Satan cannot really thwart or prevent the will of God from being accomplished. He can only go as far as God allows and work his deceptions only for as long as God allows, and God has a great plan and purpose and reason for allowing Satan to even exist and perform His evil work in this present age. Satan didn’t sneak in the back gate in the Garden of Eden. God left the gate open for a good and wise purpose. God permitted Satan to tempt mother Eve. God can seal off any portion of earth, heaven or the universe against Satan the devil. God could pronounce sentence and have Satan reduced to a bit of dust at His feet in a millisecond. God has great purpose in allowing Satan to exist and continue his work among men. God is actually using Satan to accomplish His purpose and will for mankind.
Look at it this way, three things are absolutely necessary for building a strong, healthy body: 1) proper nourishment, 2) time, and 3) a force pulling against one’s muscles in order to increase their size and strength. And that is exactly what God needed in order to build His own spiritual character in human beings. He needed the proper nourishment supplied by God’s Word. He needed time. And He needed a force pulling against the will of man so that through process of time with the proper nourishment His sons and daughters would begin to consistently make the right choice and pull away from the influences and temptations put forth by Satan the devil.
The entirety of scripture is given to us by God to enable us to formulate true doctrines, teachings and beliefs. Paul clearly stated in the Roman letter that whatever was written previously by the prophets was written to instruct new covenant believers! (See Romans 15:2-4). Peter stated clearly in his first epistle that the Old Testament prophets wrote what they wrote primarily for OUR learning and instruction. (See I Peter 1:10-12). “ALL SCRIPTURE is given by the inspiration of God AND IS PROFITABLE FOR DOCTRINE!” (See 2 Timothy 3:16). Those who use only the Greek scriptures (the New Testament) to discern the will of God will never be able to do so. Few realize that it was many years after the founding of God’s church on the Feast day of Pentecost in 31 A.D. (some say 33 A.D.) before the first apostolic letter was written. For several years the early church had only the Hebrew scriptures and remembrance of Jesus’ words to guide them in establishing their doctrines and practices. God help you to understand.
Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley