Does the Devil own people?
In John 8 Jesus says of some people that their father is
the Devil. 1 John 3:10 speaks of others as “children of the Devil.” 2
Timothy 2:26 speaks of people who are the Devil's captives and 1 John
speaks of others, saying that they are “of the evil one”. And so on.
At
first glance we might think that Satan owns people, that they belong to
him in some non-relational manner. That somewhere a deal was struck
between him and God that if we sinned Satan would get to own us. That's
not the truth at all!
Satan doesn't actually “father” the sinners
mentioned. They aren't really his “children” nor are they actually his
“slaves” that need to be bought from him. These are metaphors! [That's a
tricky word.]
We're also called “sons of disobedience,”
“captives” of sin, and “children of wrath” and even captives to the “law
of sin” (Ephesians 2:2,3 and 5:6, Romans 6:6 and 7:25 ). So, is
"disobedience" our "father" is "wrath" our "parent"? Does "the law of
sin and death" own us?
None of these "own" us or "father" us.
We're not to turn such speech into literal fact. These are ways of
stressing our dire need or helpless condition.
Furthermore, we
need to remember that Satan himself is a captive to sin and a child of
wrath.He isn't the lord of Sin. Sin is his lord. He didn't overthrow
Sin. Sin overthrew him. Satan is a fellow-sinner with us.
There
is an actual and very real relationship existing between sinners and
sin, between sinners and Satan and between sinners in their weakened
moral condition. That is not to be denied! We have taken sides against
God and joined the ranks of all those that are anti-God, anti-holiness
and anti-life. In the New Testament, Satan is regarded as the chief of
sinners, the foremost enemy of God, the shrewd Deceiver and Snake but for all that he is just another sinner!
The
Devil has no “legal” right to us! We “belong” to him the same way we
“belong” to a gang called “The Mad Dogs” that has Jerry Hxystwnp as the
chosen leader. He is our “father” only because we choose to mirror his
spirit and we're his “slaves” only as long as we freely choose to serve
him.
Satan is not the lord of sin nor is he the author of it. If
we were to personify sin (as Paul often does) we can envisage a day when
Sin walked up to Satan and overthrew him and made him a captive. If
Satan dropped stone-dead this minute sin would still continue in us
without him! Sin has no objective existence apart from sinners so when
we speak this way of sin we need to be careful that we don't suggest
that it has eternally existed in some form or other. The Bible is death
on all such forms of Dualism.
When people say we “belong” to
Satan because we have sinned they are missing the mark. On what grounds
would we ”belong” to him? How does our sinning make us “belong” to him?
Why doesn't he “belong” to us since he has sinned? Why don't sinners
“belong” to other sinners as a result of their sin? God owns us! God
alone owns us! We are his offspring and he gives us “life and all
things” (Acts 17:25-29). Satan, we and everyone else exist and continue
to exist because God continues to have it so (Revelation 4:11 ).
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