How can we recognize the ‘works of the devil’ that God sent His Son to destroy (1 John 3:8)? It’s really not difficult. We know the works of the devil are ‘evil’ (d-evil) and the works of God’s Son are ‘good.’ Here are some examples –

Works of the Devil

We know the ‘works’ of the devil because the Bible lists them for us. Since Jesus Christ, God’s Son, came to destroy the devil’s works I’ll start with what He said –

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” John 8:44

We can begin the list with ‘murder’ and ‘lies’ – works of the devil.

Going back to the time of God giving Israel His commandments, we see a HUGE list of the devil’s works. Anything God tells us NOT to do is a work of the devil. Anything God tells to do and we don’t do it can also be work of the devil –

  • You shall have no other gods before Me
  • You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them
  • You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain
  • Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy
  • Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you
  • Disobedient to parents
  • You shall not murder
  • You shall not commit adultery
  • You shall not steal
  • You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
  • You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s
  • envy
  • pride
  • sloth (lazy)
  • jealousy
  • cheating
  • drunkeness

The Old Testament includes other God’s commandments against the works of the devil that are included in the writings of the apostles in the New Testament –

  • men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness
  • Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things
  • Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator
  • their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature
  • men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due
  • homosexual
  • being filled with all unrighteousness
  • evil thoughts
  • inventor of evil things
  • foolish talk
  • sexual immorality
  • lasciviousness
  • fornication
  • whoremongerer
  • wickedness
  • uncleanness
  • lewdness
  • covetousness
  • maliciousness
  • full of envy
  •  sorcery
  • hatred
  • contentions
  • murder
  • strife
  • deceit
  • evil-mindedness
  • whisperers
  • dissensions
  • backbiters
  • haters of God
  • outbursts of wrath
  • selfish ambitions
  • violent
  • proud
  • boasters
  • inventors of evil things
  • disobedient to parents
  • revelries
  • undiscerning
  • untrustworthy
  • unloving
  • unforgiving
  • unmerciful
  • knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them
  • gluttony
  • greed
  • anger (wrath)
  • apathy
  • blasphemy
  • boaster
  • argumentative
  • defiler
  • covenant breaker
  • deceiver
  • coarse joking
  • critical spirit
  • despiteful
  • hater of God
  • heretic
  • hypocrite
  • idol worshipper
  • lawless
  • ungodly
  • malicious
  • neglectful of worship and prayer
  • slanderer
  • lack of faith (trust) in God
  • refusal to repent of sin
  • quencher of the Holy Spirit
  • griever of the Holy Spirit
  • reveller
  • seditious
  • unforgiving
  • unkindness
  • unloving

This is by no means a ‘complete’ list of the works of the devil, but it does give us a starting point to consider.

Works of the Son of God

Keeping in mind that Christ, the Son of God, was ‘manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil,’ let’s see what ‘works’ He will use to accomplish that objective.

It’s important that we remember that as the ‘Son of God,’ Jesus is ‘equal to God’ –

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:5-7

When Moses asked God to, ‘Please, show me Your glory,’ this is how God responded –

“Then He said, ‘I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Exodus 33:19

Notice that God began His answer to Moses by saying, ‘I will make all My goodness pass before you.’ Everything about God flows from His ‘goodness.’ That includes His ‘grace’ and His ‘compassion.’ God is merciful because He is good. God is loving because He is good. We see more detail in Exodus 34 –

“The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6-7

Notice that God is –

  • merciful
  • gracious
  • longsuffering
  • abounding in goodness and truth
  • keeping mercy for thousands
  • forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty
  • visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation

We see the same abundance of goodness and truth in the Son of God in the New Testament. Jesus will destroy the works of the devil with –

  • Sacrificial Love
  • Spiritual Truth
  • Spiritual Liberty
  • Joy
  • Peace
  • Longsuffering
  • Kindness
  • Goodness
  • Faithfulness
  • Gentleness
  • Self-control

Again, that is by no means a ‘complete’ list of the works of Christ, but it does give us a starting point to consider.

One of my favorite verses concerning the ‘goodness’ of God is in the letter of James –

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” James 1:16-18

God gives His people ‘good’ and ‘perfect’ gifts from above. Those gifts come to us ‘from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.’ We can trust His Word, His promises to us, because they come from His perfect Will.

Remember, this series is about the ‘deep things’ of God and Satan. These are the ‘deep-laid plans’ of each. They come from two different spectrums of thought and action, which means there is a ‘deep collision’ in the spirit world.

Next Time

There is something extremely ‘personal’ between Satan and the Son of God. That’s definitely a ‘deep thing’ and may challenge our thinking about why we experience what we do in our lives. Join us next time for more of ‘Understanding the ‘Deep Things’ of God and Satan.’

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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