Satan’s Disguise

Jesus tells us in John 8:44 that Satan “is a liar and the father of lies.” As such, we can expect him to present falsehood as if it were the truth. In keeping with the teaching of our Savior, Paul tells us explicitly in today’s passage that Satan’s strategies involve disguise. He, the chief demon of darkness, “disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14).

Paul’s teaching on Satan appears in a context where he is talking about the false teachers in Corinth. He has just identified these proclaimers of error as false apostles, those who disguise themselves as true Apostles of Christ (v. 13), and in verses 14–15 he connects their disguising themselves with the devil’s mode of operating. They disguise themselves as “servants of righteousness” because they are Satan’s servants and the devil masquerades as a true angel of light. Satan is the father of all those who oppose Christ Jesus (John 8:44), and there is a family resemblance between the devil and his children. He lies and they lie. He hides behind a mask of what is good and right, and so do they. Matthew Henry comments, “As he can turn himself into any shape, and put on almost any form, and look sometimes like an angel of light, in order to promote his kingdom of darkness, so he will teach his ministers and instruments to do the same.”

Here the Apostle makes very clear that false teaching is not to be entertained. It comes from Satan himself. Those who come into the church and deny cardinal doctrines of the faith and those who stand outside the church and attempt to deceive believers regarding the truths of Christianity are preaching a message that is inherently destructive and that will lay waste to all those who entertain it. Their deeds bring destruction, and ultimately they will suffer destruction as well (2 Cor. 11:15).

Consequently, when we fight soul-damning error in the church, we are fighting a spiritual battle. When we meet those who claim an angel has delivered to them a message different from the gospel, we should take their claim seriously, not in believing that God has spoken to them but in realizing that the devil has come to them in disguise. Our only recourse is to make use of the spiritual weapons God has given us—the Word of God, faith, prayer (2 Cor. 10:4; Eph. 6:10–20). We must confront error with the truth, trust that the Lord will overcome it in His time, and pray for the grace to withstand error and for others to be saved from it.