Doctrines of Demons
1 Timothy 4:1 (NASB)
1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
Doctrines of demons are things that demons teach in in order to cause misery and disorder and trouble for the lives of believers. Therefore, the fruit of the doctrines of demons is misery and disorder and trouble for those who are deceived by them.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (NASB)
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Satan is referred to has the god of this world’s system because when Adam and Eve obeyed the devil in the garden (and fell into transgression) they then forfeited their God-given dominion to the devil and thus made Satan into the god of this world. It is Satan who blinds the minds of unbelieving humans so that they might not see the light of the gospel and thus Satan can stop them from being saved.
Exodus 8:28 (NIV)
28 Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God in the desert, but you must not go very far…”
Pharaoh is a type of Satan and this scripture illustrates that if the devil cannot keep people from being saved then he works to keep them sick and poor and miserable and defeated. Satan works to get the believers to settle for as least as possible from all that was purchased for them and made available to them in Christ. Pharaoh told Moses that he could go but that he was not to go very far! This is just like the devil who says to the believer that if they do get saved then they should not go very far into the things of God and should be content to remain under the bondage of Satan who wants to keep them sick and poor and miserable and defeated.
Exodus 10:8-11 (NIV2011)
8 Then Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship the LORD your God,” he said. “But tell me who will be going.”
9 Moses answered, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the LORD.”
10 Pharaoh said, “The LORD be with you—if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil.
11 No! Have only the men go and worship the LORD, since that’s what you have been asking for.” Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh’s presence.
Pharaoh finally consented to allow the men of Israel go and worship the Lord but Pharaoh said that the women and children were to be kept in Egypt. This is like the devil who says that if the man gets saved then he should keep salvation to himself and not allow his wife and children to come to salvation. The devil wants the family to be ruined by divorce and to have the children lost to the world’s system and all sent to hell. Again, the devil is constantly working to get a believer to settle for less and keep them from appropriating all that belongs to them in Christ.
Exodus 10:24-26 (NASB)
24 Then Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be detained. Even your little ones may go with you.”
25 But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice them to the LORD our God.
26 “Therefore, our livestock too shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we shall take some of them to serve the LORD our God. And until we arrive there, we ourselves do not know with what we shall serve the LORD.”
Then Pharaoh consented to allow the women and children to go from Egypt but he said that the livestock and herds were to be detained in Egypt. Livestock symbolize prosperity for a shepherd because they provide milk and wool and meat and livelihood and income to provide for the shepherd just as the livestock of Jacob provided for the needs of his household. Therefore, when the Pharaoh commanded that the livestock be detained in Egypt and this represents how the devil will seek to retain the prosperity that belongs to the believer. If a man gets saved then the devil will try to take his wife and children to hell. If the entire family gets saved then the devil will try to take their prosperity and send them out to live in the curse of poverty like Adam after he was driven from the garden.
The devil is constantly trying to get the believer to settle for less. If he cannot keep a man from being saved the he will try to keep them sick. If the devil cannot keep them sick the he will try to keep them poor. The devil is always trying to deceive the believers to settle for less than all of what God has purchased for them by the redemption.
Psalm 105:37 (AMP)
37 He brought [Israel] forth also with silver and gold, and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
When God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, they were carrying silver and gold and there was not one feeble (weak or sickly) person among their tribes. This means that the Israelites came out of Egypt with gold and silver (they were prosperous) and not one of them were sick or infirm (they were all healthy). It is God’s will for his people to be saved and to be prospered and healthy because this is all part of the redemption purchased for humanity by the atoning work of Christ.
But again, Satan works to blind the eyes of the unbelievers to keep them from being saved. But if Satan cannot keep them from being saved then he will work to keep them poor and sickly. Satan is always working to get the believer to settle for less than what belongs to them in Christ Jesus. He wants them to leave behind the things that were already purchased for them by the atonement.
