Standing Firm Against The

Devil’s Wiles

by DSB

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NASB)

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. (11) Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (12) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (13) Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. (14) Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (15) and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (16) in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (18) With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,

In verse 11, the NASB uses the word scheme in relation to the devil’s tricks. The KJV (Authorized Version) uses the word wiles. There is some difference in their definitions, but their overall meaning is essentially the same. The word scheme is defined as (1) a systematic plan of action or (2) a secret or devious plan; a plot. Obviously, the second meaning fits the context of Ephesians 6. The word wile is defined as (1) a stratagem or trick intended to outwit, deceive, or ensnare. It is also defined as (2) a disarming or seductive manner; (3) trickery; cunning.

Putting these two definitions together, we see that a scheme or a wile is used to influence or lead someone into something by means of a devious, deceptive plan that disarms natural cautions so in order to persuade through deception and make foolishness seem sensible.

We are likely to think that the devil’s wiles are his temptations, but it is his schemes that make his temptations seem so reasonable, worthwhile, and justifiable. In other words, the schemes have more to do with how we think about and rationalize a particular temptation, whereas the temptation itself has more to do with certain desires, fears, expectations, feelings, and things of that nature. And though they are inseparable, if we get taken in by the wile so as to close our eyes to the destructive or even deadly costs of doing what we know is wrong, we will fall for the temptation.

Therefore, the first thing we Christians are called to do, in this passage of scripture, is to put on the full armor of God so that we are prepared to discern and enabled to stand against the schemes of the devil. Why? Because we must see the lie in the devil’s scheme if we are to see the foolish and destructive outcome of his temptation.

For example, there are con-artists who seek to sell us things we don’t need, or which we need but are no good (junk disguised as treasure). Now, the con-artist doesn’t need a wile to lie, but he does need a scheme to get us to accept his lie as truth and act according to his will.

Therefore, we are not simply defending ourselves against the temptation to buy what we do not need, or buy a product that is no good. We are defending ourselves, first of all, against the scheme the con-artist is using to deceive us into doing what he wants us to do. If we do not see through his scheme, we will believe his deception and most likely fall for his temptation.

When we apply this to the devil and his efforts with us, we see that his temptations are built on good schemes. Once we are taken in by his scheme, we most often fall for his temptation and end up doing what we know is wrong.

Therefore, if we are going to resist the devil’s temptations, we must be able to stand firm against his schemes. Paul tells us here in Ephesians that this is done by putting on the whole armor of God – not part, but the whole – which begins with putting on TRUTH. And why begin with truth? Because wherever we neglect truth, or compromise truth, or reject truth – be it truth about ourselves, God, God’s word, or the devil – we blind ourselves, and in our blindness we are unable to see through the deceiving, scheming wiles of the devil. This in turn makes us vulnerable to his temptations, which in turn easily leads to going along with his temptations.

However, though truth is exceedingly important to standing firm against the devil’s schemes, so is the rest of God’s armor, such as the daily practice of righteousness (living up to what we know about God and God’s word), knowing the way to peace with God and man, faith in God and His ways, salvation from the evil that lurks within as well as without, the word of God, and much prayer.

When all these pieces of armor are in place and working as they ought, they nurture a love for God and a treasuring of God that compels us to want to please Him above all others. They bring us into a depth of relationship with God such that we do not want to lose it or diminish it, even for the pleasures of sin. They sharpen our discernment of right and wrong. They continue to increase our knowledge of how to apply God’s truth in every day practical ways. And they build our faith in the wisdom and goodness of God, so that we confidently know how foolish it is to go against God’s will and word. Therefore, it is as we put on all God’s armor, and keep it on – or if after laying it aside for some foolish reason we put it back on – that we are enabled to see through the devil’s wiles and resist his temptations.

So, what are the devil’s schemes, the devil’s wiles? God’s word speaks of the devil as coming to us as an angel of light. In practical terms, this means the devil presents himself as a servant or representative of God, and he presents his schemes or plans of action as approved by God. He did this with Jesus when he used a novel interpretation of scripture to urge Jesus to prove His divinity and gain fame by jumping off the pinnacle of the Temple (Matthew 4:5-7). But Jesus, knowing God and His word and wearing the rest of God’s armor, saw through the wile and resisted the temptation.

We see other schemes of the devil in his temptation of Eve. In the Garden, the serpent used the implication that God was not completely good. He based this on the reasoning that God was preventing Eve from having something that would make her life exceedingly wonderful. But the serpent also inferred that God was abundantly merciful so that even if Eve disobeyed Him, He would not take her life for eating from the tree, as He said He would. Sadly, Eve did not see the lie in the logic and rational for doing what God had forbidden. And she did not pick up on the contradiction of reality when the devil presented God as both bad (withholding good) and good (graciously overlook her disobedience).

In this same temptation, the devil appealed to Eve’s felt need, that is, to what she believed or strongly felt she had to have. Of all the trees in the Garden, this was the only one Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from. Yet the devil implied that her unfulfilled desire for the fruit and for the benefits gained from eating the fruit were reason enough to disobey and eat. After all, the scheme implied, Eve was the victim. She was the one being forced to miss out on what rightfully belonged to her.

How often do we give in to the devil’s temptation because we have been gullible to his scheme of getting our focus on being the victim or missing out on something we believe is rightfully ours? The armor of God could have helped Eve, and will help us if we will put it on and keep it on.

There are two more wiles that ought to be brought to your attention. The devil seems to be a master at getting us to think our intentions were good in spite of the obvious outcome of our words and actions. And the devil does his best to get us to use the bad behavior of others to justify doing what we know is wrong.

Has the devil used some novel or perverted interpretation of scripture to encourage you to sin, or to justify the sin you want to commit, or to treat lightly the sin you have committed? Has he used his scheming reasoning in other ways to lure you into doing his will? If so, how does he get away with this? We might say he is able to get away with it by appearing as one of God’s workers who then misuses God’s word to make it look like wrong is right. But the truth is, he is able to get away with this because we are not sufficiently prepared with the knowledge of God and His word, along with the rest of God’s armor, to see through the devil’s wile and resist his temptation. Therefore, day by day put on the whole armor of God. And after putting it on, keep it on.