The Doctrine of Sin, Part 1

By Lewis Sperry Chafer

[Author’s Note: This installment, the first of a series of discussions on the general theme of Sin, is to be followed in this quarterly by subsequent articles, namely: (II) The First Sin on Earth and its Effect; (III) Man’s Present Estate as a Sinner; (IV) The Specific Character of the Christian’s Sin; (V) The Divine Remedy for all Sin.

Since much of what has been written on this subject by others has followed the philosophical and metaphysical aspects of the theme, this presentation aims to be a simplified, practical, and Biblical treatment of the doctrine itself.—L.S.C.]

I. Introduction

Embracing (1) The Essential Nature of Sin; (2) The Origin of Sin; (3) The Divine Permission of Sin; (4) The First Sin in Heaven.

How vast is the sum total of the spiritual shadows of this universe—those in heaven and those on earth! The extent and character of the shadows will be computed only when He whose standards and valuations are infinite shall have completed all that He has decreed. These issues are immeasurable—immeasurable as to quantity indeed, but even more immeasurable as to their hideous character; for sin is credited with having caused infinite tragedy both in heaven and on earth. But, beyond all this, sin must be identified as that which occasioned the greatest divine sacrifice and necessitated the payment of a ransom on no less terms than the lifeblood of the Son of God. Any human attempts to contemplate a theme so boundless will be restricted, on the one hand, to the only source of authoritative information—the Word of God—; and expanded, on the other hand, by so much as it may please God to enlighten the mind. At best man will but feebly react to the divine estimation of sin, and yet more hopeless must he be in his appreciation of the problem of its presence in the universe, which universe is designed, created, executed, and consummated according to the free and sovereign will of the One who acts ever and only in the sphere of that which is infinitely holy.

At the opening of his treatise on the Christian Doctrine of Sin, Dr. Julius Müller writes the following (as translated from the German by William Urwick) on the dark character of sin in this human sphere and the importance of knowing the revelation God has made: “It requires no special profundity of reflection but only a moderate degree of moral earnestness to prompt us thoughtfully to pause before ONE GREAT PHENOMENON of human life, and ever and anon to turn towards it a scrutinizing look. I refer to the phenomenon of EVIL; the presence of an element of disturbance and discord in a sphere where the demand for harmony and unity is felt with peculiar emphasis. It meets us at every turn as the history of the human race in the course of its development passes before us; it betrays its presence in manifold forms when we fix our eyes upon the closest relationships of society; and we cannot hide from ourselves its reality when we look into our own hearts. It is a dark and dismal nightshade, casting a gloom over every department of human life, and continually pervading its fairest and brightest forms. They, indeed, make very light of their philosophical perceptions who fancy they can dismiss the greatest riddle of the world, the existence of evil, simply by forbidding it serious thought. They speak of the disagreeableness of reflections so studiously directed towards the dark side of life; they find that it is only ‘according to nature,’ that the more steadily you fix your eyes upon the darkness, the more immeasurable does it appear; and they advise us for our own sakes to turn away from the question of evil, because our troubling ourselves about it will be of no avail save to plunge us into gloomy melancholy. How gladly should we follow this advice if only Novalis were right in his bold promise,—which expresses the mind of Carpocrates the Gnostic, and that perhaps of Fichte also,—that, ‘if a man suddenly and thoroughly persuade himself that he was moral, he would really be so.’ Were it true, that if a man with firm resolve shook off ‘that old and grievous delusion of sin,’ as a wild and empty dream, he would be free from sin, who would not in so easy a manner be released? But as the well known device of the ostrich does not save it from the weapon of the hunter, so the mere shutting of our eyes to the reality of evil does not make it vanish, but delivers us only the more surely into its power. In order to be conquered, the enemy must be known; and the very complaints of the disagreeableness of such reflections strongly witness how dangerous it is to shrink from them.”

The problem which sin creates is more than a mere conflict between good and evil in human conduct; it involves the measureless and timeless issues in the conflict between that holiness which is the substance of God’s character and all that is opposed to it. It contemplates more than the loss and injury sustained by the one who sins; it intrudes into the sphere of the divine rights which, by the Creator’s ownership, are vested in the creature of His hand. The ultimate triumph of righteousness over unrighteousness is assured and secured in the very nature and being of God; for an unqualified promise is made of an on-coming new heaven and new earth in which righteousness shall dwell. That long anticipated hour will bring in the final banishment of all evil and demonstrate the rectitude of God both in His permission of sin in the universe and in every aspect of His dealing with it from its inception to its consummation.

