Satanism

Introduction

The mere mention of the religion of Satanism rightly shocks Christians as a blasphemy against God. Satan, which literally means “adversary,” often strikes fear in the hearts of many believers, “cultural Christians,” and even “nones” alike. Why does it strike the nerve of a Christian more than any other false religion? I would suggest it strikes a nerve because Christians know that Satan is real, and even non-Christians often admit (if only privately) that he is cleverly, completely, and viciously evil. There have been periods of history where human evil is so pernicious (e.g., Nazi Germany) that even nonreligious people are forced to admit that those regimes were satanically inspired.

Many Christians are unfamiliar with what Satanism is. To a certain degree, this makes sense. Most Christians do not want to study the subject for fear of being influenced by it. Even those who may want to academically study Satanism find it difficult to separate actual beliefs, creeds, and “doctrines” of Satanism from pop culture influences, hearsay, legends, occult stories, and movies.

The religion has historically been difficult to document because Satanists have been secretive and only were known as such by close confidants. Therefore, it has been tough to know their specific doctrines and beliefs over the years. With the dominance of Christianity in the Western world, Satanists would not have touted their Satanist beliefs.

Although official numbers of adherents are unknown, it has been estimated that Satanism is a relatively small religion of less than 100,000 people (between the two main branches). Recently (in the past 30 years or so), however, things have changed. Christianity, though still influential in the Western world, has declined, and the religions of secular humanism and atheism have grown much stronger. The culture has become more moralistically relative, and this has been a springboard for Satanists to “go public” with their beliefs.

For the Christian wanting to refute this false religion, this publicity is helpful. Instead of relying on secondhand accounts of alleged Satanists over the past few hundred years, we now have Satanists publishing what they believe, which allows their beliefs to be analyzed by Christian theologians and apologists.

The Two Major Forms of Satanism

In the past, there have been various forms of Satanism, but today, two forms have risen to dominance even though there are several individual and unaffiliated (or loosely affiliated) Satanists. These two main forms are Theistic Satanism and Modern or Symbolic Satanism.

Theistic [Traditional] Satanism

In this form, Satan is real and is seen as a deity, in many cases to be worshipped. This is the group that has been known as Devil Worshippers or Satan Worshippers. Most hold to Satan by devotion, and some also engage in satanic rituals. Those in the latter group hold that dark magic really does exist, and it can be channeled through Satan and his demonic hordes (fallen angels).

The typical devil worshippers are followers of Theistic Satanism/Church of Azazel, which states that “our ritual practices center around devotional worship of Satan/Azazel. Members of the Church of Azazel should be people who feel drawn to Satan on a deep level.”1 This group also denounces violence as a religious practice, in opposition to the next group.

There are various forms besides the typical devil worshippers that often blend political elements or witchcraft with their beliefs. One example is Order of the Nine Angles (often abbreviated as “O9A” or “ONA”), which states that it

should be seen as a Satanist movement and philosophy that is influenced by elements of fascism. As a movement, O9A is an international and clandestine collective of individuals and groups (known in O9A parlance as “nexions”) devoted to principles and practices originating with the writings of pseudonymous author Anton Long. At the heart of the O9A’s outlook is a self-proclaimed mission to aid individual and societal evolution toward enlightenment by balancing human and supernatural forces. To progress toward this enlightenment, O9A holds that Western civilization must unlock its true pagan ethos, which has been corrupted by Judeo-Christian values. To this end, O9A encourages individuals to commit “sinister” and “heretical” acts conducive to liberation from artificial societal norms, thus breaking down the current social system.2

The O9A’s literature

does explicitly encourage a practice of incremental violence that starts with magickal practices and gradually progresses to petty criminality before harm to sentient beings is suggested. One aspect of the ideology that has gained attention is “culling” or human sacrifice. In some places, culling is described as a magickal practice by which the victim is not directly harmed physically, while in others direct murder is described (although often categorised as of only “historical interest”).3

Followers of Theistic Satanism believe “Satan exists as a conscious entity, often seen as a powerful force of nature, a divine being, or even a misunderstood liberator.”4

Other groups include the Temple of the Black Light, Theistic Luciferianism (though it has some unique differences and goals), and Satanas (Ophite Cultus Satanas/Our Lady of Endor Coven, founded in post-WWII era in Ohio).