John 10:10 (NIV2011)
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Satan is the thief and he wants to steal salvation from unbelievers and steal health and prosperity from the believers and do as much as possible to get the believers to settle for less than what belongs to them in Christ. Satan wants to steal prosperity from them and to kill their bodies with sickness and to destroy their lives in every way imaginable. Satan hates humans because humans are the object of God’s love so he does everything in his power to bring misery and suffering and lack to all humanity (including believers).
Revelation 20:7-8 (NASB)
7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison,
8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.
Satan is the instigator of all wars on earth and he deceives the leaders of nations to attack and destroy and declare war on other nations. Through warfare humans suffer violence and death and plunder and rape and abuse. War destroys food sources and disrupts farming and food distribution and results in famine. Famine causes pestilence when human bodies weakened by starvation cannot resist sickness. So, the people who survive being killed by weapons of war will typically die of starvation and disease (which follows wars). This terrible human suffering caused by war has the fingerprints of Satan written all over it! Satan kills and steals and destroys human life on earth and causes all of the human suffering seen on planet earth! Satan fulfills this demonic agenda by deceiving unbelievers to go to war with each other and remove peace from the earth.
Revelation 16:13-14 (NIV2011)
13 Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
14 They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
The apostle John saw a revelation where some demonic spirits looked similar to frogs in appearance and came out of the mouth of the dragon (Satan) and the beast and the false prophet. These evil spirits coming from the mouth of Satan and his emissaries speaks of the spirit of deception that comes from falsehood that is inspired by Satan. Satan has been able to start wars throughout world history simply by deceiving world leaders and kings and presidents of nations to go to war with other nations. This is Satan’s ultimate goal to start wars which cause human death and suffering in wholesale manner!
Revelation 12:9 (NASB)
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Satan is the great dragon who is also called the devil and he deceives the whole world of humanity and causes them to fulfill his demonic agenda upon the earth. In fact, Satan has no other weapons except deception and he has used this one weapon very effectively throughout all human history. Satan can deceive nations to go to war and he can deceive humans to commit crimes and murder and to steal and rape. He can also deceive humans to band the things of God and the word of God from society. All of the human suffering on earth can be traced to deceived humans carrying out the work and plan of the devil on earth.
1 John 3:12 (NIV2011)
12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
The very first murder that occurred on earth was performed by Cain who belonged to the evil one Satan. It was Satan who inspired Cain to murder his brother Abel. Satan did this by inserting demonic thoughts into the mind of Cain and provoking Cain to jealousy. Cain was angry that God accepted the blood offering of Abel but did not accept his own offering of self-labor to produce and grow crops from the earth. The very first murder on earth was inspired by Satan who deceived Cain to commit murder and this demonic strategy has been used by Satan to deceive humans throughout all generations to commit murder and evil on earth until present times.
Genesis 6:11-13 (NASB)
11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.
In the time of Noah, Satan was able to corrupt the entire human population on earth (except for the family of Noah). Satan deceived men to commit murder and rape and every type of evil until the whole earth was filled with violence and killing and death! God regretted making humans who had all gone after Satan to fulfilled demonic agenda upon the earth until the entire world of that time was filled with violence.
Righteous Violence
Matthew 11:12 (NKJV)
12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
There is another type of violence which is a righteous violence (not related to the violence of humans against humans). Righteous violence speaks of those believers who have been enlightened to know and understand what belongs to them in Christ Jesus. These enlightened believers also know and understand that they are engaged in a war and nothing that belongs to them (will be released to them) without first overcoming demonic resistance.
Satan will fight people when they are unbelievers to keep them blinded so they will not see the gospel and be saved. If they are saved and become believers then the devil will work to deceive them to keep them poor and sick and bring disorder and misery of every kind into the personal lives of the believer and his family. This is a spiritual war and nothing of the good things of God will not fall upon the believer in easy manner (like ripe cherries falling into their hands from a tree)! They will have to fight for every inch of territory that belongs to them because Satan will put up fierce resistance to keep them from every good thing that already belongs to them in Christ!
