The Cunning Deception of the Enemy

There’s something deeply melancholy about Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 11:3:

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. (2 Corinthians 11:3, NKJV)

What a sobering warning. Paul isn’t describing a distant or abstract threat—he’s warning us about a disease that infects the heart and mind: the slow, subtle drift away from the purity of faith in Christ. And this drift doesn’t come from obvious rebellion; he says that it comes through deception—the cunning, carefully orchestrated lies of the devil.

The Slippery Slope of Deception

Eve’s rebellion in the garden wasn’t blatant—she was deceived. When the serpent approached her, he didn’t deny God’s word outright; he twisted it, creating confusion and doubt. And that’s how it happens to us too.

The devil is a master manipulator. He doesn’t approach us with an obvious lie, but with something that seems reasonable, even desirable. Just as he told Eve that the forbidden fruit was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom (Genesis 3:6), he dresses up deception to look like truth.

He didn’t tell her that he wished to deceive her. He did quite the opposite. He persuaded her to believe that to depart from God's plain command was for her benefit and not for her ruin. He deceived her by his cunningness. And Paul warns us that this same cunning is precisely what we should fear when it comes to deception in our own lives.

Deception Rarely Looks Like Deception

Deception is never obvious. If it were, no one would fall for it. Think about counterfeit money or fool's gold. It wouldn’t deceive anyone if it didn’t closely resemble the real thing. That’s how Satan works, but many Christians miss it. They actually expect false doctrine to look false, and they miss that the very essence of the devil's craftiness is to have it resemble God’s truth. And how does he do this? He uses everything that will appeal to the modern man—namely our pride.

By using language that resembles our own, he slithers into our churches in forms like "modern theology,” twisting Scripture (God’s commands) to cater to egos—either by exalting man’s intellect over divine revelation, turning faith into a self-help program, or downplaying sin to avoid offense. Therefore, messages are shaped to attract crowds, telling people what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. Meanwhile, he slithers up next to a listener who is driven by a desire for affirmation rather than conviction and has them gravitating towards teachings that make them feel good rather than challenge them to repent and grow in holiness. Next thing you know, much like he did with Eve, he has God’s people persuaded to depart from God’s plain commands and has them embracing a set of faith principles loosely based on His word, paving the way for ruin.

How We Guard Our Hearts

We have a powerful adversary, the Devil, who is ever trying to ruin everything that God does and bring those who are alive and alert spiritually into a dry place, so this is no time to be passive in our faith. We must be watchful, careful, discerning, and unwavering. We must cling to Christ and His Word, testing everything against the unchanging truth of Scripture.

• Stay in the Word – The best way to recognize a counterfeit is to know the real thing intimately (Psalm 119:105). Study God’s Word!

• Stay Accountable – Surrounding ourselves with wise, godly friends helps keep us on track (Hebrews 10:25).

• Ask the Holy Spirit to Help You – God’s Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. He convicts, leads, and brings us back when we start to drift (John 16:13).

Deception won’t come announcing itself. It will slither in the garden (and our churches) undetected. It will come looking like wisdom, sounding like love, and feeling like freedom. But in the end, it leads only to destruction—so be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. Stay anchored. Stay vigilant. Stay close to Christ.

God Bless You,

Carole