In a general sense, these variations each hold that Satan, or Lucifer, is a real being. Naturally, goals and specifics vary among them where some view Satan alone as the god, some hold to pantheism, some to polytheism, and others have Satan as other popular pagan gods of the past. Followers of Theistic Satanism believe

Satan exists as a conscious entity, often seen as a powerful force of nature, a divine being, or even a misunderstood liberator. While beliefs vary from person to person, many theistic Satanists view Satan not as the embodiment of evil but as a symbol of freedom, knowledge, and personal empowerment. Some consider Satan a mentor or father-like figure who encourages followers to question authority, seek truth, and embrace individuality.4

Modern or Symbolic Satanism (Church of Satan or LaVeyan Satanism)

LaVeyan or Modern Satanism was founded in the mid 1960s by Anton LaVey (1930–1997), lending his name to “LaVeyan Satanism.” Its roots could be traced to occultist Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), who lived a perverse and sexually promiscuous life and strongly opposed Christian morals. Though Crowley was not seen as a Satanist, his influence set the stage for Modern Satanism.5

LaVeyan Satanism (the Church of Satan) is a modern form that is massively different from Theistic Satanism. In fact, there is often strife between these two groups, where Theistic Satanists often accuse the LaVeyans of being false Satanists or disguising themselves as Satanist but are only posers. And likewise, the LaVeyans lash out at Theistic Satanists saying “there is no such thing. People who believe in some Devilish supernatural being and worship him are Devil-worshippers, not Satanists,” and they also teach that “Satan is a symbol of pride, liberty and individualism”6 because the Modern Satanists hold to an atheistic position (more on this in a moment).

In a nutshell, Modern Satanism is an organization run by the Church of Satan and adheres to the teachings of Anton LaVey, such as his books The Satanic Bible, The Satanic Rituals, and The Devil’s Notebook, as well as other teachings imposed by the Church of Satan.

Unlike Theistic Satanism, Modern Satanism is an atheistic religion where each member views himself/herself as the absolute authority and their desires are to be expressed and not inhibited, particularly sexual desire. To translate this for lay Christians, this means they are fine with allowing their sin nature to rule supreme without an absolute moral code to rein them in from their sin even with the law of God written on their hearts (Romans 2:15). Anton LaVey writes in The Devil’s Notebook, “Atheism wasn’t tolerated when scriptural dictates were in fashion and accepted as the Word. Now, thanks to Satanic infiltration, it’s safe to say, ‘I don’t believe in God.’”7

Even the Church of Satan website affirms:

Satanists are atheists. We see the universe as being indifferent to us, and so all morals and values are subjective human constructions. Our position is to be self-centered, with ourselves being the most important person (the “God”) of our subjective universe, so we are sometimes said to worship ourselves.8

Furthermore, the modern LaVeyan Satanist does not really believe in Satan as a real entity nor God nor any other alleged deity—they are strictly atheists. “Satan” or the “Devil” is likened metaphorically to the drives and desires within one’s own heart to do evil and unacceptable things. For example, they ritualistically chant “Hail Satan,” but they don’t believe in Satan but use it as a “shock” chant of rebellion to honor themselves and intimidate others.

Satanism Is Another Form of Man’s Religion

In the grand scheme of religions where there are really only two religions—God’s and man’s—Satanism (in any form) is part of man’s religion, both forms being “dedicated to the antithesis of the God of the Christian Bible” as so aptly put by Mathers and Nichols.9

If one were to argue that this religion (especially the Theistic Satanism version) doesn’t come from man but comes from Satan, then they need to realize that either way, it came through man and man’s rebellious sinful nature to oppose God. For example, LaVeyan Satanism came from Anton LaVey, a man with roots back to Aleister Crowley.

Theistic Satanism comes from men as well, each to their own individual forms. Sadly, they would rather “worship” Satan, a created and fallen entity, rather than the Creator. This warping of the mind is a result of what God reveals would happen in Romans 1, where people worship the creation rather than the Creator and are thus struck with a debased mind and given over to unnatural lusts, which is exactly what Satanism’s fruit is. Consider Romans 1:20–28 in regard to Satanism:

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

Modern (LaVeyan) Satanism is exactly this—a debased mind following after their own unnatural sexual lusts (which includes every sexual desire, yet still tries to pervert or exclude godly marriage!). Theistic Satanism also follows Romans 1 where they worship the creation (i.e., Satan) instead of God, the Creator, by exchanging God for a lie! For some Theistic Satanists, they have replaced Satan as the transcendent eternal being (i.e., God) and demoted the eternal Creator God as the created entity who is causing problems, basically calling “evil good” and “good evil” (Isaiah 5:20).