Numbers 13:33 (NIV2011)
33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
During the time that the nation of Israel was in Egypt for 430-years, Satan was busy populating the Promised Land with godless heathens and giant races of people called Nephilim which are descendants of Anak. The Israelites saw themselves as only grasshoppers in comparison to the size of these giant race people. These giant races were placed in the Promised Land by Satan for the purpose of resisting God’s people from entering and possessing the land which God promised on oath to give to Abraham and his descendants forever. These giants were bullies and tyrants whose sole job it was to intimidate and resist the children of Israel from entering and possessing the land which was already given to them by the God of Israel.
The Promised Land does not represent heaven because there are no giants and no resistance in heaven to stop the believers or hinder them in heaven. No, the Promised Land represents the good things that God has already given to the believer in Christ while they are yet alive on earth! Salvation and physical healing and prosperity are all part of the good things provided for the believer in Christ. But these good things will not come without resistance (like ripe cherries falling into their hands as a windfall!) These good things will only be obtained by war and the believer knowing what belongs to them in Christ and taking their spiritual rights by force!
This is where the violent take it by force and this refers to the believers in Christ who put on their spiritual armor and resist satanic lies and fight for what belongs to them and take it by force!
See the link “Spiritual Armor” for more details.
Part of the spiritual armor is the helmet of salvation which deals with protecting the human mind from demonic deception. A believer is required to cast down evil imaginations of their minds because if the believer is passive, they will be deceived by satanic thoughts.
2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV2011)
5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
The believer must be taught to demolish every demonic argument that evil thought that sets itself up against (in opposition to) the knowledge of God. The believer is to make every thought obedient to Christ and not have an open mind to the thoughts and plans of the devil which are designed to deceive them.
Genesis 3:1-5 (NIV2011)
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.
5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Satan appeared in the garden in the form of a serpent. This is significant because a serpent has no arms or legs and is basically helpless and has to slither on the ground. It can only catch and swallow its prey or use venom to paralyze the prey before swallowing it. In the same way that a serpent is basically helpless, so Satan is basically helpless as well because he is a spirit being and needs a physical human body to fulfill his satanic agenda on the earth. The only tool that Satan has is deception. But with this tool Satan can deceive humans to start wars and commit murder and violence and fill the whole earth with evil! Satan only needs to deceive humans to act upon his satanic thoughts and they will carry out his demonic agenda on his behalf.
In the deception of Eve in the garden, Satan called into question what God had said. Eve had incomplete knowledge and supposed that if she touched the forbidden fruit she would die. Satan took advantage of the ignorance of this woman and said, “You will surely not die!” So Eve experimented and touched the fruit and did not experience death so she assumed that what God said must not have been true after all so then she proceeded to also eat the forbidden fruit and that is when she died spiritually.
Satan also appealed to the feminine sense of equality of Eve and implied that it was not right that God was on a higher level than Eve and if she would eat the forbidden fruit then Eve would be like God (or become equal to God)! But this resulted in a curse to the whole earth when Adam also ate of the fruit and they sold out their God-given dominion to the devil and make Satan the god of the whole world!
1 Timothy 2:14 (NASB)
14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
Thus, the evil-genius Satan started off with deceiving the weakest human (the woman) then he got the man to follow the woman’s leadership and Adam ate of the fruit willingly (apparently so he would not be separated from Eve by spiritual death). Thus, the entire world came under a curse and Satan the master of death and evil was the lord of this fallen world’s system.
See the link “Women Destroy Civilization” for more details
It is from this fallen state that God sent his Son Jesus to fulfill the plan of redemption to redeem mankind from the curse of Adam and from the bondage of slavery to the devil who is the god of this whole earth.