There are fundamental features of the doctrine of Sin which, in their outreach, extend beyond the range of the usual treatment of this theme. The evangelist rightly assumes that all men are ruined in the tragedy of sin and, without recognition of more extended issues, proceeds to proclaim the gospel of the saving grace of God. Of the theologian it is required that he shall penetrate into the deeper problems of the origin and essential character of sin and deal with this doctrine not alone in its relation to man, but with its beginning and ending, in its relation to angels, and specifically in its relation to God. Some of the deeper aspects of this doctrine are:

1. The Essential Nature of Sin.

The holy character of God is the final and only standard by which moral values may accurately be judged. To the one who disregards God, there are no moral standards other than social custom, or the dictates of an uncertain and perverted conscience. And even these, it will be observed, though indirect, failing, and feeble, are, nevertheless, reflections of the standards of God. Sin is sinful because it is unlike to God. The Westminster Confession declares: “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of any law of God, given as a rule to the reasonable creature.” However, inasmuch as the law of God may not incorporate all that God’s character is and inasmuch as anything will be sinful which contradicts God’s character, whether expressed in His law or not, this definition is strengthened when the word character is substituted for the word law. It is true that disobedience of God’s law is sin, but it does not follow that sin is restricted to disobedience of law. Similarly, selfishness is sin, but sin is not always selfishness; and the love of money is a root of all evil, but all evil is not represented in the love of money. So, also, unbelief is sin, but sin is more than unbelief. Whether sin be viewed as the individual’s share in Adam’s sin, the sin-nature, the estate “under sin,” or personal sin with all its varied features, it still draws its essential character of sinfulness from the fact that it is unlike to God.

Divine record is given of three major demonstrations of the exceeding sinfulness of sin: (1) The first demonstration is the first sin in heaven, which caused the highest of all the angels to fall from his estate and with him a vast number of lesser angels to follow in his rebellion against God. This highest of angels became Satan the resister, the god of this world, and the prince of the power of the air. The lesser angels became the demons over whom Satan continues his determining influence, and these-Satan and his hosts-are doomed without remedy to the lake of fire forever. Against what inconceivable light these beings sinned is not revealed, but there is provided no redemption for them; and, while Satan and the demons cease not to sin, the tragic fall in heaven and all that has followed both in heaven and on earth is due to the first sin committed in heaven. (2) The first sin of man is the second demonstration of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. This sin caused the federal head to fall and the race which he represented to fall in him. Directly or indirectly, this one sin has caused the immeasurable suffering, sorrow, and death of the race, and will be consummated in the eternal woes of all who are lost. (3) In His death on the cross, Christ bore the sin of the world, and the character of sin was there finally measured and its sinfulness revealed to angels and men. In the light of the forensic character of Christ’s death, it is evident that had there been but one sinner in the world who had committed but one sin, the same divine requirements would have been imposed upon the One who took the sinner’s place. Had God chosen to terminate sin in the world immediately after Adam’s first sin and there to have provided a righteous ground for divine forgiveness and justification for that one sinner, the same awful burden would necessarily have been laid upon the only Substitute who could take Adam’s place as was laid upon Him when He bore the sin of the world. This solemn fact is typically set forth in the shedding of blood that Adam might be clothed.

That God is Himself transparent holiness and in Him is no darkness at all is a fact which at once guarantees that, though in His inscrutable purpose He has permitted sin in the universe, He is in no way involved in its guilt. God is righteous in the absolute sense, the judge of all that is evil, and the executor of the penalty which His righteous judgments must impose. It may thus be restated that God is Himself the standard of holiness and His character is that which determines the sinfulness of sin.

2. The Origin of Sin.

The terms evil and sin represent somewhat different ideas. Evil may refer to that which, though, latent or not expressed, is ever present as the opposite of that which is good, while sin is that which is concrete and actively opposed to the character of God. It is difficult for the human mind to conceive of a time when there was not an opposite to good even though, for want of beings who were capable of sinning, it could have had no opportunity of expression. But since God cannot err, sin could not come into existence until another form of being was created; but, apparently, following immediately upon God’s creative act, the highest of angels sinned, as did also the first man.

Since the conception of evil as a creatable thing is so difficult for the mind to grasp, the problem of its origin is not easily solved. Indeed, little is revealed as to its origin; but the origin of sin, if reference be to the first actual disobedience to the divine ideal, is recorded in the Scriptures and its guilt is there distinctly attributed to the one who sinned. Though both good and evil acquire their distinctive character from the essential and immutable perfection of God, He, being infinitely holy, could not create evil1 though He might, for worthy reasons, permit its manifestations.

3. The Divine Permission of Sin.

The presence of active sin in the universe is due to the fact that God permits it. It must serve some justifiable purpose attainable in no other way else God would not have permitted it; or, having permitted it, He would now terminate it without delay. The divine purpose relative to sin has not been revealed, and, doubtless, the human mind could not comprehend all that is involved. Devout souls will continue to believe that, though no manifestation of sin is possible outside the permissive will of God, He is Himself ever free from the slightest complicity with the evil which He permits. When contending with Jehovah about Job, Satan recognized the sovereign permission of God with respect to evil when he said to Jehovah, “put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.” In response to this challenge, Jehovah said to Satan, “all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thy hand.” Thus under sovereign restrictions Job passed from the hand of God to the hand of Satan. But when the calamity fell on Job, by the declaration, “Thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause,” Jehovah disclaimed any responsibility for the evil.

God has not been overtaken with unexpected disaster in respect to His holy purposes, nor is He now seeking to salvage something out of an unforeseen wreckage. There is immeasurable evil in the world, but, without the slightest mitigation or sanctification of it, it is the part of faith to believe that somehow and somewhere it fulfills a necessary part of the ultimate purpose of Him who will with absolute certainty achieve those ends which are infinitely perfect. If the imagination of man could penetrate the past and picture God as confronted with ten thousand possible blue-prints of which the plan for the present universe with all its lights and shadows, its triumphs and tragedies, its satisfactions and sufferings, its gains and losses, was but one, the voice of faith would say, the present universe as planned and as it is being executed and will be executed to the end, is the best plan and purpose that could be devised by infinite wisdom, executed by infinite power, and will be the fullest possible satisfaction to infinite love. God could not devise anything more worthy of Himself than that which is now in process. For want of perspective and understanding, the finite mind, in the midst of and observing the surrounding spiritual darkness, would eliminate every shadow from the picture; but the issues are greater than the sphere of human observation and the ultimate triumph which is yet to be will glorify God with a glory otherwise unattainable, and in this glory others will share. On the other hand, God permitted sin in spite of His holy hatred of it, and in spite of His own anticipation of the fact that it would not only bring untold suffering and eternal ruin to His creatures whom He would love, and in spite of the fact that it would cost Him the sacrifice of His own Son. Beyond the present tragedy of sin is the final triumph of good.

The devout mind cannot but contemplate the problem of the divine permission of sin, though the sum total of all its reasonings is inadequate to form a final answer to the question. The problem, it should be remembered, extends to the angelic spheres and makes inquiry as much as to why the deflection among heavenly beings should have been permitted as it does as to why the fall should have come to the earthly creation. There is, however, a redemptive purpose with its unsurpassed glories developed through the sin of man; but the Scriptures reveal no redemption for the fallen angels. They are said to be consigned without hope to the lake of fire (Matt 25:41; Rev 20:10); and, as the Word of God is silent on the problem of the reason for permission of sin in angelic spheres, that aspect of the subject offers no field for discussion. In all contemplation of the question of the divine permission of sin in the earth, there are two facts which abide, and to these the mind must cling without wavering: (1) Sin is everywhere and always exceedingly sinful, and God’s condemnation of it is never diminished for He cannot be lenient toward sin; and (2) God is Himself holy and perfect in all His ways. “In him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). “God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man” (Jas 1:13).

