TLEE's Daily Devotion for February {10,982 words}

Proverbs 18:24 teaches that each person should try to be a friend to those around them. That verse also says that one must show themselves friendly if they are even to have friends. In I Samuel 20:1-42, the Bible talks about the special relationship that David and Jonathan shared. Saul was the king of Israel, and Jonathan, his son, was next in line to become king. At that time in his life, David was the only person that could have conceivably become king instead of Jonathan, and because Saul did not want that to happen, he secretly sought every opportunity to have David killed. David, sensing Saul's anxiety towards him and fearing for his own life, fled from the king's side. He asked Jonathan to participate in a special test to see if Saul truly did have evil intentions planned against him. While Jonathan did not believe that his father really wanted to kill David, he agreed to go along with David's test.

The American Heritage Dictionary says that being impeccable means to be without flaw, to be perfect, or to not be capable of doing anything wrong. As mankind's sacrifice on the cross at Calvary, Christians have always maintained that Jesus was without sin. Yet, the issue with impeccability is not about whether or not He did sin. It is over whether or not He could have sinned if He had so chosen.

To say that Jesus could have sinned but simply chose not to is dangerous. Such words would indicate that He had a sin nature, and that would essentially make God the Author of sin. In the sense that Jesus was born of a virgin and conceived of the Holy Spirit, He was a direct product of God. If Jesus had been able to sin, then God would have, in essence, created Him in the nature of God, but still as a human being that could have fallen short of pleasing Him. Such an act on the Father's part would have basically been the same as stacking the deck against His own Son, as well as against the rest of humanity, and a God that loves His creation would not have done that.

To better understand God, theologians have tried to categorize His attributes. One method has been to organize them based on whether or not they are communicable. Communicable attributes have, according to Dr. Millard Erickson, at least some relation to a human's attributes, whereas those that are not communicable do not. Another way has been to categorize them as being either transitive or intransitive. A transitive attribute is something like His mercy, while an intransitive attribute is something like His spirituality.

Two other ways to categorize God's attributes have been to treat them as either absolute and relative or as natural and moral. Absolute attributes, such as His infinity, are internal to Him. Relative attributes are characteristics like His omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence. A fourth way to organize God's attributes has been to identify them as either natural or moral. Natural attributes include such things as His knowledge and power. Moral attributes consider such traits as His holiness, His love, and His mercy.

The method suggested by Dr. Erickson for categorizing God's attributes has been to organize them according to whether they showed His greatness or His goodness. His attributes of greatness are spirituality, personality, life, infinity, and constancy. He is a spirit that is not restricted by space. He is personal, alive, infinite, and unlimited. He possesses all knowledge, is all-powerful, and can be everywhere, all of the time. He is constant and never changes. His attributes of goodness are moral purity, integrity, and love.

Bible critics have typically explained the presence of evil in this world by using one of five different arguments or explanations, but none of these is based on the Bible. The first is that an individual does not need to resolve the existence of evil or to question the fact that it exists. Instead, they should just accept it as a reality and move on. The second explanation for evil is that its presence in the world indicates a limit of God's knowledge. If that is true, then it would mean that the Lord cannot stop or control that which He does not fully understand, and that would mean that He is not really infinite, not really omniscient, and not really God.

Dr. Millard Erickson identified three additional non-biblical explanations to explain the existence of evil. He said that some people choose to limit God's power by seeing Him in the midst of a great struggle with another type of eternal, evil force. As such, He is not always in complete control. Another argument is that God is not as good as most people think and that maybe He is the One that really brings about so much of the evil in the world. The final non-biblical argument is that evil does not really exist. That view comes from the teachings of monism and pantheism and the belief that God is the only ultimate, eternal substance. Because He is all good and all-powerful, He cannot have part in anything that is evil. Therefore, nothing that exists is evil.

