Our enemy is no creator he’s a plagiarizer. The apostle Paul explained this as why the elders he appointed in the city of Ephesus must shepherd the church well, protecting it from the wolves (Acts 20:28-29).Īnother less obvious way that Satan and false spiritual teachers steal is through stealing God’s truth and perverting it (Acts 13:10 Jude 1:4). Even within the church, teachers can emerge who “distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:30). In the same way, false spiritual teaching can steal people away from God. “He attempts to snatch away the Word of God from the person who hears it.” And when somebody switches allegiance, Satan attempts to “snatch them out of my hand,” although thankfully Jesus says this doesn’t won’t happen for the people who “listen to my voice I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). So as not to lose the people he has stolen, he attempts to snatch away the Word of God from the person who hears it, like a bird eating up seed before it’s able to sprout (Matt. Like a kidnapper luring a child away from his parents, the Devil “leads the whole world astray” (Rev. The result of Eve and Adam’s sin was humanity’s defection from living under God’s authority to being resentful residents of “the dominion of darkness” (Col. By planting mistrust about God, the serpent was able to steal Eve’s trust away from God. The obvious way in Scripture that the Devil tries to steal is stealing people away from God.
The Devil Comes to Steal, Kill, and Destroy This strongly suggests that there will be the following hallmarks of false spiritual teaching: It will seek to steal, kill, and destroy, following the pattern set forth by the Devil. John 10 has strong similarities with Ezekiel 34, where God calls himself Israel’s shepherd and warns them against false religious teachers.
Religious teachers opposing Jesus are the antagonists of John 9, as well as the group he is addressing in John 10 (verse 1). However, as Craig Keener helpfully points out, the context of John 10:10 suggests that Jesus is talking more specifically about false spiritual teachers. After all, stealing, killing, and destroying are precisely what this angel-turned enemy of God is up to throughout the Bible, as we will see. It’s natural to read that verse and assume that Jesus is talking about the Devil (“enemy, slanderer”), or Satan (“adversary”). “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” It is in this context that Jesus explains, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). He contrasts himself with the “thief” who wants to steal the sheep, and the “hired hand” who runs away at the first sign of a wolf. The phrase “steal, kill, and destroy” comes from John 10, where Jesus gives a couple of his “I am” statements: “I am the gate” (i.e., the way to salvation John 10:9) and “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11). First, who exactly is the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy? Let’s explore how the Devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. False spiritual teaching is dangerous because it follows the same game plan. From the early pages of Genesis to the final chapters of Revelation, he’s attempting to take good things created by God and either steal them (e.g., snatching people from God), kill them (e.g., enticing humans toward self-harm), or destroy them (e.g., destroying churches through persecution). The Bible teaches that the Devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Instead, it takes what’s been created and seeks to destroy it. One of the clues that something is evil is that it’s not very creative.
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