The following are some of the reasons which have been advanced for the divine permission of sin:

a. It is evidently the purpose of God to secure a company of beings for His eternal glory who are possessed of that virtue which is the result of a free-choice victory over evil. Indeed He will have wrought in them by His own power both to will and to do of His good pleasure; but as certainly as the choice of evil on man’s part becomes the ground of guilt and judgment which God does not share, so certainly the choice of good on the part of those who are saved is ever the ground of God’s commendation and reward, and they will stand before Him eternally identified as those who by their own choice elected to walk with Him. But it should be observed, man cannot make choice between good and evil unless evil exists.

b. According to the Scriptures, God is not revealed as One who seeks to avoid the issues which arise because of the presence of sin in the universe. He could have created innocent, unfallen beings possessing no capacity to err; but if He desires redeemed souls purified by sacrificial blood and purchased at infinite cost, the expression of such love and the exercise of such sacrifice is possible only when sin is present in the world.

c. The creatures of God’s hand must, by a process of learning, attain to that knowledge which God has possessed eternally. They can learn only by experience and revelation. Even Christ, on the human side, was made perfect through suffering, and though He were a son, yet learned He obedience through the things which He suffered. There is no intimation in any of these Scriptures that there was the slightest taint of evil in Him, nor that He needed to learn the deep reality of sin. On the other hand, man must learn concerning both good and evil. He must realize the sinfulness of sin if he is to attain in any degree to the knowledge God possesses; but he cannot attain to such knowledge unless sin exists as a living reality which is ever demonstrating its sinful character.

At this point it is reasonable to inquire as to what lengths of the experience of sin and its consequences must humanity go in order that the knowledge of sin may be attained. The answer to this question is not easily formed. It is evident that man learns the reality of sin both from the suffering which it inflicts and from the revelation concerning the judgments God imposes upon those who sin. If man is to learn his lesson well, the suffering cannot be diminished nor the judgments of God be reduced. We conclude, therefore, that if man is to attain to the knowledge of good and evil, there must be evil in the world with all its tragic effects as well as the prospect of divine judgment for sin.

d. From certain Scriptures (cf. Eph 3:10, 11; 1 Pet 1:12) it is possible to conclude that angels are observing men on the earth and learning important facts through the present experiences of human beings. It would be as necessary for angels to learn the truth regarding that which is evil as it is for them to learn the truth regarding that which is good; but the acquiring of the knowledge of evil through human experience must be denied the angels unless evil is permitted as an active principle in the universe.

e. It is evidently of measureless importance for God to demonstrate His hatred of evil. The Apostle declares that God was “willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known” (Rom 9:22); but no judgment, wrath, or power in relation to sin could be disclosed apart from the permitted presence of active sin in the world.

f. Finally, and of the greatest import, there was that in God which no created being had ever seen. The angelic hosts had seen His wisdom, His power, and His glory; but they had never seen His grace. They had no conception of the goodness of God to the undeserving. They may have seen something of His love; but love and grace are not the same. God might love sinners upon whom, for want of redeeming, reconciling, and propitiatory sacrifice, He was in no way righteously free to bestow His benefits. By one marvelous act of mercy in the gift of His Son as a sacrifice for sinners, He opened the way for the exercise of His grace toward those who, because of their sin, deserved only His wrath. But there could be no exercise of divine grace toward the sinful and undeserving until there were sinful and undeserving beings in the world. Thus it is declared that the revelation of divine grace in the ages to come with all its marvelous import (Eph 2:7) demanded that there should be objects of grace and this, in turn, demanded the permission of sin in the world. This same truth is presented again in a slightly different form and from the human side by Christ. He, when speaking to Simeon concerning the woman who had bathed His feet with her tears, said, “Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little” (Luke 7:47).

Thus, though it is impossible for a creature to understand how a holy God could permit sin, either in heaven or on earth, it is evident that the realization of His greatest purposes necessitates its permission. The entire problem is illustrated to a limited extent in the experience of a Christian who has sinned. He first admits that God, who could have hindered the sin, did nevertheless permit it. He likewise recognizes that he has profited in the ways of understanding and experience by the sin; and, finally, he admits that God, though permitting the sin, is in no way complicated with its guilt and wickedness.