God's plan is sovereign, singular, eternal, all encompassing, and encompassing of His acts. It is sovereign in that He has the right and authority to carry out whatever comes under the definition of that plan. It is singular in the sense that He only has one plan. His plan is eternal because it has always been and will always be. It is all encompassing because it covers everything, even many of the trivialities of a person's life. Finally, His plan encompasses all of His acts. It is even carried out in accordance with His nature. Therefore, His plan is good, wise, and best for everyone.

What effect does prayer have on God's plan? Based on the above description, if it is both singular and eternal, then His plan would never change. Yet, the Bible suggests that prayer can cause some things about God and perhaps even about His plan to change. Such instances in Scripture mean that either He has changed or that His plan has changed? But if either of those were true, then some of His attributes, such as His omniscience and constancy, would be seriously challenged. Since He is both omniscient and constant, the only acceptable answer about either He or His plan changing is that they do not.

Are people free to make certain decisions for themselves, or has the outcome or choice already been decided for them? In the matter of salvation, is an individual free to choose God and be saved, or has that choice, too, automatically been made for them by God? Theologians have debated this issue of human freedom versus election for many years, and the solution is related to the constancy of God and His plan. In the matter of God's sovereign plan and human freedom, there are two main schools of thought. The first, which is Calvinistic and includes the doctrine of election, suggests that God has already decided who will and who will not make certain choices. Hence, concerning salvation, He has actually chosen who will and who will not be saved. The second school of thought, which is the Armenian perspective, implies that God has left the issue of choice up to each individual. But because He is omniscient and infinite, He knows beforehand what choices will be made, so He can tailor His plan accordingly.

In Proverbs 3:13-24, Solomon once again wrote about the importance of finding godly wisdom and of getting understanding. Throughout the Book of Proverbs, he wrote much about the importance of possessing those traits, and in this passage, he continued to do the same. He called the person happy that finds wisdom and understanding. According to him, wisdom has greater value than silver and fine gold. It is more precious than rubies, and nothing compares in value to having godly wisdom. One might question why wisdom and understanding have such great value, and the answer is that they bring blessings to the individual. Through both, a person lengthens his or her life, obtains riches and honor, and gains pleasantness and peace.

Besides having great value and bringing blessings, wisdom and understanding have also been useful and beneficial. According to Proverbs 3:19-24, the Lord through wisdom founded the earth. By understanding, He established the heavens. By knowledge, He established the depths and the clouds. In speaking about wisdom, Solomon used the expression, "My son," to show his personal focus. He felt close to his audience, and he wanted to express intimacy rather than religiosity. He wrote that wisdom would be life and grace to each person and promised that he or she would walk safely. He said that their foot would not stumble, that they would not be afraid, and that their sleep would not be hampered or disturbed.

In Proverbs 3:25-32, Solomon presented some additional benefits that result from godly wisdom and understanding. First, he wrote that a person does not need to be afraid of sudden fear. The Hebrew word for "sudden" means a fear that catches someone by surprise, and the Hebrew word for "fear" means terror or dread. When a person has acquired godly wisdom and understanding, he or she will be able to rest comfortably at night and not have to worry about the things of this world. During those quiet, still hours of the evening, such a person will be able to rest peaceably in the comfort and hope of the Lord. Second, Solomon wrote that, through wisdom and understanding, a person does not need to be afraid of the desolation of the wicked when it comes. Wisdom and understanding will cause the person to lean on the Lord, and the Lord will protect him or her and keep them from falling.

Dr. Millard Erickson described seven aspects of the doctrine of Creation that help explain the doctrine and also set it apart from all the other beliefs about humanity's origin. First, he said that everything that is not God derived its existence from God. That was his way of saying that there was not another ultimate reality. God created matter and then fashioned that matter into the present-day universe. Second, Dr. Erickson reported that the act of divine Creation was totally unique and that it was not anything like the creative works of mortal, limited man. When a person creates something, he or she is limited by the qualities of the materials and also by their own imperfections. In the creation of the world, God was not limited by anything external to Himself.

