Remnant Christians fall into believing many false doctrines. In many cases, there are more false teachings and beliefs among the remnant than would be found in most mainline congregations. One false belief that will be exposed here is the idea that there is no Satan or devil, no distinct evil being, chief of devils, instigator of evil, or anti-Christ working to disrupt God’s plan. This doctrine wars against the Bible and every Christian denomination belief that I know. The “no devil doctrine” has few followers, true, but God warns this: “a little leaven leaveneth the whole loaf” (Corinthians 5:6). This is God’s warning to expose and confront this teaching by shining the light of Scripture on this deceptive darkness.

Summation of Satan and the Bible

The following is what this ministry teaches. Our belief is herein stated first so that it remains fresh in the mind as the “no devil” position is brought forth.

The story of Satan/Devil begins with Lucifer, the name that God gave to this great archangel (Isaiah 14:12). Lucifer’s fall from heaven resulted from his sin, where he sought to be like God (Isaiah 14:12-15), which makes him a “rival of God.” In other words, the created sought to be like his Creator. This sin made him the first sinner. He was “cast to earth and his angels” (Rev 12:9), where he has served as “prince of this world” (John 12:31; Eph 2:2). Since his sin, Lucifer has been known in Scripture as Satan, serpent, the devil, the dragon—Rev 12:9; 20:2). Coming to earth, he deceived Eve. He was the serpent of Genesis 3:1 who deceived Eve and then caused her and then Adam to sin. Neither Adam nor Eve was created with sin nature, for their creation was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Thus, sin nature was born at the hand of Satan, for he is “the spirit that worketh in the children of disobediuence” (Eph 2:2). Two kingdoms were now in the earth: the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God. “And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?…But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you” (Matt 12:26,28). Also, read 1 Corinthians 10:20-21. It is quite obvious that Satan has a kingdom which contains devils, or the fallen angels. We know that the kingdom of God has power over the kingdom of Satan because Jesus gave the twelve disciples “power and authority over all devils” (Mark 9:1).

God removed Lucifer from heaven. In Luke 10:18, St. Luke connected Lucifer with Satan: “I beheld Satan as lightening fall from heaven.” James Strong tells us that Lucifer (#1966) means “from 1984 (in the sense of brightness); the morning-star”; thus, Luke connected Lucifer to the fallen “lightening.” Lucifer took with him one third of the angels who joined his evil plan. They became the fallen angels or devils (Rev 12:4, 9: Jude 6). This makes Lucifer, now Satan/the Devil, chief of the devils. The Pharisees know this, for they accused Jesus of casting “out devils through the prince of the devils” (Matt 9:34). These devils and the Devil can cause great harm. For example, consider Legion, who was tormented by many devils until Jesus cast them out of Legion (Luke 8:26-36). A similar story in Matthew 8:28-30 records that devils possessing two men said to Jesus, “thou come hither to torment us before our time?” (Matt 8:29). What did they mean by this statement? They were referring to their pending judgment spoken of in 2 Peter 2:4: “For if God spared not the angels that sin, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” Satan’s children upon the earth will receive their judgment of fire: “the tares (Satan’s children) are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil…and the reapers are the angels…and shall cast them (Satan’s children) into a furnace of fire” (Matt 13:38-39, 42). The devils believe that there is a God (Titus 2:19), and Satan and all that is his belongs to the “synagogue of Satan” (Rev 2:9;3:9). In the end, Satan will be cast into the “lake of fire…and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Rev 20:10).

Having written more New Testament letters than any other writer and having received his ministerial assignment directly from Christ makes the Apostle Paul the most credible source to quote, outside of Scripture. In his Triads, he remarks about “the devil” something that point blank identifies this being as separate from man and evil. “There are three sorts of men: The man of God, who renders good for evil; the man of men, who renders good for good; the man of the devil, who renders evil for good” (Triads of Paul the Apostle, p. 192, Drama of the Lost Disciples). “The devil” whom Paul describes is not the sin nature of man, as “no devil doctrine” people say to explain the devil tempting Christ in Matthew 4 (They teach there is no one tempting Christ. Rather, He is tempting Himself and by implication has sin nature). Back to Paul’s Triads, if Paul were referring to sin nature, he surely would have written “the man of sin nature, who renders evil for evil.” Or, if he meant some unidentified devil, he would have said “a devil.” But, he said “the devil.” “The” identifies a particular being known as “the devil or Satan.” Truly, Paul speaks of the same devil as the King James Bible does and that Christianity has always known. Thus, when Paul writes of the devil nine times in the Bible, he does not disagree with his Triads. If the devil presents himself as “not existing,” yet wins “no devil” converts, does this not make his deception one of the greatest of all, a true biblical Trojan Horse? An enemy that “is” but is viewed as “not existing” wins a great battle in the minds of the deceived.

