It’s astonishing that this must even be said. We are deeply immersed in a monumental battle of good versus evil.

God warns people about evil. It is real, He says. It is not just a difference of opinion. It is the opposite of good. It is harmful, destructive and merciless.

But people are naïve. They prefer to believe people are basically good. Because of that erroneous assumption, they refuse to see evil intent. They want to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. They don’t want to believe that people are motivated by evil. When there are differences of opinion, they attribute the differences to benevolent disagreement.

But God says otherwise. Evil exists. People are not basically good, He says. People are basically evil. They are born in sin, naturally preferring sin over what is good. People instinctively lie, cheat, steal. They murder. They call evil good and good evil. And they do all that to advance evil. As Jesus said, these evildoers act out the will of their father, the Devil.

This is the fundamental difference between people. Some are children of the Devil, doing his will, committing evil acts, destroying, oppressing, killing, and compliantly supporting such vile behavior as if it is a good thing. Others are children of God, adopted by Him to learn and to do His will, which is to oppose evil in all things, to resist the Devil, not to obey him.

God warns that evildoers are deceived by Satan, whom God identifies as “The Deceiver.”

As has often been written, the Devil’s best trick is to make people believe he does not exist.

But once people accept that Satan is real, that evil exists, that people are inherently sinful, not good, then the battle between good and evil comes into focus. Suddenly, people see evil acts as evil acts, not as innocent differences of opinion. The murder of babies in the womb is seen as murder, not a beneficent “choice.” Sexual depravity is seen as a blatant offense to God’s natural order, not an artificial “right” bestowed by manmade laws. Oppression, tyranny, slavery, mass murder, denial of the natural right to worship God, all these forms of evil are seen as what they are: the tools and outcome of following the will of Satan.

How is it possible for people to turn blind eyes to such evil as practiced today by governments of the world, such as in North Korea, communist China, false-god worshipping Iran? It is possible because people refuse to see the evil being done by governments that enslave, torture and murder their own people. But these evildoers can be known by their fruits.

In the 20^th century, dictatorial socialist-communist countries murdered 100 million people. Not enemies in war. Their own people, their own citizens. And the world largely looked on, often even applauding the tyranny. A New York Times reporter won a Pulitzer Prize for writing about the intentional mass starvations of millions in the USSR, explaining that to make an omelet some eggs must be broken.

Men inspired by evil have followed suit, committing such evil acts in supposedly free nations that also supposedly honor God-given rights.

When many Americans see their own government committing similar evil acts, their inclination is to deny that they are evil acts. They refuse to identify their rulers by their wicked fruits. “Our people wouldn’t do something that’s evil,” they tell each other. “Our people are basically good. What they do is for our benefit.”

“Our scientists wouldn’t invent medical means to inflict evil on our own people,” they tell each other. “They only do what they do to help us, not to hurt us.”

The devil’s greatest trick is to make people believe he doesn’t exist.

Here’s a tip: if it looks like evil, it probably is. If it results in evil being done, it isn’t good. If those doing it demand that people must conform to their diktats, it isn’t voluntary free will. It is tyranny. If it’s tyranny, it isn’t godly. It is the work of Satan and evil people.

Finally, when people inspired to do evil gain control over other people you can be certain of two things: they won’t relinquish control once they’ve obtained it, and once they get it, their number one motivation is to increase their control. History is replete with examples, from ancient despots to today’s political Utopia-seekers.

You may be familiar with Lord Acton’s words describing it: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

It starts with the power to lockdown everything for only 15 days to “flatten the curve.” It quickly escalates to injecting everyone with unproven, unprecedented “vaccines” that are actually RNA-modifying drugs, even children and even those who don’t want the vaccination. And it quickly ratchets up to government-required approval to leave your home, to work, to buy food, to worship God, and ultimately to being segregated in concentration camps to corral dissenters, just as done by Nazis, Soviets and Chinese communists.

“It can’t happen here,” you protest? That’s what Germans, Russians and Chinese thought too.

If it looks like evil, it’s not good. And God has warned us. Flee from the Devil. Resist him. “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11)

God has explained the way Satan tricks vulnerable, gullible people who prefer to believe that people are basically good and that people who take control must be benevolent. God says you are being deceived.

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:14-16)

Because the Devil’s greatest trick is to make you think he doesn’t exist.

And, as has been suggested, “The second greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he is the good guy.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

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