Third, Dr. Erickson indicated that nothing made by God during Creation possessed evil. God was not evil, and He did not create anything evil. Therefore, He cannot be blamed for the evil that exists in this world. Because He did not create evil, the fourth aspect of Creation is that responsibility for evil must be placed on human shoulders. Fifth, the doctrine of Creation, in that God's work was not intrinsically evil, provides validity and authenticity to the incarnation of Christ. The Docetists denied the literal, physical body of Christ because they said that the material world is evil. But the material world was not created evil, so God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, could inhabit human body and still not be evil

God is actively involved in preserving His Creation and in overseeing the works of His Creation, and those two activities combine together under the heading of providence. Through providence, He maintains the existence of His Creation, and He constantly oversees the intimate details of each person's life. How does God govern in the affairs of His people? At times, He performs miraculous or supernatural feats. When necessary, He is able to counter the natural laws of the universe and do things supernaturally. God is also the monotheistic Creator, and He does not have to battle any other eternal forces to have His way or to see His plan come to pass.

The Bible shares many instances where God intervened into the normal activities of human beings in order to bring His plan to pass. Three such occasions were in the lives of King Abimelech, Joseph, and Job. In Genesis 20:3, God came to Abimelech in a dream and warned him to stay away from Abraham's wife. In that instance, the Lord was literally holding Abimelech back from a potentially serious sin. Abraham had told the king a lie, and the king had already approached Abraham's wife, thinking that she was really Abraham's sister. In Genesis 45:1-7, Joseph shared with his brothers that their evilness towards him had been turned into good for all of Israel. In that instance, God had allowed a particular evil to go in a special direction so that He could work it for good according to His plan. Finally, in the case of Job, in Job 1:12 and Job 2:6, God placed boundaries on the devil so that His plan for Job's life would still be accomplished, despite the hindrances of the devil.

Acts 17:15 says that the Apostle Paul was brought to Athens, where he was supposed to wait for Silas and Timothy, his co-workers in the Faith. While there, he observed the numerous statues that had been erected to all the different gods of the Athenian people. The sight stirred him, so he immediately tried to share Christ with those around him. He saw their error, he knew that they were wrong, and he tried to use logic and reasoning to persuade them of the truth.

Paul was well versed with the Athenian culture and history. He knew that the people were wrong to worship their idols, but he also knew that they were a very intelligent people with a proud history. For that reason, he did not try to be a know-it-all. He simply tried to tell them the truth and to order his remarks based on their individual needs. He presented God as the Creator of the World. He identified Jesus as God's anointed, Who had been raised from the dead, and he warned of the coming judgment and of their need to repent.

By 325AD, some of the early heresies in the church had been handled, the persecutions had stopped, and the church had become very orthodox. On the negative side, though, the people had begun to believe more in the institution of the church than in the regenerating power of Jesus alone. They believed in the orthodox catholic church, and they thought that a person could only find personal faith in Christ through the church. The church had started teaching that one had to be baptized and also be a participant in the Lord's Supper to be saved, and by the fourth century, baptism had started to become a sacrament rather than an ordinance.

Once baptism started to become a sacrament intended to impart special Grace from God, parents wanted their very young children to be baptized. But because they feared baptism by immersion for their infants, they leaned toward using less water and to the idea of sprinkling. The transition from baptism by immersion to baptism by sprinkling occurred over about fourteen centuries. But by the end of that time, everyone was being sprinkled shortly after birth instead of being immersed. Parents saw a mystical sanctifying act in baptism, and they equated baptism to spiritual cleansing. Because baptism was seen as a type of spiritual cleansing, some people thought that those about to die should also be baptized, and that led to the idea of giving last rites. Despite what was happening in the early church with that issue, however, Titus 3:4-7 indicates that faith in Jesus is the only true way to be spiritually cleansed.

Self-revelation is the process by which God has given special information about Himself to his people. That information could not be known if He did not reveal it, and He has even shown extra initiative by having it written in His Word so that people might have access to it forever.

