Should We Fear the Devil?

A Foe with no Remorse

Media paints the Devil as a red impish creature, with horns and a blazing pitchfork. Although, the Bible doesn’t give us a vivid description, even when Jesus was confronted by the Devil in the desert.

In fact, the Devil is a wanderer, looking for opportunities to drive humans to sin. He uses deception as a dagger behind his back and beguiles with his speech. Paul mentioned the Devil in his sermon about false apostles. “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness.” —2 Corinthians 11:14-15 (NIV)

The first recorded sin in the Bible is deception. The serpent said to Eve, “You will certainly not die.” It is frightening to think that one silver tongue led to the downfall of man. I’ve contemplated the thought for some time: Why didn’t Eve ask God if His snakes talk? Adam was given all of the Earth’s creatures to name.

“So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.” —Genesis 2:20 (NIV)

Whether or not Adam named serpents, it should have been alarming to Eve for one of God’s creations to be opposed to God’s commands. In that situation, the Devil insinuates that it was God misleading Adam and Eve.

“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” —Genesis: 3:5 (NIV)

The question I posed at the start: Should we fear this faceless, villainous one, who whispered falsehoods to the flawless, sinless Son of Man?

I am pleased to tell you: not even a grain of sand of fear.

Fear is sometimes met with fortitude. The mother experiencing complications in pregnancy, praying for a healthy newborn. The soldier pressing forward on the front lines, a safe bed thousands of miles away. Fortitude triumphs over fear in these cherry-picked examples. Other times fear is met with resignation. The weight of failure and disappointment brimming from it are contenders to surrendering to fear. Fear is the then-primal, modern-day panic button. Left unchecked, it becomes a parasitic addition to our lives.

We should not fear the impostor angel of light in Paul’s sermon. We have a hero that stood firm, unshakable in his insidious presence: Jesus.

Jordan Peterson’s analysis of Jesus’ temptation illuminates his holiness through suffering⸸:

Satan first tempts the starving Christ to quell His hunger by transforming the desert rocks into bread. Then he suggests that He throw Himself off a cliff, calling on God and the angels to break His fall. Christ responds to the first temptation by saying, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” What does this answer mean? It means that even under conditions of extreme privation, there are more important things than food. To put it another way: Bread is of little use to the man who has betrayed his soul, even if he is currently starving.

“Throw yourself off that cliff,” Satan says, offering the next temptation. “If God exists, He will surely save you. If you are in fact his Son, God will surely save you.” Why would God not make Himself manifest, to rescue His only begotten Child from hunger and isolation and the presence of great evil?... He’s not someone to be commanded to perform magic tricks, or forced into Self-revelation — not even by His own Son.

Finally comes the third temptation, the most compelling of all. Christ sees the kingdoms of the world laid before Him for the taking. That’s the siren call of earthly power: the opportunity to control and order everyone and everything.

How magnificent is it that Jesus never broke bread with the evil one!

Throughout Jesus’ temptation, he was never afraid. Satan was trying to have him veer from his mission on Earth to no avail. Jesus withstood the onslaught of lies to fulfill God’s will: to be our deliverance on the cross. His suffering in the desert was just the tip of the iceberg. This is the burden Jesus and Jesus alone had to accept. Fear had no place in his mind in the desert. It couldn’t (more on that shortly). He had fortitude.

Why shouldn’t we fear the devil? I’ll lay it out in two reasons:

1. Satan knows his demise, and it’s one filled with woe and punishment. Unlike us, who are given redemption through Jesus’ crucifixion, he has no life raft that frees him. It would be like fearing the fly buzzing across the wall, knowing that there is a Venus flytrap patiently waiting for a bug to graze its bared teeth.

   “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” —Revelation 20:10 (NIV)

   
   

2. Fearing God is much more fruitful! Time out. The Most High who wants me to pray and sing praises wants me to be agonizingly afraid of him? Pastor Preston Morrison gives us the real definition of fearing God⸸:

   Perfect love casts out fear. Why, if you ever ask the Lord, why do you cast out fear? Here’s the answer to the question: because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. I love 1 John 4:18 any time I’m talking about the fear of the Lord. Because if you think the fear of the Lord is actually being afraid of God, the Bible says that’s not even possible.

Do you see it now?

What happened after Adam ate the fruit? He felt shame. He was afraid at the realization he was naked, so he hid. His heart was not fully fearing the Exalted. That word death that God declared would transpire if he touched the tree: Adam feared disaster.

Jesus, who was made perfect in love, could not be afraid of Satan, not at all. It is through that immaculate love—not heartache that God wouldn’t relieve his hunger pangs in the desert—that Jesus was not moved by any of the Devil’s persuasions, whence the first man has.

I want to leave you with one last scripture. When fear of the one who inherited the world comes uninvited to rob you of the love God has in store for you, reflect on this scripture.

“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can exterminate all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” —Ephesians 6:16-17 (NIV)

Additional content

I encourage you to listen to this episode of Your Daily Bible Verse to believe in God and cast away fear.

Your Daily Bible Verse | 2 Thessalonians 3:3

If you still need a boost of inspiration not to fear, give these songs a listen:

• No Fear by Jon Reddick

• Peace Be Still by Hope Darst

• Mighty Name of Jesus by Hope Darst (powerful song)!

• I Will Fear No More by The Afters

• Don't Be Afraid by Brandon Heath

Liturgy for fear

Lord, I feel the enemy trying to come out from the crevices and into my life

My heart feels torrents instead of peace

I crave for Your hand to uplift me

Fill me with wisdom that comes from knowing You

It was Jesus that held fast when the enemy was near

I know that I can follow in those footsteps

So let me take up the shield of faith that severs the flaming arrows of the evil one

Comfort me with Your infinite love

For your love is my fortress

Almighty God, take my fear and give me clarity

Remind me that through Your Son I am given life

In Jesus name,

Amen

References

1. Peterson, J. (n.d.). 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote for Chaos [Archive.org]. https://archive.org/details/12rulesforlifeanantidotetochaospdfdrive.com1/page/n177/mode/2up

2. Pillar Church. (2025, April 6). The Power Of The Fear Of The Lord | Preston Morrison [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAFEFMsLVSE&t=1s