Since Satan is not permitted to force us into wrong worship, he tries to fool us into it. He tries to deceive and mislead us. He knows that God is truly honored and loved when we obey God. For obedience treats God as the King He is. So Satan first attacks the word of God.
Notice how he lied to the first people. The snake told Eve that God was mistaken in saying that death would come to those eating the wrong fruit (Genesis 3:4). He also used Eve’s natural desires. The fruit looked “good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6). Eve, and then Adam, followed Satan into disobedience. As God had warned, their sin brought death into the good world, and with it much suffering (Genesis 2:17; 3:16-19).
“Death” for sin means more than the end of the body’s life. It means the end of the human spirit’s closeness and life with God. Thus Romans 5:12 says,
Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…
Why did death spread to all people? “Because all sinned”! Clearly, Satan’s lies have done terrible damage to all of us. As Revelation 12:9 says, he “leads the whole world astray.” Among his many tools are leaders who claim to speak for God and for truth, but who mislead the people.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1).
Though God has spoken very clearly, these false teachers turn people away from God’s word. Some try to stop the people from learning God’s word for themselves. Others pretend to teach it, but they “twist” or change its meaning (2 Peter 3:16).
They do this so that they can follow what their “itching ears” want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3-4). This reminds us that we should test every teaching by what the Bible actually says.
Why would anyone teach things that are against God’s word? Some may do it selfishly—for money and power. Others may be holding to old, respected “traditions” of their people. Whatever the reason, most do not fully realize the harm they are doing. As Proverbs 21:2 says, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes.” Satan can so blind us that we think we are right, when we are quite wrong. Jesus warned His apostles of just how far Satan would go.
Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God (John 16:2).
This shows how fully Satan deceives, and how fierce the spiritual fight is.