There are at least ten reasons why an individual can believe that the Bible is a revelation of God. First, the Bible is the unique revelation of Jesus, the Christ. Second, the Bible makes many extraordinary claims that have never been disproved. Third, the Bible has many prophetic passages that have come to pass or will come to pass. Fourth, the Bible has convicting, convincing, and converting power. Fifth, the Bible's message has never grown old. Sixth, the Bible is very unified in its message, yet many different authors wrote it over a very long span of time. Seventh, the Bible's message has transcultural appeal so that it did not and does not apply to only one culture or one generation. It has applied to all people for all time. Eighth, the Bible is honest. It has shown many saints when they were not so saintly. Ninth, the Bible represents a superior, well-preserved work of literature when compared to other works of antiquity. Tenth, the Bible has worked through the experiences of humanity.

In our society, true romance is often missing, misunderstood, misused, or perverted, but romantic love as taught in Scripture is a gift from God. It is not based so much on sexual attraction or intimacy for another person as on a deep appreciation of and attraction to an individual of the opposite sex. Romantic love, as given by God, does not involve the perversion that is so prevalent in our society. It also does not support a polygamous lifestyle. Solomon wrote Song of Solomon and had many wives. So, his lifestyle was not consistent with his own writing or with the biblical model of one man for one woman for one lifetime.

Song of Solomon was written from the viewpoint of a bride. In some passages, Solomon used words by his bride that would not be very meaningful to someone in today's culture. He used the expression "gazelle or a young stag" to show that his bride saw in him beauty, strength, freedom, and grace. He used images and words that were pastoral in nature, and those images and words helped his bride feel flattered that he wanted her to leave her normal routine to spend time with him. In this love story, Solomon did not describe a relationship where one partner was taking or had taken the other for granted. He also did not show one partner being suspicious or jealous towards the other. In pure romantic love, such negative attitudes do not exist. The Bible shows that the two lovers in this story were always anxious to be together. They always saw only the best in each other, and their relationship was characterized by a genuine love and trust for each other.

I Corinthians 12:31 and I Corinthians 13:1-13 teaches the importance of demonstrating Christian love towards others. In the church, people sometimes focus on the more glamorous aspects of ministry, such as preaching, teaching, soul-winning, or good music, and without question, each of those is important to the Lord's work. But the Apostle Paul told the Corinthian church that a loving heart was a more pure evidence of a genuine walk with the Lord than any of the above gifts. As Christians, sometimes the best work that one can do is to fix a meal for someone in need, walk next door to tell a hurting neighbor about Christ's love for them, or bake someone a cake. Many people in this world are hurting and sometimes their greatest need is to feel the love of someone that has a personal walk with the Lord.

In the Corinthian church, the members believed that they could be superior Christians if they demonstrated many spiritual gifts. Speaking in tongues was one of the controversies in their church, so Paul dealt specifically with that gift. He wrote that a clanging cymbal only brings the wrong kind of attention to itself. While he was not trying to put down spiritual gifts, he was trying to re-focus their motives. A person's gifts from the Holy Spirit should never be used to bring attention to oneself. But with humble, committed hearts to the One Who loved and died for them, Christians should desire to use their talents to bring attention to Jesus. They should use their gifts and abilities to express God's love for others.

Verbal and plenary inspiration is important to all Bible doctrines. Verbal inspiration means that the Holy Spirit inspired the words of the Bible, and plenary inspiration means that the whole Bible was equally inspired. If the words of the Bible were not fully trustworthy as God’s Word, then a person could not know, understand, or have assurance in God’s special revelation.

There are five ways that an individual can be certain that the Bible is inspired. First, it teaches that it is inspired and inerrant. Second, Jesus affirmed that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God. Third, the early church Fathers recognized the inspired, inerrant quality of God’s Word. Fourth, because God cannot lie, what He said must be treated as inerrant, and fifth, the Bible has a life-giving spirit within it. Jesus taught biblical inspiration in a way that made His position clear. In a confrontation with people that did not believe in the resurrection, in Matthew 22:23-32, He supported the biblical claim of life after death. In John 10:34-36, He claimed that Scriptures could not be broken. During the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5:17-18, He showed His commitment to the Old Testament Law. And in Luke 4:16-19, while in Nazareth, He quoted from an Old Testament passage, by the Prophet Isaiah, that talked about the coming of the Messiah.

God's general attributes of Person, Spirit, Life, of being Immutable, and of being One give people bases for better understanding and for relating to Him. As a Person, He has intellect, emotion, will, and self-awareness. He exists by Himself and perpetuates Himself by His nature. He shows His emotion in that He loves His creation, feels sorrow, and grieves over their actions. His Will is seen in that He can make rational decisions and then has the freedom to carry them out. As a Spirit, He is incorporeal, invisible, and immaterial. That means that a human body does not limit Him. As Life, He is alive and dynamic. He is not the deistic concept of a god that created the universe and then disappeared. As self-existent, He is the First Cause, and that means that He was not created. As Immutable, He never changes. He exists alone in His universe and is not limited in any way. As One, He is the only true God.

God used three principle names for Himself in the Old Testament that described how the Old Testament Jew would have related to Him. Elohim was plural and showed Him as the strong, faithful One. Even though the people of that time did not realize it, that name, by being plural, also showed the three-in-one nature of the Trinity. Jehovah was God's proper name, given to Moses in Exodus 3:13-15, and it identified Him as the self-existing One. When He used that name for Himself, His intent was to show His eternality and that He had not been created. Adonai was the name used by the Jewish person that did not feel comfortable saying Jehovah, and that name meant Lord and Master.

While God was a loving heavenly Father towards His people, He was also their God, and He placed some very high standards on them. He gave them the Mosaic Law to guide them in life and to make them recognize their own need for a Savior. The Apostle Paul, in Galatians 3:24, identified the Law as a schoolmaster that had been given to point the people to Christ.

A lot of evidence exists to support the deity of Jesus, the Christ. The Bible teaches that He was and is the Son of God. It records instances, such as in Matthew 22:42-45, Matthew 28:19, John 10:30, and John 14:9, where He specifically claimed to be the Son of God. His pre-existence and eternality, as revealed in Scripture, attest to His deity. The triune nature of the Trinity and His heavenly origin show His deity. In Matthew 14:33, Matthew 28:9, John 20:28-29, Acts 7:59-60, and I Corinthians 1:2, worship was given to Him, and He accepted it. In addition to those evidences, the New Testament writers provided some additional Holy Spirit inspired evidences. They ascribed to Him the works of Creation, and that was something that He could have only done if He were God. They ascribed to Him the divine attributes of deity, such as in John 2:24-25, Hebrews 1:12, Hebrews 13:8, and Revelation 1:18. They gave Him divine titles that sometimes provided a glimpse of His deity and that also sometimes provided a glimpse of His humanity.

The Bible teaches in Isaiah 7:14 and Luke 1:30-35 that Jesus was born of a virgin. But why was and why is the virgin birth so important? Was God trying to show His power to do the miraculous so that people would be impressed and have more confidence in Him? The answer to that question is a definite "no" because God NEVER does anything just for show. The necessity of the virgin birth was very logical. In Leviticus 1:3-4, the Bible says that the sin offering had to be a male that did not have any defects or blemishes. Because Jesus was offered on the cross at Calvary for each person’s sins, He had to be that sinless male without any defects or blemishes of His own. To do that, though, He had to be born of a virgin. The virgin birth was prophesized by Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah in the Old Testament and reported as fact by Matthew, Luke, John, and Paul in the New Testament.

Proverbs 4:1-12 teaches that wisdom can be learned, applied, and enjoyed for all of one's life. It begins by hearing the godly instructions of one's parents. In this passage, Solomon presented himself as the loving father who had wanted to give good instructions to his children. As a child, he had received good instruction, and as a father, he wanted to give it. He could look back to his childhood and feel loved. He could also look back and feel like he had been well equipped for the toils of this life. Because he loved his children, he wanted to pass on to them that same heritage.

A good, loving, nurturing relationship creates confidence in a young heart. Not all young people feel loved in their home, and not all young people get good instruction from their parents. As a result, many of these individuals do not develop a strong sense of self-esteem and self-worth. They enter into adulthood with a big weight, as it were, about their neck. But such an unfortunate situation does not have to be. God loves every person, and every person can receive good, godly instruction from Him, even when that same kind of right instruction is not being taught in the home. The key to living right is to seek the Lord early in life and to turn to Him quickly.