4. The First Sin in Heaven.

A convincing proof that the Bible is a supernatural book is found in the fact that without hesitation or uncertainty it discloses conditions which antedate human history and as freely penetrates into and unveils the ages to come. Its message is not restricted to the field comprehended by human observations, but treats of other parts of the universe as familiarly as it treats of the earth. Among its disclosures concerning other spheres and the dateless past, a revelation is given of what appears to be the first sin that was committed in the universe. That sin, we are told, was committed in heaven and by the highest of the angels, and, after having wrought its tragic results in those realms, was, upon the creation of man in the Garden of Eden, suggested to and reënacted by unfallen Adam. It is stated in Romans 5:12 that “by one man sin entered into the world”; thus revealing the truth that man was not the first to sin, but was rather the medium through whom that form of sin which was already wrought in heaven secured entrance into earth.

The exceeding sinful nature of the first sin in the universe is largely determined by the exalted character and position of the first sinner. In the contemplation of this being and the circumstances under which he sinned, the natural discernment of man will help not at all. It is altogether a matter of revelation. This revelation distinguishes important differences between the estate of man as in contrast to the estate of the angels. Among these differences we note that the divine method of securing a race of beings on the earth was to create a man and a woman to whom God gave instructions that they multiply and replenish the earth; but the divine method of securing the uncounted hosts of angels was by a fiat of omnipotent, creative power. Of these heavenly beings thus created, Christ intimated that they neither increase by propagation nor are they decreased by death. Though angels were evidently created before material things, since they appear to have beheld the creative work of God, there is no clear indication as to where in the order of events the first sin occurred; however, the exalted person and position of the angel who first sinned as well as the precise nature of his sin are revealed. This disclosure is found in the following Scripture: “Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou was created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee” (Ezek 28:11–15).

The person here addressed as “the king of Tyrus” is evidently of the angelic, or superhuman, order. This fact is abundantly disclosed in the text. It is possible that in a secondary sense this address applied to a human king in Tyrus, but as almost everything ascribed to this being is supernatural, none but one of the angelic creation could be first in view; and of the angels this peculiar description could apply to none but one-to him who by his sin became Satan. This the highest of angelic beings appears in the Bible under about forty different titles, all of which are, like all titles in the Scriptures, revealing as to the person and character of the one designated.

Since Satan’s crowning effort in the sphere of his relation to humanity in its present situation in the earth is the setting forth of the Man of Sin, it is significant that this passage is, in its context, preceded by ten verses which convey a divine message to “the prince of Tyrus,” whose two-fold blasphemous assumption is that he claims to be God, and that he sits in the seat of God. There is a clear identification here which relates this prince of Tyrus to Satan’s superman, the Man of Sin, who is yet to appear, and of whom the Apostle prophesied saying: “And that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (2 Thess 2:3, 4; cf. Matt 24:15; Rev 13:5–8). That this “wicked one” has not yet appeared is evident from the fact that his brief career, when experienced, will be terminated, we are, told, by the “brightness” of Christ’s coming, and by “the spirit of his mouth” (2 Thess 2:8). As a prince is related to a king, so this blasphemous person described in the first instance (Ezek 28:1–10) is related to the one who is set forth in the text under consideration (Ezek 28:11–15).

It is of greatest importance to note that it is Jehovah who addresses this mighty being as “the king of Tyrus,” and who describes this one in all his supernatural characteristics. Jehovah declares him to be the “sum,” being “full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,” that he has “been in Eden the garden of God,” and that every precious stone was his covering. Though Satan did appear in the Eden described in Genesis (and this no king of Tyrus ever did), it is probable, considering the details set forth in this passage, that reference here is to the primal Edenic glory of the earth before it became “without form and void.” Continuing this description, Jehovah states that this being was created with marvelous capacities, and, by the use of specific imagery, implies that he was a diadem of praise to his Creator. He is also said to belong to the order of the Cherubim, which company of the angels seem charged with the protection of the holy presence of God (cf. Gen 3:24; Exod 25:18–22; 2 Sam 6:2); but of this being it is revealed that he was, as protector, or cherub, placed upon the “holy mountain of God,” which, according to Old Testament symbolism, refers to the seat or throne of God’s government in the earth (cf. Isa 2:1–4). The climax of this important Scripture is reached when the declaration is made that this being was perfect in all his ways from the day he was created, until iniquity was uncovered in him. This passage thus discloses the exalted character of a heavenly being and indicates the fact of his sin. The context goes on to add some light as to the sin itself and the judgment of God that must eventually follow.

