Where does Satan and our Sinful Nature fit

• in explaining the evil that is in the World Today?

As a Christian

• I learn about the existence of ‘Satan‘ and of the ‘Sinful Nature,’ but
• I have not fully resolved
  • how those two (sinful nature and Satan) interact to bring evil in the world.

Regarding Satan (the devil, serpent, tempter, accuser, destroyer, etc.)

• Is he present everywhere at the same time?
  • everyone appears to be constantly being affected or
    • tempted by him;
• How is he able to tempt each person individually?
  • How come he knows what we are thinking?
  • How come he knows so much
    • about our individual histories, personalities and weaknesses?

• If Satan, ‘the devil’
  • can tempt, deceive, dissuade, discourage, destroy individuals
    • even as the human population on the earth
      • continues to grow and
      • has reached over 4 billion; and if he
  • can work his evil from generation to generation for thousands of years;
    • the way some people say he does,
    • does not that make him a very powerful person
      • with some attributes like God(!)?
      • But he is NOT GOD!

This brings us to another source of evil in the world:

• The Sinful/Evil Nature in all of us.

A ‘celebrity’ (in the early church)  once said this about himself:

• (in the first century)
• “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me,
  • that is, in my sinful nature. 
  • For I have the desire to do what is good,
    • but I cannot carry it out.   
  • For I do not do the good I want to do,
    • but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”
      • (Paul: Romans 7.18-19)

This is what that sinful nature looks like:

• He(She) is lazy, slow, and a procrastinator.
• He(She) lies, exaggerates, and deceives
• He(She) is incredibly selfish;
• He(She) is greedy, proud, boastful, and self-promoting
• He(She) can be lewd, nasty, and insensitive
• He(She) is utterly against God
  • He(she) does not want to submit to God’s rule or to worship him;
  • He(She) does not like to humble himself before God;
  • He(She) does not like to pray;
  • He(She) does not want to read sacred scriptures;
• He(She) does not like limits
  • if the speed limit is 40 mph, he(she) wants to go at 45 mph or
  • if the speed limit is 55 mph, 65 mph seems attractive to him/her
• He(She) lacks self control, prefers excesses,
  • he(she) does not want to wait or to accept limit on him/herself
    • whether it’s with regard to food and drink, or
    • in relation to social interactions,
      • including sex, and marital fidelity;
  • he(she) does not want to go to bed or to wake up early;
  • with regards to words and conversations,
    • he(she) can be mean, insensitive, inconsiderate, gossipy, and crass.
  • He(She) is never satisfied, always wants more.
• He(She) works against the interest of the person in whom he dwells;
  • the excesses of the sinful nature may cause
    • disease, physical harm, crime and punishment;
    • auto accidents, fire, financial ruin,
    • ruined relationships and broken families,
    • loss of face and status, loss of power, etc.;
  • but this does not stop him or cause him to change direction .

I believe that

• this sinful/evil nature is in every human being;
  • it can be conditioned/tempered by
    • parental discipline and personal experiences;
    • Christian (religious) conversion and education, and by
    • custom, and the laws of society;
• this sinful nature is a “he/she” because
  • it is a part of but
    • not the totality of who we are as individuals
  • because he(she) appears to operate by ‘reason’ and ‘persuasion’
    • to our minds and/or to our will
    • (See Paul above in Romans 7.15-25);
  • as individuals we have still have the ability
    • TO MAKE A CHOICE between what
      • the persuasion of what the sinful nature wants and what
      • commons sense, conscience, laws of society, and the dictates of our faith, tell us.
• (Personally, I refer to this sinful nature as “THE BEAST”).
• Bring a community of people together
  • with this sinful nature and its tendencies,
  • we then have endless possibilities for evil,
    • in our world!

NEXT POST:  BRINGING THE TWO TOGETHER:

• SATAN, OUR SINFUL NATURE, AND THE PREVALENCE OF EVIL IN OUR WORLD!!