No Devil Doctrine Rejects the Reality of Satan and Devils

A premise of the “no devil doctrine” is that the devil, either singular or plural, is a teaching that came from heathen, pagan belief systems and is not found in the King James Bible. Believing this requires that the Bible must be rewritten: Satan (Devil) is mistranslated. A recent book on this topic titled Counterfeit Christianity, How Ancient Paganism MIXED with Christianity, a model for this study, contains this statement from the author: “The first traces of a devil are in what we call the apocryphal books and the Talmud, which were written but a few centuries before the Christian era. No doubt, they (Israelites) obtained ideas of a devil from the Babylonians during their bondage in that country. The Greeks then borrowed the devil from the Babylonians and wove him into their mythology” (p. 43). E. W. Bullinger has a different view. From Appendix 26, page 28 of The Companion Bible, we read this: “Thus the Babylonian ‘Creation Tablets,’ the Egyptian ‘Book of the dead,’ the Greek mythology, and heathen Cosmogonies, which by some are set on an equality with Scripture, or by other adduced in support of it, are all corruption and perversion of primitive truths, distorted in proportion as their origin was forgotten, and their memories faded away.” The heathen did not invent Satan. He was borrowed from the primitive truth of the Bible, not the reverse, who has him created “in the beginning” as the archangel Lucifer.

Another premise of the “no devil doctrine” is that the KJ Bible mistranslated Satan and devil from the Hebrew and Greek. Quoting from page 51 of Counterfeit Christianity, we read: “Keep in mind…that the correct translation of the Greek ‘diabolos’ and “Satan” in the New Testament is ‘the accuser,’ ‘a false accuser’ or ‘a slanderer.’ Just as the correct translation of the word ‘Satan’ in the Old Testament is ‘adversary.’” This position attacks the translators of the 1611 KJ Bible as not having been inspired by the Holy Spirit; thus, they were in error. “No devil” teachers are neither Greek nor Hebrew scholars, nor are there forty-seven of them, like those who translated the 1611 Bible. These forty-seven translators were men of the highest scholarship in English, Greek, and Hebrew languages. The scholarship of the KJ Bible translators and the “No devil” teachers is not even comparable.

With “no devil” thinking, Psalm 109:6 should read thusly: “let an accuser stand at his right hand,” instead of “let Satan stand…” If the Holy Spirit wanted “an accuser,” he would have inspired David to say that and the KJ translators to record that. Professing mistranslation is not a valid way to determine true Biblical doctrine. If it were, the Bible could then be used to teach any doctrine desired by simply changing words, under the cover of mistranslation, as needed. Mistranslation is a major flaw in “no devil” thinking. It is an easy way to formulate a false doctrine.

“Our flesh is the tempter” is an additional premise of the “no devil doctrine.” Quoting from Counterfeit Christianity more fully will heighten this point in your mind. “Thus we see that our flesh is a tempter, an adversary to the law of our minds” (p. 51). It can be seen from this statement that a person’s own sin nature is his tempter. It is agreed that sin nature tempts man to sin. There is, however, an original sinner, Lucifer, who brought sin to Eve and Adam and who wars against God. Lucifer is Satan or the Devil and figuratively, the Serpent. That makes the Devil the “instigator of all evil.” These names describe the fallen Lucifer: Serpent, Satan, and Devil, per Rev 20:2. Thus, Satan is the original author of sin and is a real, evil biblical personality. Satan (# 7854) per James Strong means “Satan, the arch-enemy of good: adversary, Satan.” Robert Young in his concordance adds “the hater” to describe Satan. II Corinthians 4:4 records this: “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.” This “god” is Satan (Eph 2:2; John 14:30; Matt 13:39).

In summary, the “no devil” belief purports that Christianity has accepted the devil teaching of the pagan world, that the Bible is mistranslated concerning Satan, devil, and that sin nature is the cause of all sin. The devil or a devil has no part in sin. Also, the reader will observe that on some occasions, Satan, the devil should have been translated accuser or adversary, and other times, such as in Matthew/Luke 4, as “sin nature.”