In either form, what these Satanists fail to realize is that when they do these blasphemous and sinful things, it proves they are already under judgment by God and merely waiting for their sentencing—the next judgment where an eternal punishment then awaits them . . . unless they repent and turn to God in the person of Jesus Christ and his death, burial, and resurrection.

Satanism and Evolution

Laveyan Satanism and Evolution

For the Church of Satan and its atheistic stance, naturally, they are heavily influenced by the materialistic (atheistic/humanistic) view or origins, namely Darwinian evolution (recall that Satanism is a form of atheism, and atheism is a form of humanism). An early priest in the Church of Satan wrote in the introduction to The Satanic Bible in 1976,

Satanism is a blatantly selfish, brutal philosophy. It is based on the belief that human beings are inherently selfish, violent creatures, that life is a Darwinian struggle for survival of the fittest, that only the strong survive and the earth will be ruled by those who fight to win the ceaseless competition that exists in all jungles-including those of urbanized society.10

This echoes the exact sentiment of Anton LaVey, which is found in The Satanic Bible:

Are we not all predatory animals by instinct? If humans ceased wholly from preying upon each other, could they continue to exist?11

Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his “divine spiritual and intellectual development,” has become the most vicious animal of all!12

Clearly Modern Satanism is just another form of a humanistic, atheistic religion.

Clearly Modern Satanism is just another form of a humanistic, atheistic religion. So any refutations of atheism and humanism can also be applied to Modern Satanism. Specific refutations will be discussed further below.

Theistic Satanism and Evolution

Theistic Satanism is different. Where the Modern Satanists hold to atheism and hence atheistic tenants like naturalism and materialism, which are prerequisites for evolution, Theistic Satanism is not so limited.

Within the various forms of Theistic Satanism, some hold to much of the Bible being true; others disavow much more. So you can have a broad range of origins accounts such as Satan being seen as “the creator” or as someone unjustly punished by God.

Consider also that many Satanists of this vein hold to paganistic forms of Satan or polytheism (e.g., Church of Azazel), so the range of origins options of this religion gets broad. But based on their own words, it seems evolution is the most popular form of accepted origins. As an example, the Theistic Satanism website commented,

Unlike the people in Bible times, scientists today do know quite a bit about the likely evolution of both the human species in particular and the Earth in general. Most likely, our species came into existence through natural evolution. Perhaps one or more gods had a hand in the evolution of humans now and then, too, at one or more times during the many millions of years that life has existed on this Earth.13

But evolution is a false philosophy that is often disguised as science. Science is a process based on observations and repeatability, which is built on biblical principles. Neo-Darwinian evolution, big bang (cosmic evolution), and deep time (billions of years for geologic evolution) have neither been observed nor repeated, and having Theistic Satanists tack Satan or other “gods” as the director of evolution is just more storytelling along the lines of “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.”

Satanism Is Not Special

One might think that Satanism is Satan’s favorite religion since he receives “worship” by some, but, really, it is merely one of many religions that Satan uses to distract people from the truth. You see, all false religions are religions that Satan can use to deceive someone to miss the truth of biblical Christianity in Jesus Christ. Satan is fine with people following the Jesus of Islam (Issa, merely a prophet) or the Jesus of Jehovah’s Witnesses (the created archangel Michael) and so on. So any religion that deviates from the Christ of Scripture and the 66 books of Scripture (true Christianity) draws men away from the truth.

Scripture is clear that hell was created by God especially for Satan and his fallen angel minions (Matthew 25:41), and Satan will not be ruling there but facing eternal punishment along with the fallen angels (2 Peter 2:4; Revelation 20:10).

For those who may entertain the idea of worshipping Satan so that they too may have a higher position in hell (favoritism), this is absurd. Satan has no power in hell. Scripture is clear that hell was created by God especially for Satan and his fallen angel minions (Matthew 25:41), and Satan will not be ruling there but facing eternal punishment along with the fallen angels (2 Peter 2:4; Revelation 20:10).

