Satan’s Influence on Unbelievers

1 John 5:19 “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”  

When Adam rebelled against God by listening to the devil, he in effect changed allegiance and submitted himself to Satan as his new god, and so at that time Satan became the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). When Satan tempted our Lord in the wilderness he stated that he had authority over all the kingdoms of the world. He then tempted our Lord by offering Him all that authority if Jesus would worship him. The temptation was real, for our Lord never disputed Satan’s claim, but rather rejected his temptation (Luke 4:5-6). And so, as the god of this world Satan has dominion over all unbelievers on the earth, and Satan exercises his dominion over mankind by influencing them to do his will. The above quoted passage of scripture confirms the truth to us that the whole world lies under the sway of the devil. In other words Satan is able to exert his influence, to a greater or lesser degree, on the wills of men in the world so that they do his will.

Job 1:12-15 “And the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person." So, Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.  (13)  Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house; (14) and a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were ploughing and the donkeys feeding beside them, (15) when the Sabeans raided them and took them away--indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

 All authority comes from God (Romans 13:1), and so God decides what the limits of that authority will be. In the same manner God places limitations on Satan’s authority in the earth, because of which Satan can only operate within the parameters that God allows. Nevertheless Satan does have relatively wide latitude of authority over the unbelievers in the earth. And so it is because Satan is able to influence the wills of men that there is so much wickedness in the world. It is for this reason that it is possible for seemingly normal people to be capable of doing extremely wicked things. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see that it was Satan that influenced the Sabeans to kill Job’s servants and take his livestock. I’m not saying that these Sabeans were not already wicked men, but this passage demonstrates to us that it is Satan who influences men to kill and to steal.

Isaiah 14:5-7 “The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers; (6) He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke, He who ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted and no one hinders.  (7) The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing.”

 The above quoted passage of scripture demonstrates to us the wicked influence that Satan has over the unbelievers in the earth, for this passage reveals that the whole world will be at rest and quiet when Satan is taken out of the world. When our Lord Jesus returns to the earth for His millennial reign, the scriptures teach us that Satan and his angles will be removed from the earth during that time (Revelation 20:1-3). And so during that time mankind will no longer commit any wickedness, even though they will still be spiritually dead people. The reason that wickedness will cease in the earth is because Satan will not be around to exert his influence on the wills of men any more.

Mark 5:15-19 “Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.  … (18) And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him.  (19)  However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.”

 When Satan exerts his influence on the wills of men, he does so with the intention of ultimately trying to possess them. We see that truth demonstrated to us in the above quoted passage of scripture about the man who had become demon-possessed by the demon called Legion, and how our Lord Jesus delivered him. I want you to notice from this passage that once this man had been delivered, he was once again in his right mind. And so during the time that the demon had full possession of him he no longer had any control over his will, for the demon exercised full control over his will. This account reveals to us the stark difference between the way that Satan influences the wills of men, and the way that God influences the wills of men. As we have said earlier, in this life God never overrides the free will of men. Clearly this is not the case in Satan’s kingdom. It is purely the grace of God that prevents Satan from having his full way in the world, for notice that it was the compassion of our Lord that delivered the man that was fully demon-possessed. Nevertheless even though Satan doesn’t always succeed in fully possessing men, he does very often succeed in partially possessing them, for the scriptures reveal to us that many who were demon-possessed came to the Lord Jesus for deliverance (Matthew 8:16). These were not possessed to the same degree as the man who had the legion, but nevertheless the demons that were afflicting them did exercise control over their wills to a certain extent.

1 Chronicles 21:1-4 “Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.  (2)  So, David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, "Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it."  (3)  And Joab answered, "May the Lord make His people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? Why then does my lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?"  (4)  Nevertheless, the king's word prevailed against Joab. Therefore, Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came to Jerusalem.”

We will close off this section with one more example of Satan influencing the wills of men. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see King David being influenced by Satan to do his will. Notice that once Satan had influenced David’s thinking along this line, that the sound reasoning of Joab was not able to persuade David to change his mind. So just how does Satan influence the wills of men in the world? He does that primarily through their thought life. His demons whisper suggestions into the ears of men. Men do not realise that those words spoken did not originate from their own thinking, and continue to think on those thoughts as if they were their own. The more men think on those thoughts they eventually begin to become obsessed with that way of thinking, for the demon continues to place more and more thoughts along that line into the mind of that individual. It is at that stage that the demon is able to establish a stronghold in the mind of that individual. Although the demon has not yet possessed the man he is nevertheless able to exert strong influence over the man’s thoughts, and by that stage any sound reasoning presented to the individual is completely rejected by that individual. And so we see that before long men begin to act on those thoughts as an act of their wills, and it is in this way that Satan is able to influence the wills of men to do his will.

Michael E.B. Maher

The Will of Man

Buy Now

Donate

Payoneer