Spirit of God or Son of Satan

Jon Williams

            In the beginning, God made every beast of the field and placed them, along with man and woman, in the Garden of Eden. But there was one beast who was more subtle than the rest, the serpent. After God had told Adam and Eve not to eat of the forbidden fruit lest they die (Gen. 2:16-17), that crafty serpent arrived and contradicted the command of God: ye shall not surely die (Gen. 3:4). This is the very first lie we find in scripture and it originates from the mouth of Satan. It is no wonder then that Jesus calls Satan the father of lies in John 8:44. In that context Jesus is in a series of debates with the Jews, and he tells them in John 8:44 that the devil was their father, because they were liars and their deceiving ways mirrored the tactics of Satan.

            Now where does this subject have relevance with the Holy Spirit? After all, we know from Acts 5:1-15 that the Spirit certainly abhors lying since Ananias and Sapphira were both instantaneously smitten for trying to deceive the Holy Spirit. So how could someone make Satan the father of the Holy Spirit? Who could possibly make the Holy Spirit a liar, and thus, a seed of the father of lies? I affirm to you that people are guilty of this crime every day when they put words in the Spirit’s mouth that He never spoke.

            What I am specifically referencing is people who claim present day inspiration and revelation from God. Televangelists, Pentecostals, fortune tellers, false prophets and all sorts of charismatic preachers are crying out “thus saith the Lord!” when the Lord has not spoken (Ezk. 22:28). They claim to be inspired like the prophets of old and the apostles of the 1st century (1Peter 1:20-21). But you can see their motivation in the contents of their message. Every time a man falsely represents the Spirit of God, they do so to go beyond, or in contradiction to, the authority of scripture. They have a lack of respect and acceptance that the Bible gives all things that pertain to life and godliness (2Peter 1:3), that it thoroughly furnishes us unto all good works (2Tim. 3:16-17). They don’t want to rely on the truth that God revealed everything we need through the Holy Spirit authored text; so they lie about the Spirit informing them of special revelation so that they can contradict scripture.

            It is an epic tragedy that the children of Satan do this, not only because so many people believe them, but also because of the obliteration to the title “Holy” in the name “Holy Spirit.” The true Holy Spirit will not be one that contradicts His own words; that lies against His own teachings. Yet false teachers make the Holy Spirit a son of Satan when they include his name in their deceptions. We should not stand for people to defile the name of our God, and we should not resist fighting this false doctrine. We need to tactfully approach people who have been deceived by this doctrine that we might win them to Christ. When you’re interacting with someone who claims to speak by the Spirit, whether due to ignorance or ill will, here are 6 practical, challenging and thought provoking questions you can ask:

1.      Were the apostles guided into all truth by the Holy Spirit (John 16:13, Jude 3)?

2.      Was all the truth revealed to the apostles preserved for us in the form of scripture (2Tim. 3:16-17, 2Pet. 1:3)?

3.      If someone contradicts the Bible, are they stepping outside of the boundaries of “all truth?”

4.      If someone said that the Holy Spirit revealed to them that Jesus was not the Son of God, would you believe them?

5.      Can the Holy Spirit give two opposing messages and they both still be right?

6.      How would the apostle John approach this issue in light of 1John 4:1-f?