Deliverance from the idolatry and sorcery that caused the Fall of mankind
Satan works through sorcery. The apostle Paul identified the way in which Satan operates in his second letter to the Thessalonians. Speaking concerning the coming of Antichrist, he wrote, ‘The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved’. 2Th 2:9 10. The ‘unrighteous deception’ by which Satan works is an alternative to the simplicity that is in Christ. In this regard, Paul expressed his concern for the believers in Corinth, writing, ‘But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ’. 2Co 11:3.
Jesus taught that we are delivered from the power of darkness by the truth. He said, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ Joh 8:31 32. The word of the Father, which Christ speaks, is the truth that makes us free. Joh 17:17. Joh 14:6. This word defines our predestination as a son of God, including our name and work as a member of Christ’s body. When we receive, believe, and obey Christ’s word, we are free to become the son whom the Father predestined us to be. John described this principle at the beginning of his Gospel, writing, ‘But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God’. Joh 1:12.