Bible Questions and Answers

A visitor writes,

"In Acts 26:18 says that "the power of Satan to God". What does it means?"

Acts 26:18  ‘to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

The ‘power of Satan’ is a figure of speech in the same way that ‘darkness’ in context is a figure of speech.

It refers to the unenlightened who are effectively servants of sin in that they order their lives according to their own desires and thus by nature are adversaries (Satan) to God. They live under the power of their own lust, here personified as ‘Satan’.

Romans 6:17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. 20  For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21  What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22  But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Titus 3:3  For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.

1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10  nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11  And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Where does evil come from?

It doesn’t come from a fictitious fallen angel called Satan.

It comes from within man.

Mark 7:21  "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22  "thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23  "All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

James 1:14  But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15  Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16  Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

Paul describes his own experience thus:

Romans 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19  For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20  Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21  I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22  For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24  O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25  I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

When we understand the Gospel and try to live by the teachings of Jesus Christ, we turn from the ‘darkness’ and ‘power of Satan’ of serving our own lusts to doing what God wants us to do.

We are all responsible for the evil that we do – we cannot blame it on a fictious fallen angel.

I hope you find this helpful,

God bless,

Glenn