Scripture makes it plain that Satan deceives, twists Scripture to make it mean something else & tempts people to worship, venerate, honor others beyond what God has commanded to do, rather than God Himself--'My glory I do not give to another.' One takes AWAY from God what is due to Him alone.
When someone turns Scripture into a lie, like the devil does, then this is evil. It is a deception. It leads one astray from the pure & simple devotion to Christ.
2 Cor 11:2-4,12-15 RSVCE (Catholic Ed.) For I feel a DIVINE JEALOUSY for you, because I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
3But I am afraid that as the serpent DECEIVED Eve by his cunning, YOUR THOUGHTS WILL BE LED ASTRAY FROM THE SINCERE & PURE DEVOTION TO CHRIST.
4For if someone comes & proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.
And what I am doing I will CONTINUE to do, in order to UNDERMINE THE CLAIM OF THOSE who would LIKE TO CLAIM that in their boasted mission THEY WORK ON THE SAME TERMS AS WE DO.
13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself AS AN ANGEL OF LIGHT.
15So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
Does the devil quote Scripture? Yes. How? He uses only partial truths from partial verses, to make them appear true, then twists them to tempt someone to sin by violating the actual truth of the Scripture in its context & fullness of meaning. He then introduces the lie, having already used deception. He has been doing this for millenia!
One need only look at Eve's temptations & Christ's temptations in the wilderness. Here is where we practice true spiritual discernment from the Holy Spirit. 'Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God.'
God gave Adam everything to freely enjoy, dominion over the earth, a perfect environment & a right relationship to Him. Then he gave him a commandment (Gen 2:15-17) before Eve was created. Adam taught that commandment to Eve.
Then comes the serpent. 'Did God say...?' Doubt as to pervert what God really said. Doubt that God was the One who was providing for them. Doubt that He was protecting them by the commandment He gave & doubt that God had indeed their best interests in mind & that they needed more.
The focus is now on the temptation, not God. The focus is to rely upon man's own reasonings rather than God's protective commandment.
We now want more & to add to what God said & to take away from what God said, so we can justify our man-made reasonings apart from God & His truth. Eve does just that.
First, she believes the lie that God is withholding something from them, that it isn't true that God FREELY gave them all that they needed for life & godliness.
She takes AWAY FROM what God actually said & substitutes her own words. SHE SAID, 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden...' God did not say that. God said, 'You may FREELY eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good & evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” (Hebrew: literally, 'in dying you shall die.')
Then she ADDS SEVERAL THINGS to what God actually said, saying that this is what God said to do--when it is a direct lie--she has deceived herself with adding something to what God actually said.
'but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
God never said the tree was in the midst of the garden. God never said 'neither shall you touch it.' This shows what Eve had done & the humanistic reasoning she was using to justify disobeying God's command & choosing her own deceptive thinking & will rather than obeying God's loving will, trying to protect her.
Then the actual lie of the devil that contradicts the commandment of God: 'You shall surely NOT DIE, BECAUSE--God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened & you will be like God, knowing good & evil.'
The lie & the temptation for the mystery initiation into what God never told you; that you can be just like God, using your own power & reasoning to decide what is good & what is evil--even though they as yet didn't know what evil was--but were soon to find out, too late. Nothing wrong with fulfilling our own desires for self-gratification.
Then she fell for love of the things in the world (I John 2:15-17): the lust of the flesh ('saw that the tree WAS GOOD--for food'), the lust of the eyes ('that it was a delight to the eyes'--temptation always is) & the boastful pride of life ('the tree was TO BE DESIRED to make one wise.')
James 2:12-17 RSVCE Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who LOVE HIM.
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted with evil & He himself tempts no one; 14 but each person is tempted when he is LURED & ENTICED BY HIS OWN DESIRE. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth DEATH. 16 Do NOT BE DECEIVED, my beloved brethren. 17 Every GOOD endowment & every PERFECT GIFT is from above, coming down from the Father of lights...
Eve was lured & enticed by her own desire, because she had gone looking for the forbidden fruit & found it in the midst of the garden & COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH IT from her own reasoning & desires. She questioned God's loving & protective intent.
The same is true of Satan's temptations of Christ: 'IF you are the Son of God--THEN turn those stones into bread--you are hungry, you have the power as God the Son, you can do this to satisfy your own desires; self-gratification. You can provide for yourself as a man, rather than depend upon God's good provision in His timing.
BUT--Jesus said--IT IS WRITTEN...
The devil then said, "I will give You authority over all these kingdoms...BECAUSE it has been relinquished to me & I can give it to anyone I wish. So IF You worship me, it will all be Yours.”
BUT--Jesus said--IT IS WRITTEN, Worship the Lord your God AND SERVE HIM ONLY.
Then the devil tempted Jesus by half quoting a verse OUT OF ITS CONTEXT, saying, IT IS WRITTEN...So IF You are the Son of God,throw Yourself down from here. Again DEATH is the devil's ultimate goal for each of us, to prevent us from doing God's will for our lives & his desire to PERVERT the Word & commandments of God.
BUT--Jesus DECLARED--“It also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'
We are not to test what God says, but to test what others say against what God says, no matter their humanistic reasonings or perversions of the word of God.
We are not to live merely by bread alone but by every word THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.
Galatians 1:6-9,11,12,15,16 RSVCE I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ & TURNING TO A DIFFERENT GOSPEL—7 not that there is another gospel, but there are some who TROUBLE YOU & want to PERVERT the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or AN ANGEL FROM HEAVEN, should preach to you a gospel CONTRARY to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, If any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed.
For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is NOT MAN'S GOSPEL. 12 For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST.
But when He who had set me apart before I was born & had called me THROUGH HIS GRACE, 16 was pleased to REVEAL HIS SON TO ME, in order that I might PREACH HIM AMONG THE GENTILES (nations).
Acts 4:10-12 RSVCE Be it KNOWN TO YOU ALL & to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man is standing before you well. 11 This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner. 12 And there is SALVATION IN NO ONE ELSE, for (because) there is NO OTHER NAME under heaven GIVEN AMONG MEN by which we MUST BE SAVED.”
A deceived person does not know they are deceived.
A person had a bright apparition appear, that said he was Jesus & to fall down & worship him. The person was about to do so but then remembered to test the spirits & said, 'Let me see the nail prints & your side.' The apparition disappeared, never to be seen again.
Deuteronomy 18:9-14 (Douay-Rheims) When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee, beware lest thou have A MIND TO IMITATE the ABOMINATIONS of those nations.
10Neither let there be found among you any one that shall expiate his son or daughter, making them to pass through the fire; OR that consulteth soothsayers OR observeth dreams and omens, neither let there be any wizard,
11NOR charmer, NOR any one that consulteth pythonic spirits OR fortune tellers OR that seeketh the truth from the dead.
12For the Lord abhorreth all these things & for these abominations He will destroy them at thy coming.
13Thou shalt be perfect & without spot before the Lord thy God.
14These nations, whose land thou shalt possess, hearken to soothsayers & diviners: but thou art otherwise instructed by the Lord thy God.
RSVCE There shall not be found among you any one who burns his son or his daughter as an offering,b any one who practices divination, a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12 For WHOEVER does these things is an ABOMINATION TO THE LORD & because of these abominable practices the Lord your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. 14 For these nations, which you are about to dispossess, give heed to soothsayers to diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has NOT allowed you so to do.
Knowing the truth of Scripture now (no excuses), let us honestly examine this supposed apparition at Fatima of the virgin Mary & put it to the test. (to be continued)