How Satan Really Works

Christians can get confused about Satan. Sometimes we picture him as a cartoon villain hiding behind every temptation. Other times we treat him like an evil version of God, everywhere at once, pulling every string. Neither picture matches the Bible’s description.

Satan is real. He is dangerous. He has a kingdom at work in the world. Scripture even calls him the god of this world. But he is not God’s equal. He is not omnipresent. He is not free to act apart from God’s leash.

So the real question is not Do you believe in Satan? The question is Do you understand how he actually works?

Not Cursed by Your Fathers

Ezekiel 18:2 records a proverb Israel loved to repeat: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” What they meant was, “We’re suffering because of what our parents did. Their sins are the reason for our exile. We’re paying for their mistakes.”

It was basically a way of shifting blame. Instead of owning their rebellion, Israel claimed they were victims of their ancestors’ failures. But God would not let them hide behind that excuse.

He answers, “As I live, declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine… the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:3–4). Later He says it again in verse 20: “The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”

In other words, the exile wasn’t about some generational curse. It was about their own sin. God was holding each person accountable for their own choices.

That ends it. You are not judged for your father’s sins. You stand before God for your own.

This is how Satan loves to twist truth. He convinces people they are bound by generational curses. Mini$trie$ make a living off this. But Scripture never says believers need deliverance from family curses. What it does say is that Christ bore the only curse that mattered: the curse of sin. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us”(Galatians 3:13).

If you are in Christ, you are free. Satan wants you in fear. Christ calls you to walk in truth.

Demons and the Powers

Categories can help here. Demons and the higher powers are not the same.

The book of Enoch describes demons as the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim, the offspring of the rebellious sons of God in Genesis 6. Enoch is not Scripture, but its background helps make sense of the inspired record. Jude says those angels are now chained (Jude 6). Peter says the same (2 Peter 2:4). When their offspring, the Nephilim, were wiped out in the flood, their spirits became restless and disembodied.

Jesus said, “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none” (Matthew 12:43). In Mark 5 they begged Jesus to let them enter pigs rather than be cast into the abyss. Demons crave embodiment. They are the foot soldiers of the kingdom of darkness.

The powers are different. Paul calls them rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, spiritual forces in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). He is not talking about the restless spirits of the Nephilim. Those demons harass people on the ground level. The “powers” are more like the rebellious gods of Psalm 82 and the princes in Daniel 10. These are spiritual rulers given authority over nations who led them into idolatry. They do not crave bodies. They crave dominion. They scheme over cultures, stir false worship, and fuel persecution.

So here’s the distinction: demons harass individuals. The powers oppose Christ’s church on a cultural and global scale. Demons are like the foot soldiers. The gods are the generals.

When Paul says, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil”(Ephesians 6:11), he is talking about this larger war. Not necessarily low-level demons foaming at the mouth, but the strategies of the powers. And notice the armor: truth, righteousness, faith, salvation, the Word, prayer. These are not exorcism only tools. They are weapons to endure a world full of lies.

Oppression or Temptation?

This is where Christians like to shift the blame. We love to say, “I think I’m being oppressed,” as if that explains away our failures. But Scripture does not give us that escape.

James writes, “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:14–15).

That is temptation. The source is not always outside you. James says it starts in your own heart. In other words, the flesh, your sin nature, is the spark. The world or the enemy may fan the flame, but they are not the cause. The root problem is the desires inside us that want what God forbids.

Oppression is different. Job’s suffering came when Satan was permitted to afflict him. Paul’s thorn was “a messenger of Satan to harass me” (2 Corinthians 12:7). Jesus told the church in Smyrna, “The devil is about to throw some of you into prison” (Revelation 2:10). These are external pressures. They are real. They are painful. But they are not the same as sin rising from within.

Calling every failure oppression just dodges responsibility. And Satan loves that. He is happy if you stop fighting temptation by blaming him for it. But God calls you to resist the devil, to stand firm, to put to death the desires of the flesh by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16).

The Tongue Is a Fire

James uses some of the sharpest language in Scripture: “The tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness… setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell” (James 3:6).

That does not mean Satan is whispering in your ear every time you gossip. It means your words can carry the imprint of hell. James goes on: “No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God” (James 3:8–9).

This is where Satan’s schemes show up most often. Not in Hollywood-style, pea soup spitting, heading spinning possessions, but in churches split by gossip, marriages torn apart by harsh words, friendships destroyed by bitterness with no hope of reconciliation.

And notice again: the answer is not a deliverance ritual. It is repentance. Paul says, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up” (Ephesians 4:29).

Christians do not need demons cast out of them. They need the Spirit to harness their tongues.

The Gospel’s Deliverance

Here is the hope that ties it all together.

Paul writes, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son”(Colossians 1:13).

Notice the tense. Already done. The kingdom of darkness has lost its claim.

And Paul says again, “[Christ] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 2:15). Demons may harass. The powers may rage. But their defeat is sealed.

So how do you stand? With the armor of God. With truth. With righteousness. With faith. With salvation. With the Word. With prayer. Ordinary means of grace. That is how Christians resist the devil and walk in the light.

Generational sins may echo through families, but they end when Christ makes someone new. Demons may harass, but they cannot own you. The powers may rage, but their time is short. Their end is certain.

That is how Satan really works. And that is why you need the gospel.