In I John 3:1 and I John 4:7-21, the Apostle John wrote about God's love for each Christian and about what should be their love for one another. Not much real love exists in this world today. In an environment where most people only live for themselves, workplaces have become combative, and neighborhoods have often become like war zones. Nevertheless, God loves each of His children, and He gives them several reasons why they should and can love each other. The first is that He treats each one as His child. A Christian is not a robot, and he or she is not one who must live in perpetual fear of doing the wrong thing. As children of their heavenly Father, they exist in a nurturing environment where they can feel His never-ending love for them.

A second reason that Christians can love one another is because God has demonstrated His love to them by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die on the cross as payment for their sins. He made a personal commitment to humanity and then followed that commitment up with a sacrifice and an action. As His children, He teaches that each follower of Christ can do the same. He paid the ultimate price by offering His Son on their behalf, so Christians can determine within themselves to make the appropriate sacrifices and take the proper actions in their own lives on the behalf of others. A third reason that Christians can love one another as they should is because God lives within those that have trusted in the finished work of Jesus at Calvary. They are indwelled by their Creator and by the Judge of all the earth, and failure to show the right kind of Christian love for one another is a poor evidence of the hope that Christ has put within each one.

When Jesus hung on the cross, He died on behalf of all believers. He was their sin substitute, the One that satisfied God's wrath against all humanity, and the One that redeemed everyone by His blood. When He died, the demands of the law were satisfied for all believers, and by His death, He provided a way for everyone to be reconciled back to God.

From the original Greek, one can better understand what actually happened when Jesus died on the cross. In I Thessalonians 5:10, the Apostle Paul wrote, "He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him." The Greek word translated "for" in that verse means "on behalf of." In I Peter 3:18, the Greek word translated "for" in that verse also means "on behalf of." By contrast, the Greek word translated "for" in Mark 10:45 means "instead of." When the New Testament authors wrote about Jesus’ death, they always emphasized that He died on behalf of those that had or would follow Him, not instead of them dying. Mortal beings could have never satisfied their sin debt by their own death. To do that, it required Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity. In the Bible, He is spoken of as God, and He possesses the same absolute and comparative attributes as the First and Second Persons of the Trinity. He has accomplished the work of God, He receives honor that is only due to God, and He is associated with the titles of deity. The early church recognized the deity of the Holy Spirit, and He is credited with the inspiration of the Word of God. Genesis 1:2 teaches that He was at Creation, as were the Father and the Son, and that He provided order, sustained life, and made the earth beautiful. Believing in the Holy Spirit's personality is important because personality, which is made up of intellect, emotion, will, and self-awareness, is an attribute of deity. It also shows that he can be related to in a personal way.

Two roles of the Holy Spirit are to draw the unsaved to the Lord and to minister to new Christian converts. When the Gospel is preached, the Holy Spirit causes the unsaved hearer to be convicted. He encourages the unbeliever to receive the free gift of salvation, and when the person responds, then the work of regeneration is performed to spiritually transform that individual into a child of God. After that initial work of regeneration, He adds the new believer to the body of Christ, indwells him or her so that He can be their Guide and Comforter, and seals the individual into the safety of God's grace. I Corinthians 12:27 says, "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."

After conversion, the Holy Spirit performs several additional tasks in the believer's heart and life. He might give a Christian the special ability to perform a particular service for the Lord. He sanctifies believers and sets them apart to be used in God's service. He illuminates Scripture and shows the followers of Christ many of the truths in the Bible. He performs the role of Intercessor and makes prayers on their behalf. He helps believers find their spiritual gifts so that they can be fruitful for the Lord. When the New Testament church began, the Holy Spirit gave "sign" gifts, such as the calling of the Apostles, speaking and interpreting in unknown tongues, performing miracles, and healing, as ways to give people inside and outside the church confidence concerning the Lord's work.

