An Overlooked Device of the Enemy

Welcome to another Thursday UNFILTERED blog post, the only blog that is amused when pastors want their congregants to have the same passion for church as they do for the Super Bowl. Scream at him if he fumbles his words during the sermon

Another reminder: There are only 19 days left until my new book The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: Revised and Expanded releases.

Please mark your calendars for March 4. We are giving away 7 marvelous bonuses to all who order the book during – not before – launch week. So wait until March 4^th to grab your copy.

This new book is far more than a “revised and expanded” edition; it’s a complete overhaul and total rewrite, five times the size of the old flawed edition. And it took me three years – virtually every day – to complete it.

We will also provide the best places to order the book including for those of you who live outside the USA.

Also: this is NOT a book about ecclesiology. So it doesn’t advocate any kind of church form, whether organic church or house church or institutional church or liturgical church.

Rather, it is a robust guide that unlocks the New Testament. Therefore, the target audience is any Christian who wants to understand what the New Testament really says. That would include pastors, teachers, Bible students, and everyone else who wants to deepen their understanding of Scripture.

The word “church” in the title is simply representative of all the Christians in the first century since they dominate the pages of Acts and the Epistles.

In one of the interviews I recently did (that I’ll be dropping on the Christ is All podcast soon), I discuss the differences between New Testament 1.0, New Testament 2.0, and New Testament 3.0.

My new book is a contribution to New Testament 3.0 – which represents a fresh way to approach the Bible.

I have an article planned that will drop next week which will explain this approach.

Now for today’s article

An Overlooked Device of the Enemy

Over on The Deeper Christian Life Network, we have a segment called “Scriptural Game-Changers.”

These are articles on a short biblical text with my own personal commentary that contains eye-opening, game-changing insights.

This is one from January, and I felt impressed to share with all of you.

In 2 Corinthians 2:11, Paul writes “lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices (schemes).”

So what are the devices (or schemes) of the enemy?

One can answer that question by making a strong biblical case that satan’s tactics include:

*deception

*slandering others (he is called “the slanderer” for that very reason)

*casting suspicion on other believers

*believing and spreading lies

*tempting God’s people to violate the Lord’s will

Yet in the immediate context of 2 Corinthians 2:11, Paul is addressing a situation of church discipline and forgiveness.

In the preceding verses (2 Corinthians 2:5-10), the apostle discusses a person in the Corinthian church who had caused grief in the assembly.

As a result, he was disciplined by the congregation. (In my upcoming book on the New Testament story, I share my theory on who this person was and what he did.)

By the time Paul pens 2 Corinthians, he is advocating for this person’s restoration and forgiveness, and this is where verse 11 becomes particularly relevant.

Here’s how the context unfolds:

1) The person who was excommunicated has repented. By the way, repentance doesn’t mean the person feels sorry or confesses. That may be included, and it usually is, but repentance means the person has stopped the sinful behavior.

2) Paul urges the assembly to forgive and comfort the repentant person (verses 7-8).

3) He emphasizes that excessive punishment could lead to overwhelming sorrow (verse 7).,

4) He confirms his own forgiveness of the offender (verse 10)

When Paul mentions “the devices of Satan” in verse 11, he’s referring to these spiritual dangers:

Satan could use excessive harshness and unforgiveness to:

– Destroy the repentant person through shame and despair. Shaming a repentant person is abuse, plain and simple.

(If you don’t understand that sentence, it means you’ve never committed a sin, agonized over it, repented – i.e., stopped it – received total forgiveness from God, but then were shamed, belittled, attacked, and ostracized by people who profess to be Christians. The pain is beyond belief, and Paul knew this well.)

– Create division within the church

– Turn discipline into destruction rather than restoration. The aim of all church discipline is to restore, not to damage. To judge a repentant person is to reap God’s judgment upon oneself (Matthew 6:15; 7:1-4).

The “devices” (or schemes) Paul alludes to include:

– Embracing bitterness and resentment which prevent reconciliation.

– Exploiting church discipline to break rather than restore relationships.

– Taking advantage of disunity to weaken the church’s testimony.

– Turning legitimate church discipline into an opportunity for revenge or perpetual punishment.

Paul’s point is that maturity in Christ must balance justice with mercy, understanding that excessive leniency and excessive harshness serves satan’s purposes.

In this situation, Paul was addressing a self-righteous spirit of harshness.

The Greek word for “devices” (noēmata) suggests calculated thoughts or designs, indicating that Paul sees satan as a strategic opponent who looks for opportunities to turn even good things (like church discipline) into occasions for harm.

(Paul refers to the “wiles/strategies/schemes of the devil” in Ephesians 6:11 to capture the same idea.)

The apostle aims to protect both the individual who has repented as well as the assembly from satan’s attempts to cause further damage and division.

He urges the believers to forgive and comfort the repentant person to prevent him from being overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

If anyone in the church takes the enemy’s bait and withholds forgiveness (true forgiveness means putting the sin behind them just as God has done), they will be guilty of sinning just as the repentant person had sinner before he turned to God.

In this regard, self-righteousness is another scheme or device of the devil. And it is one that has ensnared many Christians.

Self-righteousness is almost always the root behind withholding forgiveness and abusing repentant believers by shaming them.

Here is the full passage.

“If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. Another reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes [devices].”

~ 2 Corinthians 2:5-11

The truth of Scripture is meaningless unless we apply it. And that’s always the challenge.

May the Holy Spirit reveal to you how and where to put this word into action, lest judgment boomerang your way.

Until next week,

fv