The identification of this being may be thus restated: He was the sum, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. He had been in Eden the garden of God. His covering was that of precious stones. Tabrets and pipes were in him from his creation. He was of the Cherubim and appointed of God as guardian over his holy mountain. He had walked up and down midst the stones of fire. He was perfect in his ways from the day of his creation. Thus the most exalted and heavenly among created beings is described and of him it is also revealed that iniquity was found, or uncovered, in him. The proof that this has reference to Satan, the highest of angelic beings, is disclosed in the fact that, so far as revelation goes, this description could apply to no other.

The Prophet Isaiah sets forth by the Spirit of God the precise nature and detailed features of Satan’s sin. We read: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds: I will be like the Most High” (Isa 14:12–14).

Again the identification is not difficult. The address is to one who is here designated as Lucifer, son of the morning, which title relates him to the highest of the angels and the greatness of his power is disclosed in the context. There he is said to be the one “which didst weaken the nations,” “that made the earth to tremble,” “that did shake kingdoms,” “that made the world a wilderness,” “that destroyed the cities thereof,” and “that opened not the house of his prisoners” (cf. Isa 61:1). That Isaiah is viewing these stupendous achievements of this being from the end of that career and that he is seeing the full and final outworking of all divinely permitted evil, is indicated by the fact that Lucifer is, in this passage, declared to be “fallen from heaven” and “cut down to the ground,” which judgment is yet future in the experience of Satan (Ezek 28:16; Job 1:6; Luke 22:31, 32; Eph 6:11, 12 R.V.; Rev 12:7–9). It is equally clear that to this hour Satan’s permitted program of evil in the world is not yet fully accomplished.

Lucifer’s sin, the first in the universe so far as revelation discloses, was a secret purpose in his heart; but no secret is ever withheld from Jehovah. The Psalmist declares that our secret sins are in the light of His countenance (Ps 90:8). Likewise, it is stated in this passage that Lucifer’s sin consisted in five awful ”I wills” against the will of God. Feeble indeed is the power of human imagination to picture the crisis in this universe at the moment when the first repudiation of God took place in heaven. These five ”I wills” of Satan are evidently various aspects of one sin. Writing of the acceptable characteristics of an officer of the church, the Apostle states that he must not be a novice “lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil” (1 Tim 3:6). Christ stated that Satan abode not in the truth, that he was dominated with an unholy desire, and that he was a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). All these disclosures are, no doubt, but various ways of describing one sin-that of seeking to rise above the sphere into which he was created, and above the purpose and service assigned to him. This, it will be observed, is the essential character of human sin, as it is of the angels. Satan’s five ”I wills” are:

a. “I will ascend into heaven.”

In this, the first aspect of Satan’s sin, he apparently proposed to take up his abode in the third or highest heaven where God and the redeemed abide (2 Cor 12:1–4). The abode of the angels is evidently on a lower plane; for, when returning to the highest heaven after His resurrection, Christ is said to have been seated “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion” (Eph 1:20, 21); but Satan, whose abode is that of the angels, even though his duties give him access to both earth and the higher spheres (cf. Job 1:6; Ezek 28:14), in unholy self-promotion determined that his abode should be higher than that sphere to which he had been appointed by his Creator. The redeeming grace of God will not be satisfied until some among men, who by original position are lower than the angels (Ps 8:4–6; Heb 2:6–8), are lifted to eternal citizenship in the highest sphere (John 14:3; 17:21–24; Col 3:3, 4; Heb 2:10; 10:19, 20); but Satan has no right either by position or redemption to claim that sphere as the place of his abode. His self-seeking intention as disclosed in this declaration is an outrage against the Creator’s plan and purpose.

b. “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.”

By this statement it is revealed that Satan, though appointed to the guardianship of the throne of God, aspired to the possession of a throne of his own and to rule over the “stars of God.” The angelic beings, rather than the stellar system, are obviously in view (Job 38:7; Jude 1:13; Rev 12:3, 4; 22:16). Evidently very much of Satan’s unholy ambition to possess a throne has been permitted; for it is revealed that he is now a recognized, though judged, king with throne authority both in the heavenly realm (Matt 12:26; Eph 2:2; Col 2:13–15) and earthly sphere (Luke 4:5, 6; 2 Cor 4:4 and Rev 2:13, where seat is an inadequate translation of θρόνος. The sinful character of Satan’s purpose to secure a throne is apparent.

c. “I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north.”

