Satan Question?

Question

This is a question for Christians....Do you believe Satan or The Devil is a type of celestial force that provokes you to sin or do you believe him to be an actual deity?

Answer 1

How about my BOSS -- hehehehhe

I believe Satan is a spiritual being
I believe the biblical teaching that he was once one of God's highest Angels and through pride/jealousy, CHOSE to leave God.

In modern culture, I think Satan is referred to BOTH as a spiritual being AND a more generic force that leads us to sin, because we have a sinful nature by default.

For example: I don't need the Devil to convince me to lie about something small, let's say, how often I floss to my dentist.. I do that on my own. Am I wrong to say the Devil is at work when I lie like this? Not really, not when if I am referring to the lie as the type of thing the devil does do.

I believe he leads us to sin in a multitude of ways. I don't think it is very hard for him.
I think his best work is helping us to 'rationalize' our sins -- I think he very RARELY OVERTLY tempts us, I think most of the time he helps us to think we are justified in what we chose to do. -- His pride after all, led HIM to feel justified in his defiance of God, so I'm sure he knows pride and jealousy the BEST.

So the Devil/Satan can be used BOTH to refer to the being AND to the type of work the devil does. Regardless of whether or not he had a DIRECT hand in the sin, the bible tells us he delights in ALL SIN, so it's not wrong to contribute it to him, even if it is our OWN sinful nature that led us to that SPECIFIC sin.

But, just to be sure.. I DO believe he is a spiritual being

Answer 2

Satan is not a deity (going with the assumption that he exists). He is a fallen angel of God who wanted to place himself above God believing he knew better than God. As an angel of God, that would mean that he's on the same plane of existance and made up of the same energy that God's other angels are made of. But a deity? Hells no. A tempter, accuser, questioner, keeper of Hell, but not a deity.

Answer 3

Satan is Real.When Jesus was being Tempted in the Wilderness right after he was Baptized, he was not Imagining having a Conversation with Satan.

Answer 4

Good Question!! Wish I had an answer!! Actually, I'm not even sure if I'm Christian (I say yes, they say no, long story) so I guess this question isn't for me anyway.

Answer 5

Satan is a spirit and can influence man mentally. It is a spiritual thing. You need the Word of God to defeat him.

Answer 6

He's a being that provokes us to sin. He's not a deity.

Answer 7

actual deity that has better things to do than provoke certain behaviors in humans (much like god)

Answer 8

Neither. Satan is a real being but he is not deity. He is just a fallen angel.

Answer 9

Most people don't think about the subject of Satanism unless there is a grizzly murder, and satanic symbols are found at the crime scene. Many who believe in the devil, usually think of him as being the darkest of figures. What they don't realize is that the Bible tells us that he can also manifest himself as an "angel of light." In reference to false converts within the Church, the Bible says:

For such men are false apostles [spurious, counterfeits], deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles (special messengers) of Christ... And it is no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light; So it is not surprising if his servants also masquerade as ministers of righteousness... 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 (Amplified Bible).

Satan is incredibly subtle. We are warned that he uses professing men of God (ministers of righteousness) to deceive the Church. The Bible calls him "the god of this world," and says that he blinds the minds of unbelievers. Jesus called him "the prince of this world," and "the father of lies."

The Scriptures continually warn the Church against his wiles (his methods), using words such as "be not deceived," and telling us to "be vigilant." Well, has Satan had any influence on you and me? Is there any deception with the Church? That's what we are going to look at closely. We are going to look at perhaps the greatest and most subtle of Satan's deceptions.

You may not be familiar with the story Jesus told of the Prodigal Son, so let's take a moment to consider what it says. The Prodigal Son asked his father for his inheritance, then went into a far country and spent all his cash on parties and prostitutes. He enjoyed "the pleasures of sin." But after a famine hit the land, his money ran out, and the only job he could get was feeding pigs.

He became so hungry that he found himself desiring the food that the pigs were eating. Suddenly, he "came to himself"--he came to his senses. Realizing that even his father's servants had it better than he did, he decided to return and say, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. Take me on as a hired servant." So he got up out of the pigsty and went back to his father.

His father was looking for his son's return, and the Bible says that "he saw him while he was yet a great way off." He ran to his son, fell upon him, kissed him, and rejoiced that he had returned. He freely forgave him and returned him to his former state.

This is a picture of every person before they come to Christ. We turned from God to serve the devil and the pleasures of sin. The Bible says that there is a "spirit" that works in the children of disobedience. 1 John 3:8 says "He that commits sin is of the devil..." Jesus even told the religious hypocrites of His day that their father was the devil:

You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. John 8:44

Unsaved people live in the Kingdom of Darkness. It's as simple as this, if we are serving sin, we are serving Satan. Our appetites are unclean. We desire pig food. Consider what we crave. Think of the contents of the average soap opera or prime time television show -- adultery, jealously, lust, fornication, rape, gossip, and greed. Or the average movie today with its violence, filthy language, explicit sex, and graphic murder.

Look at the covers of magazines in bookstores and supermarkets. They are "soft-core" pornography, which a few years ago was considered hard-core and hidden from young eyes. Think of video games that kids crave--many are extremely violent and sexually perverted. Think of some rock music, with its explicit sexuality, its blasphemy, and its dark Satanic side. Consider the Internet's multi-billion dollar hard-core porn industry, or how the average person uses filthy words and blasphemy in everyday speech. Life in the dirty pigsty is normal, natural, and completely acceptable.

Yes, Satan is the god of this world, and he has deceived millions. But his deception hasn't stopped there. It has moved into the Church. Despite what the Bible says, that Satan is real, that he's a deceiver, and the god of this world who blinds minds, look at what has happened--according to the Barna Research Group:

In 2004, an incredible 50% of those who profess to be "born again" actually deny Satan's existence.

That's unbelievable! Despite the revelation of Scripture, 50% of those who profess to be born again actually deny Satan's existence. And the scary thing about denying Satan, is that if you deny that he exists, you let your guard down--you let him bring in deception. The place to corrupt the Church is at the point of entry... to poison evangelistic message that brings people into the Kingdom of God.

That's what has happened. We haven't been vigilant. We have allowed Satan to contaminate the biblical method of evangelism. We have allowed certain "ministers of righteousness" within the Church to move away from Scripture. They refuse to use the Law (the Ten Commandments) to bring the knowledge of sin (as Jesus did), and show sin to "be exceedingly sinful." This is despite the fact that even the Apostle Paul said that he didn't know what sin was without the Law. They say that they have found a shortcut to bring people to salvation. They leave out the Law and instead take the prodigal back to the father, without showing him that his appetites are unclean.

Answer 10

Satan is the Prince of darkness, he is a liar and master of deception. He got thrown out of Heaven when he tried to be equal with God. Satan tempts me into sin, Jesus gives me victory or Satan and sin.