Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:42-22 NIV).

As we get to know our enemy better it is helpful to understand his weapons. Satan uses fear, false accusation, condemnation, doubt, misinformation, unrighteous anger, hostility, worry, anxiety, guilt, shame, temptations, deception, lies, discouragement, disappointment, division, conflict, ignorance, and misconceptions. In the use of all these weapons against us his primary focus is to “murder.” There is a long list of examples of what that looks like in our daily lives. However, there is one common theme in the work of the “father of lies.” Every time Satan speaks, his lies are intended to mislead and deceive in order to defeat us and keep us from knowing the life Christ has won on the cross.

The means to prevent this deception from overtaking us is found in knowing who we are in Christ. When we discover this wonderful reality we can take captive every thought and be free from the bondage of Satan’s lies. The first sin of Adam and Eve is a primary example for us to understand this principle. If I tempted you, you would know it. If I deceived you, you wouldn’t know it. If you know you are being deceived, then you are not being deceived. Eve was deceived because she believed the lie that God did not want what was best for her, but didn’t know it was a lie. We can see from Genesis 3 that deception was the primary strategy of Satan from the beginning. Perhaps some of us look down on Eve for being deceived by the serpent in the garden? But each time we sin we’re deceived by the same lie.