As has been stated, ”the mount” is a phrase which evidently refers to the seat of divine government in the earth (Isa 2:1–4), and the reference to ”the congregation” is as clearly of Israel. Thus this specific assumption seems to aim at a share at least (note the word also) in the earthly Messianic rule. That rule is to be from Jerusalem, the city of the great King. The Messiah, we are told (Ps 48:2) will reign from Mount Zion “on the sides of the north.” It is also disclosed that in the cross, which was set up on the north side of Jerusalem, Christ judged and spoiled principalities and powers (Col 2:15). It is possible that when thus judged, Satan’s unholy designs upon the Messianic rule were thwarted forever.

d. “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.”

The meaning of this assumption will probably be discovered in the use of the word clouds. Of upwards of one hundred and fifty references in the Bible to clouds, fully one hundred are related to the divine presence and glory. Jehovah appeared in the cloud (Exod 16:10); the cloud was termed “the cloud of Jehovah” (Exod 40:38); when Jehovah was present the cloud filled the house (1 Kings 8:10); “Jehovah rideth upon the clouds” (Ps 104:3; Isa 19:1); Christ is to come, as He went, upon the clouds of heaven (Matt 24:30; Acts 1:9; Rev 1:7); so the ransomed people appear (Israel, Isa 60:8, and the Church, 1 Thess 4:17). Satan’s “Man of Sin” will exalt himself “above all that is called God, or that is worshipped” (2 Thess 2:4), and by this assumption Satan is evidently seeking to secure for himself some of the glory which belongs to God alone.

e. “I will be like the most High.”

This, the fifth and last of Satan’s “I wills” against the will of God, may be considered as a key to the understanding and tracing of his motives and methods. In spite of an almost universal impression that Satan’s ideal for himself is to be unlike God, he is here revealed as being actuated with the purpose to be like God. However, this ambition is not to be like Jehovah, the self-existent One, which no created being could ever be; but to be like the Most High, which title signifies the “possessor of heaven and earth” (Gen 14:19, 22). Satan’s purpose, then, is to gain authority over heaven and earth. The essential evil character of sin here, as everywhere, is an unwillingness on the part of the creature to abide in the precise position in which he has been placed by the Creator. In pursuing this life purpose as imitator of God and counterfeiter of God’s undertakings, Satan, apparently with sincerity, recommended to Adam and Eve that they, too, “be as gods.” The original word here translated gods is Elohim and the plural form of Elohim evidently accounts for the plural gods. What Satan really said was, “be as Elohim.” In response to that suggestion, which only reflected Satan’s own supreme ambition to be like the Most High, Adam entered upon the same course of unholy repudiation of the divine purpose. So universal has this form of sin become that man thinks he has accomplished much when, if ever, he, through divine grace, reaches the place where his will is surrendered to God-the place, indeed, from which man should never have departed. In the strange, inexplicable permission of God, Satan’s ideal man, the Man of Sin, will yet declare himself to be God, sitting in the temple of God (2 Thess 2:4); but this appears to be the climax of man’s unholy assumption and constitutes the sign of the end of the age (Matt 24:15).

Satan’s sin may thus be summarized as a purpose to secure (1) the highest heavenly position; (2) regal rights both in heaven and on earth; (3) Messianic recognition; (4) glory which belongs to God alone; and (5) a likeness to the Most High.

There can be no adequate estimation of the immediate effect of Satan’s initial sin, first upon himself, and then upon that vast host of spirit beings who, in allegiance to Satan, “kept not their first estate”; nor of the final effect of that sin upon the entire human race whose federal head adopted the same satanic repudiation of God.

Lewis Sperry Chafer

Dallas, Texas

Notes

1. The use of rah in Isaiah 45:7 where God is said to create evil, is clarified when it is seen that of upwards of 450 times that this word is found in the Old Testament, a very few times does it refer to God as the cause of the thing wrought, and it will be seen also that in every such case the evil referred to consists in the just punishment which He imposes upon those who sin. God is not said to create their sin; but is said to bring calamity and chastisement upon them. This divinely imposed correction is by the word rah distinctly declared to be an experience of evil in contrast to the good He would otherwise bestow.