Refutations

How Do You Know . . . About Satan and the Spiritual World?

One popular Theistic Satanism group, the Church of Azazel, states about knowledge (epistemology):

What can we humans possibly know about the spirit world? Not much. And it is all too easy for us humans to deceive ourselves. We humans cannot really know the spirit world. At best, we can make educated guesses, based on our own and other people’s spiritual and paranormal experiences, if any, and based on our knowledge of the history of religion and current religious trends.14

From their own viewpoint, they really can’t know anything about the spirit world, but it is worse than that. They can’t know anything since they clearly reject God’s Word and prefer to elevate a created being as their god. They are following the same pattern as idolaters in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 32:16–18; Psalm 106:36–38). The New Testament also mentions pagan rituals (1 Corinthians 10:19–21) and even predicts that spiritism and devil worship will increase in the last days (1 Timothy 4:1).

People are made in God’s image, not in “Satan’s image,” and there is no inerrant revelation from an “all-knowing” Satan to mankind (and he is not omniscient). In fact, Satan is described as a defeated enemy of God (Romans 16:20; Revelation 12:9). Additionally, the Bible describes Satan as the father of lies (John 8:44), so how could (or why should) his worshippers have any degree of trust in him?

As for Modern (LaVeyan) Satanists, how can they know anything either? They are atheists, who are materialistic by their very nature. In other words, in atheism, only material things exist—nothing immaterial. But for that to be the case, then knowledge, which is not material, can’t exist in their religion! So ultimately nothing can be known, which defeats the purpose of everything the LaVeyans have ever said!

Refutations of False Nativities

In December 2014, the Satanic Temple (of the New York–based Church of Satan) did a public display in Florida to counter Christian nativity scenes that had Satan falling from heaven into flames.15 On the display, it said, “Happy Holidays from The Satanic Temple” and quoted Isaiah where Satan (Lucifer, “Son of the Morning”) fell from heaven (Isaiah 14:12).

I found it quite interesting that they would say “happy,” since their religion has nothing to do with happiness. Happiness is not material, which is inconsistent for an atheistic religion. They say “holidays” (i.e., holy days), yet there is nothing holy in Satanism. Furthermore, apparently they felt they didn’t have anything within their own religion to display, so they had to borrow from the Bible! For those who claim to think independently, it is telling that they had to borrow from God’s Word when they quoted Isaiah. Additionally, their Scripture quoting is very arbitrary. For example, they studiously avoid Revelation 20:10, which foretells Satan’s final defeat.

Another false nativity was placed by Satanists (The Satanic Temple) in Detroit that had a snake with a book, a cross that had an inverted star in a circle (pentacle), and dead animal image affixed in the star.16 The display said, “The greatest gift is knowledge.” But ultimately, Satanists have no basis for knowledge. Furthermore, the Atheistic Satanists had to borrow from the Bible for a cross and a snake, which was the result of the cursed serpent in a literal Genesis 3 (that Satan used to deceive the world into death, hence the dead image on the star in the display). Even heavenly lights were denoted for signs in a literal Genesis 1:14; and consider the prophetic announcement of the star in Numbers 24:17 that the wise men later followed to Christ.

Borrowing from the Bible: Marriage in Satanism

Believe it or not, even Anton LaVey got married at one point. But the origins of marriage comes from a literal Genesis where God created the first man (Adam) and first woman (Eve) in a perfect world. Now due to the fall and mankind’s sin, there are marital problems—as well as sin and death in the world thanks to Satan and the first couple. But marriage comes out of a literal Genesis, and our Lord Jesus Christ defended this in Matthew 19 and Mark 10.

So in the Satanic religion . . . why get married? Getting married is a denial of one’s own self and openly affirms Genesis is true since it is a biblical doctrine. Each form of Satanism states that it adheres, for the most part, to evolutionary origins, not a literal Genesis! So why get married? Marriage is strictly a Judeo-Christian institution, and yet religions all over the world have borrowed it, and Satanism is no different.

