why would God let the devil exist?

Question

If he is all powerful he could destroy the devil - so why doesn't he?

Answer 1

nature is all about balance.
without light you cannot see that it's dark and without dark you cannot see the light.
you need to find yuor own golden mean.

Answer 2

You ask why God allowed the devil to exist?
Think about this...

What is life without having the will to choose?

Ok let me expand.
If there was no devil, there will be no evil. Therefore, no rules and law in the society. But that would not give you the perfect world. There will be more crime than ever, and what do you think the cause of that is? Evil decisions, not lead by God or the devil, but by one's own mind and will. The bible itself says that the devil came to steal, kill and destroy. This infact was AFTER he betrayed God when he was an angel for God.

And you're asking why God could not just destroy him? No, God can't do this, what would that make Him instead? And besides, part of God's plan for mankind is to give us freewill. So it's all up to you to use that freedom wisely and the only way to do this is by simply staying on God's side.

So don't worry about the devil. Just keep following God's commandments, abstain from sin, and you'll be that great person God wants and created you to be!

Answer 3

Okay , my own opinion on this one.God loved satin at one time and satin did something terrible so now satin wants to rule the world and get as many people as he can and satin is also sin. Now the Lord is not sin but he knows we all sin as human. God is the judge at the end therefore God is more powerful then satin. I dint read the bible allot but this is what i feel... the devil exist way long ago and still does,so does God and God did not make the devil the devil went against God

hope this help

Answer 4

Satan used to be the angel of light. He became God's adversary because of pride and rebellion - and it was his own choice.

Why doesn't he destroy the devil? God is sovereign. There's a perfect time and place for that.

Answer 5

i think of of God as having administration of each and every of the guidelines of the universe, like a great scientist. Like a scientist, God is acquainted with a thank you to obey mandatory rules of the universe to realize specific purposes. A scientist harness the guidelines of nature to create a television or a working laptop or laptop. God has acceptable expertise of the guidelines of the universe and is acquainted with a thank you to apply them to realize his purposes. regardless of the undeniable fact that, God isn't above the guidelines of the universe. case in point, through fact God is acceptable, He can't lie. additionally, God ought to obey the eternal rules of justice. One such organic regulation is the regulation of opposites. purely as there are literally and negatively charged debris, there exists good and evil. If there have been no threat for a incorrect selection, there could desire to not be a smart selection. God's purpose for us is to furnish us the possibility to % His way. that's barely conceivable if there is evil. for this reason God enables devil to not purely exist, yet to have skill over human beings in the event that they pay attention to him.

Answer 6

The doom and destiny of the devil was predicted beforehand and hence, there will come a time the devil can no longer do anything. Just wait for the time. Its coming soon.

Answer 7

"nature is all about balance" as said above makes the most sense to me. In hinduism they say that the force god uses to create and maintain the universe has two sides to it - one that pulls us towards god, and one that pulls us away from god.

Both are necessary for the world to exist. If there was only the towards god force we would all be so spiritual we would never do anything, and we would die and go to heaven and be with god in eternity.

So the idea is this force that takes us away from god is satan, and that it is there to keep the world in balance and in existence, and satan must continue to exist until it is time for the world to end.

Answer 8

To test mankind to see who is worthy of eternal life ,the devil is spirit and can not be destroyed but God is going to imprison him in a lake of fire for eternity

Answer 9

That is a question man has pondered
since religion began, just who is this
creature (Satan) and where does he
get his power, and why is he allowed
to exist. How may GODS exist in the
HEAVENS ? How much power does
each have ? I ask this because GOD
say's "Let's make them in OUR image"
Who exactly is HE talking to when he
ask this question ? Is SATAN an ANGEL ?

Answer 10

You are right, of course, an all-powerful God can destroy the Devil. There must,m therefore, be some compelling reason for allowing such a wicked person to cause such suffering. I apologize for the length of this response but you ask a profound question and it deserves more than a one-line answer.

I am glad that you brought that question up. It is one that disturbs many honest-hearted people. This is what I have learned. Perhaps it will help you. Many faithful servants of God have been disturbed by the wickedness around them. Even ancient ones. See, for example, Habakkuk 1:3, 13. But it is not because of any indifference on God’s part.

God assures us that he has a set time to call the wicked to account. This we read at Habakkuk 2:3. But how do WE get to be among the survivors when that time comes? Habakkuk 2:4b and Zephaniah 2:3 speak on this as well.

Oh how we long for an end to wickedness and suffering. But we have experienced it for a relatively short time when compared with the time that wickedness has actually existed. How must God himself feel? Think of it: for thousands of years people have blamed him, even cursed him, for all the bad conditions. But it’s not his fault; to the contrary, these things are caused by Satan and by wicked men. Since Jehovah has the power to destroy the wicked, there must be compelling reasons for his having restrained himself thus far! What could those compelling reasons be?

There would be no wickedness if God had not given intelligent creatures with free will. But God did give us that – the capacity to choose to obey him because we love him or to disobey. Notice how Deuteronomy 30:19, 20 and Joshua 24:15 bear this out. We don’t really want it any other way, do we? For those who are parents, which makes us happier—when our children obey us because they love us or when we force them to obey us? God fully intends to do away with all wickedness and wicked people but before He does that, God is giving us the opportunity to demonstrate whether they really want to live in harmony with his righteous laws or not. But that he fully intends to end wickedness is clearly seen from 2 Thessalonians 1:9, 10.

Well, why is he taking so long? Some people feel that the length of time shows He is doing absolutely nothing. Not so. Vital issues are involved: (1) The righteousness and rightfulness of Jehovah’s rule was challenged in Eden; (Genesis 2:16, 17; 3:1-5) and (2) the integrity of all of God’s servants in heaven and on earth was called into question. Satan charged that we only worship God for what we can get out of it. Notice that at Job 1:6-11; 2:1-5. And, according to Luke 22:31, things have not changed. Satan has demanded to have the faithful to sift us as wheat!

Now God could have destroyed the rebels (Satan, Adam, and Eve) immediately, but that would not have settled matters. The issues raised were moral ones. God allows time and this allowance permits all intelligent creatures with free will (angels included) to see for themselves the terrible results of rebelling against his rulership, while at the same time giving us the opportunity to demonstrate where we personally stand on these vital matters. Once these issues are settled, God will never again allow anyone to disrupt the peace and harmony that will exist in the universe.

We might illustrate it this way: suppose somebody in the neighborhood charged that you abused your position as head of the family, that your kids would be better off if they made their own decisions without you, and that the only reason your kids obeyed you in the first place is, not because they loved you but because of all the material benefits you provided. What’s the best way to settle the matter? How about blowing his brains out? Well that would show some power on your part but that doesn’t do anything to respond to the false charges. How about this? Give your kids opportunity to be your witnesses to show that you are a just and loving father and that they live with you because they love you! Now if some of your kids believed your enemy, left home, and ruined their lives, that would only make it obvious to sincere observers that the kids would have been better off if they had listened to you instead of your enemy, yes?

That is what our loving heavenly father is doing with us – his children. In truth, we have benefited by God’s permission of wickedness till now. Had he destroyed the wicked twenty, thirty, seventy, two hundred years ago, how many of us would have ever existed? At 2 Peter 3:9, we read: “Jehovah is not slow respecting his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.” So, since he has been patient right down to today, we have the opportunity to demonstrate where we are on the side of this universal issue. And we need to demonstrate where we are because our future prospects for life in that world of peace and security depend upon it.

Hannah J Paul

Answer 11

Control , so you'll behave more.

Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; blessed is he who keeps the law.