Luke 4:5-7 (NASB)
5 And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
7 “Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”
Satan tried to tempt Jesus by showing him all of the kingdoms of the whole earth and offered Jesus all of this world domain because it had been handed over to Satan and Satan was able to give it to anyone he wished. The dominion of planet earth was handed over to Satan when Adam and Eve obeyed the devil and made Satan their lord. Thus, the first humans handed over their God-given dominion over earth to the devil and the devil now holds the earth-lease that once belonged to Adam.
Genesis 1:26-28 (NKJV)
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
God created humans in the image of God and gave these humans (Adam and Eve) dominion over the entire earth and everything on it. It was this dominion that was handed over to Satan when Adam and Eve fell into transgression and obeyed the devil and thus made Satan their lord and handed their God-given dominion over the earth to Satan.
Jesus Christ (the Son of God) came to earth to redeem mankind from the power of the devil and to restore their dominion just as it has been before the fall of Adam in the garden. But this dominion will not come without a fight and Satan (the god of this world) will fight the believer for every inch of what belongs to them in Christ. Therefore, the believers must be violent and fight and seize what belongs to them in Christ or else they will have nothing at all!
This is a biblical-type as seen in the episode of the Israelites entering the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua. They had to fight and overcome demonic resistance placed in the Promised Land for the express purpose of keeping them out of what belonged to them. They had to fight for what God already gave to them and the same is true for the believer because Satan is the god of this world and he resists the believer in every way possible to keep them out of the good things of God purchased for them in Christ.
Again, it must be noted that the only tool the devil has available is deception. Without deception the devil would be as helpless as a snake without any arms or legs! Satan uses only deception to deceive humans to fulfill his demonic agenda to kill and steal and destroy on the earth! Satan also uses deception and doctrines of demons to keep believers from possessing that which belongs to them in Christ!
Doctrines of Demons
1 Timothy 4:1 (NASB)
1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
Again, Satan’s only tool is that of deception and Satan invents theological doctrines that are inspired by demons and uses these demonic doctrines to enslave millions of people by deception.
Revelation 12:4 (NIV2011)
4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.
Satan is pictured as the great dragon whose tail swept one-third of the stars from the sky and flung them to the earth. This means that Satan was formerly in charge of one-third of the population of angels in heaven before he was expelled.
Luke 10:18 (NIV2011)
18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Jesus was present during the expulsion of Satan from heaven and he saw Satan was cast from heaven to the earth like a streak of lighting. When the devil was cast out of heaven, the one-third population of angels under his command were also cast to the earth with Satan. These fallen angels became demons and these demons work to carry out the plans of Satan to deceive humans on the earth.
Revelation 12:7-9 (NIV2011)
7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.
8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.
9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
The angels under the command of Satan were cast out of heaven together with their master Satan. It is the job description of Satan to be the deceiver of the whole world and all humanity living on earth. Satan employs large numbers of deceptive demons (fallen angels) to carry out his agenda to deceive humans to create suffering and misery for people on earth!
See “Origin and Operation of Demons” for more details.
Religious Demons
1 Timothy 4:1 (NASB)
1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
Among the great multitude of fallen angels (that have become demons on the earth), there exists a special class of demons that specialize in deception. These are deceitful spirits and they are specifically identified with religious doctrines and these demons are the source of theology that can be identified as doctrines of demons.
Deceitful spirits invent a wide range of demonic doctrines which include demonic doctrines that are as blatant and perverse as the doctrines followed by all of the false religions on earth. These false religions are designed to deceive unbelievers to pursue a false hope of eternal life and keep them occupied in the quagmire of false religions until they perish and go to hell! These false religions all offer a false hope of salvation apart from the only prescribed way of salvation found only in Jesus Christ.
Acts 4:11-12 (NIV2011)
11 Jesus is “ ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Jesus is the only means of salvation provided for humanity and those who do not accept this free gift of eternal life provided by Jesus will perish in hell. There is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which humans can be saved (except the Name of Jesus). Whoever will call upon the Name of Jesus will be saved!