Inconsistency and Arbitrariness

Inconsistency of Authority

The Church of Satan makes it clear that they view people (i.e., themselves) as their own god, and there is no other “god” in their view. They write, “In Satanism each individual is his or her own god—there is no room for any other god and that includes Satan, Lucifer, Cthulhu or whatever other name one might select or take from history or fiction.”17

But then the Church of Satan goes on to give certain rules to its members like:

“Do not take that which does not belong to you”18
“Do not harm little children.”19
“Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food.”20

The inconsistency is readily apparent. If you are your own god and there is no other god, then why does the Church of Satan have rules and impose them on you? If you are your own god, then you set your own rules. Furthermore, if you are your own god and there are no others, then other Satanists cannot be a “god” and are not in any position to set authoritative rules over anyone else.

Satan (yes, the biblical one who exists) is indeed clever. Do you realize that he has convinced these people they are their own “god”? The president of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Dr. Joel Beeke, writes, “Satan is a master at suggesting that we believe what we want to believe rather than believe the truth.”21

In Satanism, a person is seen as their own god following their own evil desires. And yet, the Atheistic Satanists still don’t realize they have been deceived. This has been Satan’s tactic since he told Eve she would be like a god in Genesis 3:5—deceive them from the truth and convince people they can achieve godhood.

Other Interesting Inconsistencies

• Anton LaVey, in The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth in 1967, wrote, “Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.”22 Yet LaVey was never asked for his opinion on Christianity by Christians, yet he openly gives it. So by his own standard, he has refuted himself. No one asked for the Satanists opinion at nativity scenes, and yet, they gave it and betrayed their own inconsistent rules and still to this day do so.
• The Church of Satan states, “The Church of Satan does not condone illegal activities. If the use of certain drugs is illegal in your country of residence, they are just that: illegal.”23 But they openly advocated illegal activities such as homosexuality and adultery since 1966, which was illegal during much of that time. They openly admit this: “We fully accept all forms of human sexual expression between consenting adults. The Church of Satan has always accepted gay, lesbian and bisexual members since its beginning in 1966.”24
• One popular independent Theistic Satanist, writing to Satanists who have left Christianity, offers this self-refuting advice:

  Learn the value of independent thinking, and introspection. Be inquisitive and don’t accept everything at face value. These practices will help you to develop independent thinking, a method of living that I believe is necessary for experiencing life as a Satanist. You will wonder if what you have left behind, was the ‘real truth’. In reality, there are no absolute truths in religion because there are so many beliefs and ideals that to accept one as an absolute truth is to be blind to the reality that ALL religions sanctimoniously claim to be the truth.25

When one wonders if truth was left behind when they walked away from Christianity, that is exactly what happened. They are suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, as God said in Romans 1. There is really only one way to suppress the truth and that is to deny the truth and particularly its existence. This is precisely what this Satanist has done. She claims truth doesn’t really exist when she blatantly states, “There are no absolute truths in religion.”

But how can she be absolutely sure of this truth claim? If so, she is claiming to have absolute truth in religion, which is a contradiction.

Arbitrariness

With both Theistic Satanism and Modern Satanism (Church of Satan) holding to man’s ideas about reality being supreme in authority, these are merely opinions and thus, they are arbitrary. Opinions carry no weight in a debate (or religion) and arbitrariness is devastating for the very foundation of a belief system. Espousing human opinions shows the bankruptcy of such a worldview at its very start.

Concluding Remarks

Satanism, in either form, is simply united in one purpose: to oppose God’s religion as authoritative.26 They must borrow doctrines from the Bible to make sense of the world, all the while denying the God who instituted and revealed them to us.

Satanism, in either form, is simply united in one purpose: to oppose God’s religion as authoritative.

Yet so often Theistic Satanists and Modern Satanists use terms like Satan, hell, Devil, Lucifer, church, temple, etc., which ultimately have no meaning in their religion. One wonders if they ever stop to think why they spend so much time utilizing Christian terms and symbols (the upside down cross of Peter, a star, snake, a scapegoat, etc.)? Because deep down, they know the true religion is biblical Christianity. It is by their sin nature they oppose Christianity, which is clearly their main target. Let’s be frank: Satanists don’t run around chanting “Buddha can’t save you” or make mockeries of “the resurrection of Osiris.” They strictly target Christmas and Easter holiday displays.

In either Atheistic or Theistic Satanism, there is no absolute God, no ultimate right or wrong, and no salvation. Both religious forms lead nowhere. There is no hope, and one is merely part of an illusionary evolutionary fairy tale that leads to utter meaninglessness. And any form that holds to Satan being real is purely arbitrary, unless they borrow that from the Bible.