Angels are incorporeal, created spirit beings that are holy and personal. They do not die, they are not seen, and they are orderly. They provide transportation at death. They reveal spiritual truths, protect, set free, influence, and give provision. They encourage, make special appearances, and administer. Angels and humans are both created beings, but angels and humans are not alike. Human beings are not incorporeal, and they are not confirmed to be holy. Humans die, they can be seen, and they are probably not orderly in the same sense as angels. Angels are also different than God. Angels are strong, but they are not omnipotent. They are intelligent, but they are not omniscient. They have confirmed holiness because they did not rebel against God. But they are not omnipresent because they cannot be everywhere, all the time.

The Bible identifies three angels by name. The first is Lucifer, and he is a created angel. His name means bearer of light, and he should be bearing the light of God to others. But he has definitely not lived up to the meaning of his name. While his name might mean bearer of light, Jesus referred to him, in John 16:11, as the prince of this world. The second angel is Gabriel, and he is also a created being. His name means messenger of God, and his character trait is strength. He ministered to Daniel in Daniel 8:16 and 9:21, to Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, in Luke 1:19, and to Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Luke 1:26. Michael is the third created angel. He is highest in the angelic order, and he is of the highest godly character. He is identified in Daniel 12:1 concerning an end-time prophecy, in Jude 1:9 over a dispute with the devil, and in Revelation 12:7 concerning an end-time battle with the dragon.

What does the Bible teach about Satan? Is he as bad as many claim, or has he been greatly misrepresented by his opposition? In answering those questions, one should know that Satan is not equal to God. He is strong, but he is not all-powerful. He is intelligent, but he is not all knowing. He cannot be in all places at all times, so he is not omnipresent. He was confirmed to be unholy during eternity past, and in a sense, he is even like the "elect" angels that are mentioned in Matthew 24:31. The "elect" angels chose God and the path of holiness at the same time that Satan was rising up against God. Thus, Satan is like them in that he, too, made a choice concerning the Lord, only his was the opposite of their choice.

Satan is the devil, but he was not created evil or even to become evil. James 1:13-17 says that God cannot be tempted by evil, that He does not tempt anyone with evil, and that everything good and perfect comes from Him. Satan is the created angel, Lucifer, and the Bible teaches, in Isaiah 14:12-17 and Ezekiel 28:11-19, that he fell because he wanted to ascend into heaven, exalt his own throne, govern heaven, and be like the most High. He was not content to just be a created angel. Instead, he actually wanted to rule in God's place.

In Proverbs 4:13-27, Solomon wrote about the importance of receiving instruction and living right. Christians should eagerly receive the instruction of godly people, and they should try to flee from all kinds of evil. In Verses Thirteen through Seventeen, he wrote that the young person should be open to instruction. Earlier in the chapter, he had described wisdom as a lady to be cherished. Wisdom comes from the Hebrew word that means skill in war, wisdom in administration, shrewdness, prudence in religious affairs, or wisdom in ethical and religious matters. Instruction comes from the Hebrew word that means discipline, chastening, or correction. From the combined meanings of those two words, the inference is that Solomon was equating the value of wisdom to the value of instruction, as though to say that wisdom is somehow derived by learning from one's mistakes.

Demons are incorporeal, emotional spirit beings that are loyal to Satan. They are powerful and intelligent, but they differ from the loyal "elect" angels in terms of the work they do, in their moral qualities, and in their places of residence. Theologians have argued that the "sons of God" mentioned in Genesis 6:4 could have been giants, angels, the men of Seth with the women of Canaan, special created beings, or demons. But concerning those that have said that the sons of God might have been the men of Seth with the women of Canaan, that choice is challenged because the daughters of Seth were not mentioned. Concerning those that have said that they could have been angels, the angels are the "elect" of God that have already been tested. Based on Jude 1:8, it is possible that the "sons of God" in Genesis 6:4 were really demons. But in any case, Genesis 6:4 will be best interpreted based on a person’s beliefs about the Hebrew word "Nephilim" in that verse.