Actually there is much more to faith in the Lord than just acknowledging He exists
James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Saved by Grace Through Faith
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Actually there is much more to faith in the Lord than just acknowledging He exists
James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
The Lord said in the Book of James that the devil believes so he has faith that God exists.
It's always best to simply accept what the Lord says.
James 2:18-20
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Believing there is a God means one is not a fool, for the fool says in his heart... ya dig?
But that is not faith. You conflate faith in God with simple acknowledgement that He exists.
Believing God exists and having faith in Him... are two different things.
One has to have faith in order to believe.
I can't dig right now but tomorrow I can go to the hardware store and buy a shovel so I can dig
One has to get wet in order to swim but being wet does not equate to swimming.
Non the less, what the Lord says in James 2:18-20 is true.
Not accepting what the Lord says leads to deception.
Well, them mark that out of your bible then if you disagree with what the Lord is saying.
If you read it in context it's saying believing without acting on it is dead and not accepted by the Lord.
That's the point being made.
All the devil is doing is believing God exists and many people do the same as they do not act on God's Word and so they deceive themselves.
In the end, we'll see who is deceived and who is not.
Not accepting what God's Word says leads to more deception.
The devil does not have a prototype of faith. That's the point being made.
I am not disagreeing with the Bible at all. You may as well be, though.
So I am disagreeing with you. And what you have made up.
Go read your Bible and see if you can find the devil having faith.
You say he does. I say he does not. If the devil has the faith you think we should have you are terribly deceived!
No, James 2:18-20 specifically says the devil believes so you are rejecting what the Word of the Lord is saying.
Doing this leads to more deception.
You are missing the whole point of James which is telling us faith without works is dead.
Faith without acting like what God said is true is not saving faith so the devil does not having saving faith because his level of belief is that he simply believes God exists. The devil can't possibly be saved because he has been corrupted and there is no salvation offered to fallen angels.
But the point being made in James is faith without works is not saving faith.
True saving faith always produces good works.
That is a misrepresentation of what I have said. The devil does not have faith. What part of that
do you not understand? It is nowhere in the Bible that the devil has faith. You have fabricated that
and are trying to foist it off on us as if the Bible said it when it did not. You are deceived. Bye bye.
No, James 2:18-20 specifically says the devil believes so you are rejecting what the Word of the Lord is saying.
Doing this leads to more deception. See ya!
Can you please help me to understand this about the devil... If the devil knew who Jesus was why did he want him to get on the cross? Is it because he didn't think God would raise him? And he just wanted Jesus out of the way
Jesus seems to talk a lot about his own resurrection so it makes me think that surely the devil would have known he would have been risen if so the devil don't seem very clever. Many thanks 
Sounds like those behavior requirements and various subtle works that have to be added to what Jesus already did, which was mentioned in post #5.
Can I ask what does a person look like who acts on God's word? What is their character like? I don't mean how many Bible verses a person can remember. After all anyone can remember the words in a book. When my six year old was four she made us all laugh. She was sitting there reading The Gruffalo word for word we soon realised she wasn't reading it but that she had remembered the book.
Do you mean a person can read the Bible but stay the same as they were before reading it?
Many thanks
Obedience is produced "out of" faith and obedience which "follows" faith is works. (Ephesians 2:8,9) Genuine faith does result in producing works. (Ephesians 2:10) In James 2:14, we read of one who SAYS/CLAIMS he has faith but has no works (to evidence his claim). That is not genuine faith, but a bare profession of faith. So, when James asks, "Can that faith save him?" he is saying nothing against genuine faith, but only against an empty profession of faith/dead faith.
So, James does not teach that we are saved "by" works. His concern is to show the reality of the faith professed by the individual (James 2:18) and demonstrate that the faith claimed (James 2:14) by the individual is genuine.
In James 2:19, we read that the demons believe "mental assent" that "there is one God," but they do not believe in/have faith in/trust in/reliance in Jesus Christ for salvation. In other words, they do not believe in/on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31) and are not saved. Their trust and reliance are in Satan as demonstrated by their rebellion in heaven and continuous evil works.
... he is like a ravenous dog on a leash, a hungry lion, a snake ... he will destroy, he must destroy.Can you please help me to understand this about the devil... If the devil knew who Jesus was why did he want him to get on the cross? Is it because he didn't think God would raise him? And he just wanted Jesus out of the way
I don't believe Satan wanted Jesus to die on the cross.
Matthew 16:21-23
New King James Version
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, [a]“Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are [b]an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
I think Jesus could see Satan standing right next to Peter, whispering in his ears.
Remember, Satan tried to tempt Jesus with ALL the kingdoms of the World. In effect saying He could avoid the cross and still become king of the World.
Satan, knowing how weak man was, and Jesus being a man, thought He would use His divine power and NOT submit Himself to the torture, humiliation, and death, for these same people that are doing it to Him.
Even prodding many to say "come down from that cross".
The Devil just couldn't believe that God would die for mere humans.
Satan knew from that moment of His resurrection that his time was short.
Thanks for all your help. That has helped me to see things in a different way.
I guess the only chance the devil got was when Jesus was a man so he used every opportunity. The devil over looked Gods very nature which is love