Arguments Used by “No Devil” People for Following Scriptures

Ephesians 6:11-17: “That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” From Counterfeit Christianity, we read: “The word ‘devil’ used by the Apostle Paul in this Epistle comes from the Greek word ‘diabolos,’ (Strong’s concordance, #1228), and it means ‘false accuser.’ A false accuser describes the action of a person, not a spirit being” (p. 45). “A false accuser describes the action of a person, not a spirit being,” is strongly retorted by the two angels (spirit beings), of whom Satan is a fallen one (Jude 6), who talked and presented themselves as men, “persons,” to Lot and the Sodomites of Genesis 19. The actions of these two angels defeat the “no devil” argument for Ephesians 6 in that they are “spirit beings” acting as men, persons. Further, “diabolos” is translated thirty-five times as “the devil,” when the passage includes another personality besides one’s self, two times false accuser (2 Tim. 3:3; Tit. 2:3), and once slanderers (1Tim 3:11) when the passage includes none other but self, a translation that makes perfect sense. The scholarship of the learned forty-seven translators of the KJ Bible is accepted here as fully Holy Spirit-directed, thereby eliminating mistranslations as an option.

Now, let us broaden the understanding of “devil” beyond “an adversary” by seeing all that Mr. Strong has said for diabolos, (Strong’s #1228). Strong’s # 1228: “From 1225; a traducer; spec. Satan (comp.7854): false accuser, devil, slanderer.” Strong’s number 7854 is the Hebrew Satan, “saw-tawn” and reads: “From 7853; an opponent; espec. (with the art of pref.), Satan, the arch-enemy of good: adversary, Satan, withstand.” Putting Strong’s work together, we get the fact that “the devil” is Satan, who falsely accuses, slanders, and is the archenemy of good. In many passages where Satan or the devil appears, the “no devil” believer will say that the word should have been translated “false accuser” or “accuser.” Again, there is no mistranslation, for mistranslation is not a valid argument to build sound biblical doctrine.

Revelation 12:10, 12 is submitted as biblical evidence that Satan is a real personality who accuses, and not just any accuser: “The great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan…For the accuser (#2723) of our brethren is cast down…for the devil (#1228) is come down unto you…because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” This passage reveals that the devil is an accuser. To highlight, Strong’s # 2723 (accuser) is “From 2725 (a complainant at law; spec, Satan: accuser)—to be a plaintiff, i.e. that is to charge with some offense.” Observe that Strong has “Satan” in the role as “accuser.” That he did. Satan resisted Joshua before God in Zechariah 3:1-2 and is without question a specific being performing a specific act of accusation: “Satan standing at his right hand to resist him (Joshua the high priest).” From Counterfeit Christianity, concerning Zechariah 3:1-2, we read: “The 1611 AD King James text translated “Saw-tawn” as “Satan,” which in this instance should read “accuser.” The 1926 James Moffatt text correctly translates ‘Saw-tawn’ as ‘adversary” (p. 53). According to Jasper James Ray who wrote God Wrote Only One Bible (p. 33), he has Moffatt in the camp of those who use counterfeit texts from which to translate the New Testament. That makes Moffatt an unacceptable translator for any of the Bible. Moffatt is one man, while the KJ translators were forty-seven men. The safe ground is the forty-seven. Remember, someone or group (cause) has to be the adversary (effect). Satan is the cause, while his adversary position is the effect. Adversary cannot stand alone without association with a being. A being acts in an adversarial way. The KJ Bible has identified that being as Satan. You see, to build the “no devil” case, the KJ Bible does not fit and must be rewritten.

Revelation 12:7-9 reads: “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceived the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Counterfeit Christianity reports this to be “in allegory and symbology” (p. 48) with this explanation: “Pagan Rome, the last great World Empire dominated by a ‘satan’ or an adversary of Christianity, was falling. ‘Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out’ (John 12:31) Although pagan Rome, who represented the dragon and had been acting as a ‘satan’ at that time, was completely routed from any superior sovereignty, an ecclesiastical adversary rose to prominence to hold men through a revival on the Roman Empire represented by Papal Rome. Thus, we find that ‘Satan’ originated from symbolic names that do not identify any particular material or spiritual person” (p. 49). Rome—is the dragon Satan? Let’s see how it plays. Revelation 20:2,3 instructs: “And he (angel) laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit…that he (Satan) should deceive the nations no more.” Rome is not Satan, is she? Satan is the devil or dragon, not Rome. Rome conquered nations, but she did not deceive them as Satan does. If she had, how and when? Rome conquered, and the comment about “Papal Rome” makes even less sense as to how it fits into Revelation 12. You figure it out. There is no symbolism here. The “no devil” explanation of Revelation 12 is a real stretch beyond imagination in an effort to erase Satan from the Bible and reveals the extent to which one must go to get Satan out of the Bible. Revelation 12 says what means and means what it says. Satan deceives nations and people, just as he did Adam and Eve.

