Initially, Adam and Eve made no choice in terms of good and evil. Their way of thinking and behavior was neutral, but as flesh-and-blood human beings, they had physical drives and material interests common to all mankind. They had desires for self-preservation, for physical pleasures, for appreciation, for learning and for bettering their circumstances. The focus on self in such characteristics was not inherently sinful, but this self-oriented focus could lead to sin if it contradicted God’s direction and instructions.
When Satan the devil came onto the scene in the form of a serpent, he wasted no time in tempting the first human beings to sin. He deceived Eve about partaking of the fruit God had forbidden, tempting her to take advantage of her desire to become wise and better her life. Adam was not deceived, but he also submitted to Satan’s scheming (Genesis 3:1-24; 1 Timothy 2:14 NKJV). Adam and Eve thus set a pattern the human race that would spring from them would follow—accepting the rule and influence of Satan rather than following God.
From then on, human beings would be led to pursue selfishness and rebel against God’s commandments. Children would still be born with a neutral nature but, under the influence of Satan. In a world in which people were deceived into unwittingly following him and his ways, they would very quickly develop the selfish nature of the corrupted human society and culture around them. This tendency to exalt self and disobey God is known as human nature, with the primary motivation being selfishness rather than a desire to obey and please God.
Paul explained that, as “the god of this age,” Satan “has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel” (2 Corinthians 4:4). With the exception of Jesus Christ, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). He described the sorry spiritual condition of the human race in Romans 3:10-18, and reminds Christians that “you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves…fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind….” (Ephesians 2:2-3). However, as powerful as his influence is, the devil cannot force us to sin. He simply seduces us through our fleshly weaknesses and the wrong ways of thinking he has led us into over time. Following are some of the ways we are easily manipulated by Satan:
1. Our selfish, fleshly desires often get us into trouble: “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like…those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21). Paul graphically describes the effect corrupt desires have on human behavior. “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another….Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful…. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:24 and 28-32, NIV).
2. Our ingrained deviousness, including self-deception, is a major weakness of the fleshly mind. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Subject to Satan’s influence, we naturally look for ways to justify our lusts and sinful desires, along with the behaviors arising from them. We deceive ourselves into believing that, since our desires are natural, they can’t be so bad, in spite of the fact that God’s Word reminds us “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25). Death is the end result of living that wrong way (Romans 6:23).
3. Under the devil’s influence we develop the tendency to resent having our selfish desires limited by rules, even God’s commandments: “For those who live according to the flesh think about the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, about the things of the Spirit….the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit itself to God’s law, for it is unable to do so. Those who are in [that is, within control of] the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:5-8, HCSB).
Without the positive influence of God’s Spirit, our primary inclination is to serve ourselves and resist living according to God’s biblical instructions. Satan is a powerful deceiver and manipulator, taking advantage of our self-focused nature by persuading us to give in to our human wants and desires. Because of this Paul warns: “If you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:13-14).
