WHY THE DEMONS TREMBLE
So you believe that there is one God? That's fine. So do all the devils in hell, and shudder in terror! James 2:19, Phillips.
Have you ever wondered about the theology of demons? Have you puzzled about what they know about God and how it affects them? Have you wondered why they know so much about God, yet still don't repent? Today's verse gives us one of those rare opportunities to examine the theology of the whole demonic host.
James makes it clear that the demons know God exists and that He is one God--not a scattered castleful of scrapping deities. But their response to what they know is that they tremble in fear. We might say, "Well indeed they should be trembling, with their guilty consciences and all. They've got it coming." Yet we might wonder why such terrible fear does not lead them to repentance.
But we must recall that they got their instructions about the Father from the "father of lies," Satan himself, not from God. And the old snake wasn't about to tell them the truth. Instead he told them that the thing that's wrong with sinning is not that it will hurt anyone but that it will make the Father really angry. Once one has rebelled, Satan told them, God is keen on vengeance. There is no hope of restoration, only a fearful anticipation of retaliation and wrath.
The fallen angels clung to this understanding, in spite of all that God could do to tell them otherwise. Rejecting the clearest portrayals of truth, they damaged beyond repair their ability to apprehend furter truth. And they fell under the unending burden of Satan's deceptions about God. Unable to apprehend the gracious truth that alone can lead to repentance, they remain forever in the bondage of fear.
For us as well, it is clearly not enough simply to believe that God exists. Our entire spiritual life is flavored by who we believe this God to be who does indeed exist. And if our religious life is haunted with dread of judgment to come, we are either turning our backs on God or we are burdened with Satan's deceptions about who God is and how He relates to us.
Unlike Satan and his self-deceived demonic followers, we may still walk from darkness into His marvelous light--the light of truth about Himself that He longs for us to hear: that He wishes to embrace us, not to terrify us!
So you believe that there is one God? That's fine. So do all the devils in hell, and shudder in terror! James 2:19, Phillips.
Have you ever wondered about the theology of demons? Have you puzzled about what they know about God and how it affects them? Have you wondered why they know so much about God, yet still don't repent? Today's verse gives us one of those rare opportunities to examine the theology of the whole demonic host.
James makes it clear that the demons know God exists and that He is one God--not a scattered castleful of scrapping deities. But their response to what they know is that they tremble in fear. We might say, "Well indeed they should be trembling, with their guilty consciences and all. They've got it coming." Yet we might wonder why such terrible fear does not lead them to repentance.
But we must recall that they got their instructions about the Father from the "father of lies," Satan himself, not from God. And the old snake wasn't about to tell them the truth. Instead he told them that the thing that's wrong with sinning is not that it will hurt anyone but that it will make the Father really angry. Once one has rebelled, Satan told them, God is keen on vengeance. There is no hope of restoration, only a fearful anticipation of retaliation and wrath.
The fallen angels clung to this understanding, in spite of all that God could do to tell them otherwise. Rejecting the clearest portrayals of truth, they damaged beyond repair their ability to apprehend furter truth. And they fell under the unending burden of Satan's deceptions about God. Unable to apprehend the gracious truth that alone can lead to repentance, they remain forever in the bondage of fear.
For us as well, it is clearly not enough simply to believe that God exists. Our entire spiritual life is flavored by who we believe this God to be who does indeed exist. And if our religious life is haunted with dread of judgment to come, we are either turning our backs on God or we are burdened with Satan's deceptions about who God is and how He relates to us.
Unlike Satan and his self-deceived demonic followers, we may still walk from darkness into His marvelous light--the light of truth about Himself that He longs for us to hear: that He wishes to embrace us, not to terrify us!
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