There Is Hope . . . but Only in the Name of Christ

But there is hope. There have been many Christians saved out of Satanism. If you know someone involved in Satanism, be praying that the Lord opens them up to salvation in Jesus Christ and further opens their hearts to the truth. Second Timothy 2:24–26 says:

And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

If you have been involved in Satanism, it is time to stop doubting Scripture and realize that God does exist, and all people know this in their heart of hearts (Romans 1). Logic, truth, reason, love, and knowledge also exist, which have no foundational epistemology in an atheistic and materialistic worldview (e.g., the Church of Satan). Knowledge about the spiritual world (and even Satan) can be known from Scripture because an all-knowing God made us in his image, and he has revealed his inerrant Word what is sufficient to know him.

One of the primary reasons Satanists want to deny God and Jesus Christ is that they see an imperfect and broken world and see people as imperfect beings with evil thoughts and doing despicable actions. They also point out the inevitability of death for humans and animals. They do not consider that God may not have made the world and people this way. Instead of finding out more about God and why the world and people are this way, they just reject him outright and default to atheism (the popular religion of the day), Satan (God’s fallen adversary), or anything to justify their own sin. In all of these circumstances, people simply rely on themselves and their own desires for they want to believe, doing what is right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25).

But God made the world perfect originally (Deuteronomy 32:4; Genesis 1:31). There was no such thing as sin, suffering, anguish, brokenness, disaster, death, etc. But Satan, who was also created perfect, sinned of his own accord with his pride to try to rise above God.27 After his fall into sin, he immediately targeted mankind to get them to sin, when he cleverly influenced a serpent (as a pawn) to deceive Eve (Genesis 3:13). Adam who was not deceived (1 Timothy 2:14) willfully rejected God’s command, and so sin—as well as death, suffering, and pain—came into the creation through Adam (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:22), which is the world we now live in.

All humans are fallen beings subject to punishment from God because of our sin. This world, full of sin and death, became a fallen domain or, as some say, “Satan’s kingdom” (Luke 4:4–6; Ephesians 2:1–3; 6:11–12). Ironically, Theistic Satanists and Atheistic Satanists both blame God for the world’s broken state, when it was Satan himself who started the revolt that ended up plunging the world into its fallen state (John 8:44; 2 Timothy 2:26; 1 John 3:8).

A perfect, God must punish sin; if not, he would not be perfectly just. But God made a way of escape because he loved us. Jesus Christ, who is God, came in the flesh to become one of us (while also remaining 100% God). As a man, he lived a perfect life (Romans 8:3). When offered up as a sacrifice (Matthew 27:25; John 19:15; Acts 2:23, 3:13–15, 5:30, 7:52, 10:39; 1 Thessalonians 2:14–16), the infinite Son of God (Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity) took the infinite punishment that we deserve from the infinite Father (first person of the one Triune God), which satisfied the wrath of God upon sin. The debt was paid entirely.

Christ did not remain in the grave but had the power to take up his life again to prove that salvation was possible unto eternal life (John 10:17; Acts 10:40; 1 Corinthians 15:11–24). So those who believe in Christ’s resurrection, repent of their sin, and receive him through faith will be saved for the new heavens and new earth when this sin-cursed world is finally done away with (Acts 17:30–31; Ephesians 2:8–9; Romans 10:9–10, 3:24–26; Revelation 21–22;).

Pastor Warren Wiersbe wrote,

Christ invaded Satan’s kingdom when he came to this earth as a man. Satan, of course, knew that he was coming, and he did all in his power to prevent it. Satan even tried to kill Jesus after he was born. When he invaded Satan’s kingdom, Christ also overcame Satan’s power. “The strong man” came face-to-face with One who is stronger! In his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus Christ has completely overcome Satan’s power. Today he is claiming the spoils. He is rescuing sinners from Satan’s dominion and then using those changed lives to defeat Satan’s forces.”28

You must receive Christ to be saved—nobody else can do it for you. And for those who come to Christ in faith, he will turn you from the power of Satan and darkness to the light and power of God (Acts 26:18). Please consider the claims of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who alone has all power and authority (Matthew 28:18): “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).