Romans 10:12-13 (NIV2011)
12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,
13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Those who do not call upon the name of the Lord will not be saved and they will perish eternally in hell! Satan has a special class of demons who invent multitudes of false religions upon the earth which occupy humans in a vain hope of trying to earn their own salvation by self-effort rather than receiving the free gift of life offered only by Jesus. These types of demons could also be labeled as religious demons because they work with religion and create false religions designed only to deceive humans to hell! But whenever people see the light of truth in the gospel and escape false religion and get saved, then religious demons (or deceitful spirits) will work on hindering these believers from receiving what belongs to them in Christ.
Again, Satan’s only tool is deception and he uses this tool with great effect in sending unbelievers to hell and in thwarting believers for possessing what belongs to them in Christ. Among major Christian denominations there are numerous doctrines of demons designed to hinder believers and keep them living on a level which is far below what was intended for them by God.
If Satan cannot keep people from being saved then he will work to keep the believers sick. If he cannot keep them from being sick then he will work to keep them poor and miserable. Every good thing provided by God for the believer will be met with satanic resistance just as the giants and godless heathens were resisting the Israelites from entering the Promised Land already given to them by God.
Doctrine of Demons: Sickness is God’s Will
Many major Christian denominations teach that it is God’s will to make the believer sick. Those believers who are deceived by this doctrine will resist and fight divine healing as if it is their Christian duty to do so! No one could ever pray for them to be healed because they will fight with great zeal and anger against anyone who would even suggest that God wants to heal them! This is a demonic doctrine created by religious demons and is taught by major denominational seminaries and those believers who are deceived by this false doctrine will fight for the right to be sick! Not even God can help them because they are militant in their desire to remain sick! They are deceived by doctrines invented by religious demons and therefore no one can help them (including God)!
Matthew 7:16-20 (NIV2011)
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn-bushes, or figs from thistles?
17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Good fruit is not produced by that which is worthless and people do not gather grapes from thorn-bushes nor figs from thistles. Every good tree will produce good fruit and a bad tree will produce bad fruit. In the same way, a demonic doctrine can also be judged by the fruit that this doctrine produces.
For example, a pitiful believer who is deceived by the doctrine of demons to embrace sickness as a gift of God will produce the fruit of sickness in their body! Sickness and physical disease is a fruit of this doctrine of demons that promotes sickness as a gift of God! This is how the doctrine of demons can be identified because it produces evil fruit of sickness and pain in the bodies of those deceived by this doctrine.
See “Factors that Affect Healing” for more details.
A church that teaches it is God’s will to heal will have many people get healed among their congregation because the knowledge of healing will produce the fruit of healing in the lives and bodies of the hearers. But those who teach that healing is passed away and worse yet that sickness is to be embraced as a gift from God will have numerous people among their congregation suffering sickness and disease and pain in their bodies. This is the evil fruit produced by this doctrine of demons to cause sickness in the lives of the pitiful believers deceived by this doctrine.
It does no good to try to teach deceived believers about healing because they will resist with great religious zeal and anger to defend their right to be sick! They will even testify that they are glorifying God by the aliments they are suffering. Not even God himself could help them because these believers (deceived by demonic doctrines) will fight anyone (including God) who would dare to try to help them receive healing!
The same also applies to poverty because doctrines of demons are invented that deceives believers that it is God’s will to make them poor. No one could help someone deceived by doctrines of demons (not even God himself) because they will resist the efforts of anyone seeking to help them. As long as they are deceived to believe poverty is a gift of God they will resist any efforts of God to bless them financially!
This is how demonic doctrines can be identified by their fruit. The fruit of these doctrines is sickness and poverty and those believers deceived by these doctrines will fight and resist anyone who even suggests that healing and prosperity are made available to them by the atoning work of Jesus Christ in redemption!
