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 In a 2001 study conducted by the
Barna Research Group Ltd., only 27% of American adults believe
in the reality of Satan. That means that nearly 3 out of 4
people believe Satan is more of a metaphor, or a
representation of evil, than he is a real being who can spread
evil on earth.
The Biography of Satan
Satan (or the Devil—literally meaning slanderer), is a spirit
son of God who was born in the morning of the premortal
existence (D&C 76:25-26). Endowed with moral agency, Satan
chose the evil part from the beginning, thus placing himself
in eternal opposition to the divine will of God our Father.
God created all things, including all beings as his spirit
children. Satan, or Lucifer as he was once called, was a
spirit son of our Heavenly Father in the premortal existence
and enjoyed great stature as a valiant spirit. Satan became
angry when Jesus Christ was chosen to be our savior, as
Lucifer wanted the glory of this role for himself (Moses
4:1-4). Satan’s anger led to a war in heaven (Rev. 12:7). The
spirits who followed Satan fought against Jesus Christ and his
followers. All those born to the earth are among those who
chose Jesus Christ in the premortal existence.
Satan and his Minions Were Cast Out
Because of Satan’s rebellion, he and his followers—one third
of the spirits of heaven (Rev 12:4)—were cast out. Their
punishment was separation from God and loss of any opportunity
to take on a mortal body. As the “sons of perdition,” these
evil spirits were and are eternally damned; there is for them
no possibility of forgiveness.
Revelation 12:4 says that these evil spirits were cast down to
the earth, the same earth we live in today. Being without a
mortal body, these spirits retain their knowledge of their
premortal existence and suffer constantly from the knowledge
of their loss, which they know is hopelessly eternal.
Satan’s Evil Designs on the Children of Men
With Satan as their leader, these lost spirits seek to destroy
the plan of our Heaven Father by persuading us continually to
break the commandments of God and to do evil. Satan’s plan is
to deceive us, keep us from returning to our Heavenly Father,
and to be miserable as he and his followers are. The
scriptures state that Satan seeks “...the misery of all
mankind… for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like
unto himself” (2 Nephi 2:18, 27).
Satan accomplishes his goals through deception and cunning,
leading away many into sin. He is the master deceiver. He is
able to imitate the gifts of the spirit, including prophecy,
tongues, healings, visions, and other miracles (Gospel
Principles, 149 and Exodus 7:8-22). Satan’s army of seduced
mortals includes false prophets, false healers and miracle
workers, fortune tellers, paranormal mediums, and others who
engage in practices that lead us away from Christ and the plan
of Heavenly Father. God will reveal to those who seek
discernment the falsehood of these seduced mortals—people who
are under the influence of Satan and are an abomination to the
Lord (Isaiah 47:12-14; Deuteronomy 18:9-10).
Satan can use the most subtle means to deceive us. In doing
so, he can cause us to give up our freedom of choice: He can
tempt us into following him in ways that have terrible—and
frequently inevitable—consequences. For instance, Satan
leverages our passions and human emotions to lead us into
breaking the law of chastity through pre-marital sex,
adultery, and yielding to sexual temptations of same-sex
attraction. Satan can accomplish this in degrees by leading
people into wearing immodest clothing, encouraging immoral or
improper thoughts, viewing or listening to inappropriate
movies and music, and performing suggestive acts. He uses lewd
distortions of dancing, music, and other delightful activities
to bring us into sin. Satan preys especially upon those who
are “...lonely, confused, or depressed. He chooses this time
of weakness to tempt us…” (Gospel Principles, 250).
Knowledge of Our Pre-existence Aids Satan
When one ponders that these spirits who follow Satan retain
their knowledge of their pre-existence, including their
knowledge of precisely who we were then and am now, we can
begin to understand the seriousness of the struggle. We can
know with a deeper understanding the power of temptation and
the potential danger from weapons available to Satan to tempt
us. This doctrine helps all of us finally understand why
unclean spirits in the Bible knew that Jesus Christ was the
son of God long before Jesus declared himself: “And unclean
spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried,
saying, Thou art the Son of God. And he straitly charged them
that they should not make him known” (Mark 3:11-12).
The unclean spirits knew Jesus as the son of God because these
spirits retained their knowledge of the premortal existence.
Imagine the great power Satan can exercise over us because of
his clear memory of us in the premortal existence. We have no
such clear memory of him or his minions. No wonder we see so
much evil in the world today! Until our memory is restored, we
must rely on faith in God, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and
the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. With these and the many
spiritual tools available through Christ’s Church, we can
overcome the memory advantage of Satan. This hope, this
confidence sustains us in the fight.
Satan’s Influence Will Eventually End
Satan will have the power to tempt us until the second coming
of Jesus Christ. During the thousand year reign of Christ
before the Final Judgment (known as the millennium), Satan
will be bound and have no power to tempt those living on the
earth at that time (Rev. 20:2). At the end of millennium,
Satan will be set free once again (Rev. 20:3) as part of a
last epic struggle before the final judgment. In that final
battle, Satan and his followers will be soundly defeated and
cast into outer darkness for all eternity.
Our Heavenly Father has given us clear guidance on how we can
avoid the temptation and bondage of Satan. We will never be
tempted beyond our capacity to resist (1 Cor. 10:13), but only
if we put forth the effort ourselves to pray regularly and
petition God for help in resisting the temptations of Satan.
Knowledge of Satan helps us Avoid Temptation
The doctrine of Satan as an angelic being who fell from God’s
presence creates a valuable awareness of evil. Such awareness
can help adults and children better understand how to identify
evil and avoid being caught in its Satan’s snares.
Christian doctrine provides valuable details on the specific
act of disobedience that caused Satan and his followers to
fall, along with insights on how Satan and his followers
regularly tempt us today. Through modern day scripture one can
come to understand Satan’s error—how he rebelled against our
Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation; how in this rebellion, he
desired to become the savior of the world in a way that would
have robbed mankind of free will and brought us as slaves to
universal salvation; and how for this he wished to claim sole
glory for himself, with no acknowledgement of Heavenly Father.
In short, Satan’s great sin was pride, and thus he fell from
being son of the morning to being the master of evil.
These details about the nature and mission of Satan give
mankind new weapons against him. We know he was a powerful
spirit, and we understand the cause of his spectacular fall in
the premortal existence. The modern day scriptures that
provide this understanding illuminate several ambiguous
scriptures found in the Bible. With this knowledge in hand we
can know better how to combat evil, because we know more about
its source.
Our roles in the plan of salvation become clearer with this
doctrine on Satan. We cease to be spiritual spectators and
become soldiers for Christ here-and-now, having been informed
of the side we had already taken, the choice we had already
made in the premortal existence. We gain confidence in knowing
our choice allowed us to ultimately come to the earth and gain
a body, while Satan and his followers were cast to the earth
without bodies—thus explaining the scriptural accounts of
demons taking control of earthly bodies. This knowledge helps
us understand the fight that we are in. It helps us stay
committed to the fight when times are tough and memory of our
choice begins to fade.
Conclusion
The Christian doctrine of Satan provides details and insights
that help all of us in our personal struggles with evil. Satan
lives, and he and his wicked followers, both spirits and
mortals, are hard at work. We must match this work with our
own in the name of Jesus Christ, relying on his divine power
through the Holy Ghost, to protect ourselves against Satan and
his minions.
Doctrinal
Study: Angels &
Satan: Satan and His Minions
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Sword Series™ essay on Satan and His Minions |
