What does the Bible say about devil?
Bible Topic · WEB
The Bible teaches that the devil is a real, evil spiritual adversary who deceives, tempts, and opposes God’s people, yet remains under God’s sovereign rule and has been decisively defeated by Christ. Jesus calls him a liar and murderer in John 8:44, while Revelation 12:9 identifies him as the deceiver of the world. Believers are warned to be sober and watchful, resisting him by faith, as 1 Peter 5:8 and James 4:7 teach. He may disguise evil as good and blind unbelieving minds, according to 2 Corinthians 11:14 and 2 Corinthians 4:4. Still, Christians need not fear him as an equal power to God: through Christ, they belong to God, put on His armor, and stand against the devil’s schemes (Ephesians 6:11-12; 1 John 5:18-19).
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Rankings: OpenBible.info Topical Bible (CC BY) · Scripture: World English Bible
- 1 Peter 5:8
Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
- James 4:7
Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
- 2 Corinthians 11:14
And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light.
- 1 John 3:4-10
[4] Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. [5] You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. [6] Whoever remains in him doesn't sin. Whoever sins hasn't seen him, neither knows him. [7] Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. [8] He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed, that he might destroy the works of the devil. [9] Whoever is born of God doesn't commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can't sin, because he is born of God. [10] In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn't do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn't love his brother.
- John 8:44
You are of your Father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn't stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it.
- Revelation 12:12
Therefore rejoice, heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time."
- 1 John 5:18-19
[18] We know that whoever is born of God doesn't sin, but he who was born of God keeps himself, and the evil one doesn't touch him. [19] We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
- Ephesians 6:11-12
[11] Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. [12] For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
- 2 Corinthians 4:4
in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.
- Revelation 12:9
The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
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