Redemptive Blessings Found in Christ
Psalm 103:1-5 (NIV2011)
1 Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
David lists five of the redemptive blessings found in Christ for the believer. These include:
1. Forgiveness of sins.
2. Healing of all human diseases (Healing)
3. Redemption from eternal hell.
4. Crowning with love and compassion.
5. Satisfying human desires with good things. (Prosperity)
When a believer accepts Christ, they inherit great spiritual blessings and these include forgiveness of all of their sins. This is fought by Satan the accuser who seeks to bring condemnation to the believer over past sins. The believer also has received healing of all human diseases. This benefit is fought by Satan who seeks to bring numerous physical symptoms to the believer to get them to passively accept the disease as a gift from God. The believer is also redeemed from hell so they do not have to go to the pit! Satan will resist this by deceiving the believer that they will still go to hell (condemning them for anything and everything possible). The believer is crowned with God’s love and compassion but Satan will seek to make the believer feel like God is angry with them and wants to punish them instead. God satisfies the believer with good things (Prosperity) but the devil will seek to convince the believer that God wants them poor so they will not receive the good things that belong to them.
In every point of blessing the devil will put up resistance to the believer just as the children of Israel were resisted by godless heathens and giants in every step that they took when they entered their Promised Land. God had already given the children of Israel the entire land described as the possession of Abraham and his descendants the Jews forever. But Satan resisted them every inch of the way to keep them out of the good things that already belonged to them.
Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (NASB)
10 “Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build,
11 and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied,
12 then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
The Promised Land was filled with good things that were prepared in advance for the children of Israel. They enjoyed cities they did not build and wells they did not dig and vineyards and olive trees that they did not plant. All of these good things were already provided for them in advance by God. In the same way, the believer has great riches and health and healing and prosperity already provided for them in Christ. But the believer will have to fight for it and take it by force using the authority Christ gave to them because the adversary Satan will resist them every step of the way!
Everything good belongs to the believer in Christ but they have to appropriate these good things by gaining knowledge of what belongs to them and exercising their faith to receive these things. If they are ignorant of what is theirs, they will never enjoy the good things of their own Promised Land.
If the believer is deceived by demonic doctrines, they will in fact falsely assume that sickness is a gift of God and poverty is God’s blessing for them. If they believe these demonic lies, they will remain sick and poor all of their lives and never receive any of the good things that belong to them in Christ (but will even resist them)
After all, what is the best way for Satan to make a believer sick and poor other than to deceive them that sickness is a gift of God to be embraced and poverty is God’s will for their lives. If they are deceived by these demonic doctrines, they will embrace the devil’s goods rather than resisting them! Thus, Satan has free access to bring sickness and poverty to the deceived believers only by using their thoughts to insert doctrines of demons into their minds. Once they believe these lies, they will embrace with zeal the devil’s goods of sickness and poverty. Not even God can help deceived believers because they will even resist God and resist healing and resist prosperity! These deceived believers will embrace sickness and poverty and all of the devil’s goods designed to keep them poor and miserable on earth!
James 4:7 (NIV2011)
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The believer is commanded to submit to God and then resist the devil and the devil will have to flee from them. This means that the devil will seek to hinder and detest the believer from enjoying all of the good benefits of redemption already provided for them in Christ. The believers will have to resist satanic lies and resist doctrines of demons designed to get them to embrace the devil’s goods as if they were a gift from God. Jesus redeemed the believer from both sickness and poverty and it is a satanic lie and doctrine of demons that sickness and poverty is a gift from God! The believer must be trained in what belongs to them and they must learn how to resist the devil and fight for what belongs to them in Christ. Nothing will come to the believer without satanic resistance so they have to use their spiritual resources and fight and resist and be violent about it because the violent will take it by force. This means there is a war going on and the believer has to fight for what already was given to them by Christ and cast down all demonic thoughts and doctrines of demons designed to get the believer to embrace the devil’s goods of sickness and poverty.