.). Satan is a liar and that is his most powerful weapons are the lies he propagates. He is the prince of this world which means he runs the show here and he will be judged (rev.19-20)
God is holy and just. Nothing evil comes form Him , We however are sinners who fall short of the Glory of God and we have the Law (exodus:20) to show us that we are not "good people", If you sin once that's all it takes.Since God is a just God He requires payment for crimes committed ,If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior ,this means that you accept the gift offered to you for atonement of you sins. I hope this makes things a little more clear. I also hope you look in the Bible for more answers. Don't believe what people say ,find out for yourself. God bless you.

Answer 3

yes and no. satan was originally satanel (el is Hebrew for god - ie Michael, Gabriel, Ariel, Raphael, etc) and he was in charge of the planet - us. his was one of the images on the ark of the covenant - originally one of the angels over the mercy seat.
but by his own free will - he got big on himself and what he was doing and he felt was right - and he created was is known as the Lucifer rebellion. Check out the first chapter of the Book of Job - the oldest Book in the Bible - and you'll get newspaper reporting type of insight on what satan does now - accuse.
the question is fun because it looks deeper into God and the idea of free will - which we clearly have been given. but if you follow history, in the end God's Will ends up getting enforced anyway - and the Bible does say that Michael physically has satan locked in prison (not his spirit), so there is definitely authority coming from somewhere to be able to do that.
Also, unfortunately, the events unfolding rapidly in our world right now, especially the middle east, were prophecied accurately 2500 years ago right down to the players - half of whom just 50 years ago meant little in significance/picture in the overall world - and today means everything.
YHVH made a covenant that God would never leave or forsake people, and through people has continued to carry out an overall plan despite others resistance.
is satan Slugworth from Willy Wonka? I've always wondered myself. without darkness - you can't appreciate the light. someday we'll find out.

Answer 4

No. God has given each and every individual free will which incorporates devil. He does no longer provide permission for some thing we do. it truly is our determination. If no longer, then we don't have any free will. allowing someone to do some thing and giving them permission is two distinct issues.God facilitates evil yet he does no longer provide permission for someone to do evil. Many say that God has a plan. it is authentic. His plan is for us to stay in the international continually in paradise. the unique plan. He has no longer replaced his suggestions. quickly he will rid the earth of devil, the demons and evil mankind. he will fix the earth to the paradise and then there'll under no circumstances be any ailment, soreness or demise. we can all persist with Jehovah willingly and do what's ideal. What we do today in this equipment could have a concerning what God comes to a decision as to our destiny contained in the destiny.

Answer 5

This answer probably won't be picked given it's not following dogma but..Satan is just a very simple concept to illustrate certain harmful thoughts or behaviours. Making it into a character helps drive the message home, like "Satan would do this" whereas "God would do that", showing the conflicting archetypes of how one could act in a certain situation. This just gets more and more complicated in church dogma, to the point where these characters have to be fleshed out into actual beings with relationships to one another, and somebody's got to be in charge. Naturally the church would suggest that's God; otherwise, it would be pretty difficult to motivate people to act in a God-like (well-behaved) fashion.

Answer 6

God has no control over satan. And not all bad things that happen are because of satan. God gave us freewill, and therefore we are to make our own decisions. He could have created us all to automatically believe in him, and worship him. But instead he gave us free will in the hopes that we would come to him willingly. I mean think about it this way. If you were say a ruler of a country, would you want you subjects to look up to you, and like you because of who you were, and the actions you do? Or would you rather force them all to bow down and adore you?

Answer 7

Satan can do anything and dont need Gods permission because he is a rebel. If God gives us free will, how much more with satan.

Answer 8

No, satan doesn't do bad things, people do bad and stupid things. All natural things that happen are caused by nature and people living in stupid places. If you are going to live in a mobile home in tornado alley, you should expect to get blown out of your trailer. If you are going to live along a beach right beside a fault line, you should expect that there are going to be earth quakes and tsunamis.If you are going to live on the side of an active volcano, you should expect it to destroy your home. If you are going to live where there is 8 feet of snow, and minus 35 degree weather for weeks, you should expect to get frostbite. All these things happen on a regular basis, but people still say, ' gee, We never saw this one coming.' Well, duh, can you look around you.

