By: Ben Springer
“The core of all sin is the belief that God is not good.” –Oswald Chambers
Have you ever been hardened by the deceitfulness of sin? It may be difficult to recognize it if you have. Scripture tells us that sin comes from the father of lies (John 8:44), who disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). We are informed, “the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made” (Gen. 3:1). He has a game plan to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10), and he utilizes the male capacity to be aroused sexually by visual stimuli to our own detriment. With all the tools that he has at his disposal in our world today, coupled by our own fleshly desires as fallen men, he is able to entice and ensnare those inside and outside the church. As Proven Men, we must be on guard. Therefore, it is to our advantage that we learn the tactics of our enemy.
In my own life, one of the chief tactics the devil used was to exploit my own curiosity. I was raised in the Christian faith and shielded from a lot of the sexual temptations of the world. Most of what I knew about sex while I was growing up came from my father’s biblically-based instruction rather than from school. I came to see sex as a special union for a husband and wife, one worth preserving, prizing and protecting. However, during my high school years, I learned from the conversations of my peers about some aspects of sexuality that were new to me. I was curious about the unknown, but I was too embarrassed to ask my parents about it. Instead, I turned to the internet to find the answers I was seeking. I was treading into treacherous territory. Eventually I began to view pornographic content. I felt guilty about it each time, but I kept pushing aside the conviction of the Holy Spirit as I let my curiosity grow into fascination with the forbidden. I told myself that I was only filling in the gaps in my knowledge and not really lusting, but that was a lie. One compromise led to another, and I got hooked.
This is exactly the type of lure that the serpent used in the garden. In Genesis 3, we can see his three-step process of deception at work.
1. He questioned the goodness of God’s character.
The serpent began with this question: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” In putting forth this notion, he portrays God as an uncharitable and selfish killjoy, creating beautiful and appealing trees but forbidding her from enjoying them. He knew exactly what God had actually said, but he was cultivating her mind to receive a tiny seed of doubt about God’s character. She clarified what God had actually said: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” By getting her to respond in this way, he directed her attention to the one tree that God said was off limits so that that seed of doubt could be planted. For the first time, she wondered whether God is actually good because he had seemingly withheld something good from her.
2. He questioned the truth of God’s word.
Now that the serpent had gotten her to reconsider the character of God, he told her a lie: “You will not surely die.” He clearly contradicted what God had said, but Eve’s confidence in God’s goodness had wavered just enough that she was willing to listen.
3. He presented the sin as an appealing alternative to God’s good and true word.
The serpent continued, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” At this point, he pitched all the benefits of the fruit from the tree in such a way that it made God’s word seem to be restraining rather than liberating. Scripture tells us, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took its fruit and ate, and gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” She had come to see the fruit as good rather than God. She started to doubt that the boundaries that God had established for her and her husband were for their own good because she believed that He was preventing her eyes from being opened to higher knowledge. Finally, she saw how appealing this fruit looked in comparison, and her eyes zeroed in on it. In that moment, none of the other trees in the entire garden mattered because she wanted what she did not have.
We know the outcome of Adam and Eve’s choice. Yet our enemy continues to use this tactic effectively against us just as he has done since the beginning. The good news is that we do not have to fall prey to this scheme! God’s character and truth has not changed, and we can have confidence in Him. We know Satan’s game plan.
Here are some steps we can take in our own game plan.
1. Trust in the goodness of God.
We must daily fill our hearts and minds with God’s truth so we can recognize deception.
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
2. Trust that God’s Word is always true.
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart, I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments” (Psalm 119:9-10).
3. Take every thought captive that contradicts God’s goodness and truth.
“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete” (2 Cor. 10:4-6).
Brothers, the battle for sexual integrity is a spiritual battle. We must be careful to arm ourselves with God’s truth as we are confronted by the lies of the enemy. Be vigilant. Be on guard.