13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Introduction
Would you know the devil if you met him on the street? “Sure, I would,” you say. “He is a well-formed healthy male with a red suit, horns, a tail, and a pitchfork in his hand. I would know him anywhere.”
This caricature, of course, does not come from scripture. It comes from a combination of Greek mythology and medieval superstition. But I’m sure it must please Satan very much that he is envisioned in this way. Actually, he is the opposite. Satan is beautiful and alluring beyond anything we can imagine. The apostle Paul states this when he writes, “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”
The word translated angel is the Greek word aggelos, which means “messenger.” What Paul is saying is that Satan is always transforming himself into a messenger, a preacher of righteousness.
The occasion for this statement is a letter written by the apostle Paul to defend his own apostleship and to expose a group of false prophets who were at work in Corinth. These were arrogant, braggadocios, self-seeking men who preached that Jesus was a mere man, and that salvation was by works, not by grace. Both their message and their spirit betrayed their true identity.
These men claimed to be apostles, men of God, when in reality, as Paul plainly asserts, they were agents of Satan. They were hypocrites, deceivers masquerading as apostles of Christ. Paul suggests that we should not be surprised, however, for their master, Satan, does the same thing. He too is accustomed to masquerading as a messenger of God to further his base designs.
As Paul writes these words he recalls how Satan deceived Eve in the garden by his cunning ways, and he is afraid that something like that might happen to this church. In the case of Eve, Satan took the form of a serpent. This was not a crawling snake. That resulted from the curse put upon the serpent (Genesis 3:14). Evidently he appeared to Eve as something of grace and beauty.
There is a basic truth here. Evil never comes to us in the guise of evil; it camouflages itself as good. It is the habit of evil to clothe itself in the colors of righteousness. Temptation always appears in the guise of good; otherwise it would not be a temptation. And Satan, when he comes to us, always comes in disguise. Otherwise we would not listen to him or follow him.
For instance, with regard to alcohol, he appears not as a drunken bum, but as a “man of distinction.” With regard to sex, he assumes the role not of a shameless prostitute, but of a beautiful, popular social butterfly.
In the Bible, when Satan appears before God, he always appears as Satan. He cannot fool God, for God knows him for who and what he is. But when he appears directly to man, he never appears as Satan. He always assumes some other role. For man does not understand his guiles.
Satan has many tools. Some of his favorites are preachers and other religious leaders. He delights to come to us as preachers of righteousness, true men of God, and lead us away from the Lord.
Just as he masqueraded as a messenger of light in Paul’s day, he masquerades as men of God today. This should come as no surprise to us. Jesus himself said, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:4-5).
It is the consistent witness of scripture that the last days will be characterized, more than by anything else, by an increase in false prophets and counterfeit religions.
Satan’s primary tactic is not to build a church and call it “The First Church of Satan.” He is far too clever for that. He invades the Sunday school, the seminary classroom, and even the pulpit and disguises himself as a man of God, a preacher of righteousness.
It is difficult for us to accept the fact that Satan can use a preacher or a clergyman to proclaim a gospel other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet that is often the case today. This does not mean that we should be constantly suspicious of every preacher and always looking for heresy in a proud, judgmental way. We should thank God for the thousands of Godly men who faithfully proclaim the scriptures in churches of many different denominations.
At the same time, we must not be naive about Satan’s ability to deceive. Satan is an imposter. That has been his tactic since the Garden of Eden and is still his tactic today. His ministers are everywhere today, masquerading as true men of God. Some consciously but still more unconsciously.
How does Satan disguise himself today? What are his favorite masquerades?
One way Satan disguises himself is through religious cults and cult leaders. It is loosely estimated that millions of Americans have joined organizations that could be defined as cults over the past several decades.
In the Christian faith, a cult may be defined as a Christian deviation. It is a group that calls itself Christian, uses the Bible and Christian terms, but deviates in its theology from basic biblical doctrine as accepted by traditional Christianity.
In particular, its deviation centers on the person and work of Jesus Christ, but also usually includes the authority of the Bible, the doctrine of God, the Holy Spirit, mankind, and salvation.
There are four characteristics by which we can identify cults. They follow one human leader. They believe in “new” revelations. They dilute the Bible. They take people away from the church.
1. They follow one human leader. Cults often center around a single charismatic leader or authority figure who claims a special relationship with God, and out of that relationship claims to speak for God as his prophet, apostle, or messiah. He or she is the sole source of revelation from God and the final authority for religious truth. Salvation is attained by accepting the sect leader and his or her teachings.
We all seem to be vulnerable at the point of authority figures. We seem to have a perverse tendency to want to create idols. Whether they are golden calves or Christian superstars, idols are simpler and less threatening than the living God. It is easy to embrace what Richard Foster called “the religion of the mediator.” If we are not forever careful, we can move quickly and unconsciously into worshipping men we think to be God’s servants instead of God.
One way to spot a false authority figure is to observe how he responds to questions and differences of opinion. The one thing a false messiah hates most is disloyalty. He considers differences of opinions as infidelity. He is not interested in our questions; he wants loyalty. He wants power over the lives of his followers.
Hold in suspicion any authority figure who does not welcome honest questions and will not answer them frankly.
2. They believe in “new” revelations. Acceptance of new teachings from God is another key characteristic of cults. The idea that God and his truth can be found only through the cult leader is coupled with a belief in progressive or supplemental revelations. These new revelations or insights supersede, contradict, or radically reinterpret biblical teachings.
3. They dilute the Bible. A third characteristic of a sect is the acceptance of new written authority. False religions often ignore or even deny the full inspiration and authority of the Bible as the word of God. Instead they substitute other books or a set of teachings that are not based on the Bible. These supersede the Bible or are necessary to interpret the Bible correctly.
4. They take people away from the church. The fourth characteristic of a cult is the belief that it is the one true church. With the acceptance of a modern prophetic figure, new revelations from God, and possession of the correct interpretation of the Bible, the cult claims it is the one true church on earth. Coupled with its claim is the teaching that the New Testament church ceased to exist in the earliest Christian centuries but the true church has been restored to the earth by God through the cult’s living leader. Cults teach that God has rejected traditional Christianity as the true faith and chosen the sect as the true church. They alone have the whole truth and therefore strongly discourage their members from practicing in the worship and instruction of a Christian church, and may even take violent measures to prevent it.
Don’t be deceived. No human leader, no church, no cult can save you from your sins and reconcile you to God. Only Christ can do that—and he will for all who turn to him in simple faith and place trust in him as Lord and Savior. The apostle Peter summarized the consistent message of the New Testament from beginning to end: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12, NIV).
And when God gave his truth in scripture he did not leave us the option of some new revelation later on. The Bible is a complete document from God to us. It does not leave room for supplemental chapters.
When someone adds to, or subtracts from, God’s word, insists on another book or teacher in order to understand it, or discovers a new theology hidden for generations, don’t believe him. The Christian faith has been given to us once and for all and allows for no additions or subtractions. As Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “There is no new theology unless it is false.”
The church is not perfect and some within the church have even departed from the basic truths of the Christian faith. But God still has his people, and the church is essential to his plan. It is his instrument for world redemption. Hold in suspicion any person or group that speaks against other Christians and churches and insists that they alone have the truth.
I caution you not to believe every religious person who calls on you no matter how sincere he may seem or how religious he may sound. Test both his message and his spirit by the word of God. He may be a minister of Satan transformed into an angel of light.