Answer 9

Yes is very true he can"t do anything without god s permission

Answer 10

The Origin of Satan, Lucifer, and other Fallen Angels

Who was Lucifer?
Lucifer was the Anointed Cherub. Anointed means to be set apart for Gods Divine purpose. It also means "bestowal of Gods divine favor", and "appointment to a special place or function."
God had given Satan a certain amount of power and authority. But he perverted that power. Lucifer wanted to exalt himself above God... rather than "just" being the Angel of God.

If God is so good, then why did he create Satan?
Lucifer was created perfect in all his ways, but iniquity was found in him. It was not put there by God. Lucifer created it.
( this is found in Ezekiel 28:15 )

Like man, the angels were created perfect, and with a free will.

Satan was lifted up because of his beauty, he corrupted the wisdom by reason of his brightness (This is in Ezekiel 28:17)

Ezekiel 28:12 (KJV)
“Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.”
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.”

This is not an earthly king, as the word "cherub" is only used in references to angels.

15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

The word "covering" is from the Hebrew word cakak, and means: to entwine, to fence in, cover over, protect, defend, hedge in, (source "The complete word study Old Testament")

Was Lucifer’s job to protect the very earth he corrupted? Was this one of his duties that gave him so much pride?

17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

0 18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

Question:
"Where does Satan and the fall fit into all of this? He must have been cast down before Adam and Eve were created because he was there to tempt Eve in the Garden? Was there, could there have been, a pre-Adamic age - and surely this would have been a catastrophic event?

Answer:
Satan was cast out of heaven after Adam and Eve were created, because God said the Creation was still "very good" on day 6 after man had been created.

There was nothing and no one here before Adam and Eve.

Isaiah 14:12
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Satan wanted to be God. The Bible tells us in 2nd Corinthians 4:4 that Satan has become the "god of this world". And Revelation 20:10 tells us that he will be eternally punished for it.

15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

When Lucifer was cast out of Heaven, one third of all the angels were cast out with him. (Rev.12:4,9)

Lucifer became Satan, and the fallen angels became Demons.

Why didn't God just destroy Satan?
Because sin had entered the world, and into the very nature of man through Adams transgression, then for God to destroy Satan, he would also have had to destroy the man he loved. But God had a better way. A way of Redemption.

And Christ the Redeemer was on His way !

What does Satan look like?
We've all seen pictures of Satan portrayed as a hoofed creature, red in color.. with little horns on his head.

But this description is not Biblical. The hoofed being we usually see is actually closer to that of "Pan" from Greek mythology.

Perhaps Satan wants this image of himself to be used, because of its absurdity. Knowing that the day would come when God and the Devil would both be dismissed as "mythical"

Revelation 12:3 speaks of the red horned dragon. This is not Satan himself, but a reference to him from where these physical attributes possibly originate.

Revelation 12:3 (KJV)
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
The Book of "Ezekiel" tells us what Lucifer really looked like before he sinned.

Lucifer was a being "of perfect beauty". He was covered in every precious stone. He had pendants and jewels of gold...

Lucifer was beautiful before he sinned. An expression of Gods own beauty and power. But like man, Lucifer’s very nature changed when he sinned. His (Lucifer’s) physical appearance may have as well.

When did Lucifer fall from Heaven? It was not before day 6 like many people believe (those who believe the "Gap Theory" wrongly claim this). The Bible tells us that Lucifer was in Eden (which was created on day 6) and was still without sin on that day.

Ezekiel 28:13 (KJV)
“Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created."

In the literature of our society, Satan is almost always shown in robes of red. Some believe that the color of an angels robes are symbolic of their rank in heaven. I am unaware of a scripture to support this however.

There is a coming judgment of Satan and his angels.

2 Peter 2:4 (KJV)
"For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell [the Greek word here is "tartarus"], and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;”

Jude 1:6 (KJV)
“And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day."
In the day of judgment “…the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

John 17: (verify verse #) talks of the time of judgment, the prince of this world will be driven out.

Hell was not made for man. Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels. But those who do not receive Christ as their Lord and Savior will be sent to Hell, and have their part in the lake of fire.

Satan is "the god of this world" he " has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ" ( 2 Corinthians 4;4)

Satan is a liar. The Bible tells us he is the father of all lies.

John 8:44 (KJV)
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

He will deceive man in any way he can. Some are deceived by the New Age Movement, others are deceived by Humanists, Evolutionary lies, etc.