E. W. Bullinger, the authorative expositor of figurative language, offers this concerning the dragon and the serpent from his Appendix 19, “the Serpent of Genesis 3,” page 24 The Companion Bible. The serpent of Genesis 3, Revelation, 12, and 20 is the same, thus Bullinger’s Genesis 3 comments appertain to our discussion. “In Genesis 3 we have neither allegory, myth, legend, nor fable, but literal historical facts set forth, and emphasized by the use of certain Figures of speech. All the confusion of thought and conflicting exegesis has arisen from taking literally what is expressed by Figures, or from taking figuratively what is literal. A figure of speech is never used except for the purpose of calling attention to, emphasizing, and intensifying, the reality of the literal sense, and the truth of the historical facts; so that, while the words employed may not be so strictly true to the letter, they are all the more true to the truth conveyed by them and to the historical events connected with them….Revelation (20:2). Indeed, the explanation added there, that the ‘old serpent’ is the Devil and Satan, would immediately lead on to connect the word ‘old serpent’ with the earlier and former mention of the serpent in Gen 3and the fact that is was Satan himself ….and no other than the personal Satan could have been the tempter of ‘the first man, Adam.”

Matthew 4/Luke 4: To save space, all the scriptures will not be stated here, as this story is well known to Christians. “And when the tempter came to him (Jesus)…the devil taketh him up…and the devil taketh his up” (Matt 4:3,5,8). Explanation from Counterfeit Christianity follows: “Was Jesus standing next to another identity on Mt. Temptation? NO!” (p. 49). I kid you not. No one was with Jesus. That He was alone talking with Himself can be the only conclusion and is the one that will be addressed. Jesus was apparently having a conversation with His supposed “sin nature.” Observe the following comments from the book. “Jesus was tempted with the lust of the flesh when He hungered…Jesus is tempted by the pride of life” (p. 49). The author offers James 1:14 to support this (underlining is his). “But every men is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” Further, the author offers John 2:16, an explanation that means Christ was born in His manhood of sin nature and would by His sin nature tempt himself—“of his own lust.” This is beyond the pale and blasphemous. The Bible teaches that Christ was born without sin nature, as the “lamb without blemish and without spot” (2 Peter 1:19). This was possible because the Holy Spirit brought forth Mary’s conception (Matthew 1:20) so that Christ, “that holy thing” (Luke 1:35), would have no sin nature. If Christ had sin nature, He would be unacceptable, just like man, to be the sacrifice for Israel’s sins. Christ was without sin nature. Matthew 4 and Luke 4 are written in plain English.

The idea that Jesus could tempt Himself creates two additional glaring problems. Problem one is found in Matthew 4:10: “Then saith Jesus unto him (Satan).” This is clear indication that there are two personalities present. But when “him” is not Satan, but Jesus in personal dialog, the verse must be translated: “Then saith Jesus unto himself.” Problem two is found in Matthew 4:11: “Then the devil leaveth him (Jesus).” If there were no devil present as “no devil” doctrine teaches, then Jesus would have to leave himself. A person can leave a room, but how can he leave himself? These are further examples of the extent to which the Bible must be rewritten to eliminate the devil from the Bible. “No devil doctrine” is illogical.

Job 1 & 2: From Counterfeit Christianity, we read this: “It should also be noted that Satan, in this episode, was one of the angelic beings who was acting as God’s adversary but was far from being the chief of a rival dominion…The common teaching of the church is that Satan was Job’s tormentor, but Job understood that God inflicted the troubles on him and that God Himself was responsible for them…and they (Job’s brethren, sisters, acquaintances) bemoaned him (Job), and comforted him (Job) over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11) (p. 52). First of all, to be accurate, Job did not blame the evil (judgment) upon God, when those around him did. Read Job 42:11again. Evil here is the judgment that God allowed Satan, a willing candidate, to bring upon Job for his self righteousness, of which Job did repent when he said “I…repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6). God did allow Satan to chastise Job for his sin, just as God used Babylon and Assyria to bring judgment upon Israel.

Satan was not just “one of many angelic beings.” He is the chief of all the fallen angelic beings acting as an accuser in this case. So, concerning the comment that Satan “was far from being the chief of a rival dominion,” Revelation 12:1-9 establishes that Satan is, in fact, the head “pendragon” among the fallen angels. “The great red dragon….drew the third part of the stars (angels-Jude 6) of heaven…and the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan…and his angels were cast out with him” (Rev 12:3-4,9). Also see the previous discussion of Lucifer. This story proves that Satan has no power over God. He was defeated in Christ’s Resurrection. His doom is sure. The fact that he has no power beyond the power God gave him at his creation as Lucifer and he cannot use it without God’s approval should not be viewed as Satan is not God’s rival or adversary. He is. Remember the circumstances of his fall. The message of Matthew 4/Luke 4 is that Satan is “the chief of a rival dominion” because he sought to get Christ to yield to him.

1 Chronicles 21:1: “And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.” Explanation per Counterfeit Christianity reads: “Here the word ‘Satan’ is not used as a proper name, but simply a common noun, i.e. a satan” (Page 53). Notice that Satan, a noun, begins with a capital “S” in Chronicles 21:1, which signifies a proper noun. “A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place, or thing; it should be capitalized” (Plain English Handbook, Walsh. 1982. p. 10). In the Samuel account, the author of Counterfeit Christianity identifies God as Satan. This is blasphemy! “In this account (2 Samuel 24:1), Yahweh Himself incited David to number the people. Thus, Yahweh is identified as the ‘satan” (p. 53). If God ordered the numbering as the “no devil” people suggest, why would David say, “I have sinned greatly” ( 2 Samuel 24:10)? And, why would God punish with a “pestilence upon Israel” (2 Samuel 24:19)? But it makes great sense that Satan convinced David, i.e. instigated evil, to number Israel on the eve of battle. Now we have before us sin that was stimulated by an evil person, Satan, and punishment justified. This situation is similar to Satan’s deceiving of Eve. Let me call upon E. W. Bullinger, again, for understanding, because he is the authority of figures. 2 Samuel 24:1 reads: “And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David (was moved) against them to say, Go number Israel and Judah (per Satan’s suggestion).” Bullinger states: “He moved=He suffered him to move. By Hebrew idiom (and also by modern language) a person is said to do that which he permits to be done. Here we have the historical fact. In 1 Chro 21:1 we have the real fact from the Divine standpoint. Here (2 Sam 24:1) the exoteric (for all to know), in 1 Chro 21:1 the esoteric (few to know)…God’s permission, but Satan’s suggestion (Jas 1:13,14)…‘David was moved.’”

John 8:44 reads thusly: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a lier, and the father of it.” Explanation per Counterfeit Christianity follows: “Jesus was speaking to Judahites regarding the condition of their hearts. They were evil but not descendents of a devil” (p. 60).

The Bible does not say “a devil,” but “the devil.” That means a particular devil, the serpent of Genesis 3, in fact. Further, Jesus was not speaking to Judahites, that is, those of the house of Judah, Israelites. John 8:33 tells of whom Christ spoke: “They answered him, We are Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man.” Since the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt, Jesus was obviously talking to non-Israelites who were of Abraham’s seed. This can refer only to Esau (Abraham’s seed) and the children he bore when he married two Canaanite (Gen 28:8) women (Gen 26:34-35) who were a grief to his mother (Gen 27:46). His mother was grieved because Canaanites were not of Abraham, but of the “wicked one” (1 John 3:12), Satan, the Devil, the serpent of Genesis 3. Thus, John 8:44 is literal and has a double witness in Matthew 13:28-29. If “they were evil but not descendents of a devil,” how is Matthew 13:38-39 explained? It reads: “The tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil.” One cannot deny that there is a being present in John 8:44 and Matthew 13:38-39 that is separate from one’s self and has contributed to evil.

If you have friends who do not believe in the Satan, pray for them. There are many otherwise good remnant Christians who do believe that Satan never existed. I cannot help but remember that not long after Pastor Sheldon Emry began to preach “no devil,” he soon was pushing up pansies. Is there a connection? I do not know. But it sure looks fishy. The “no devil” Trojan Horse requires rewriting the Bible. Plus, explanations are weak and illogical, and the symbolism used defeats the plain teaching of the literal. This doctrine allows the enemy and his kind to operate with impunity in the lives of those who believe he and his kind do not exist. This is like believing Islam is the friend of Christianity when in fact and history it is an enemy. See the damage being done today by this? Believing the King James Scriptures as written is the best way to not be led astray. Satan exists!