Surely You Jest - #262

Satan wants you making decisions based on your feelings, your perspective, your desires—instead of God’s Word.

Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at  http://www.thepuritycoach.com

Transcript

Scripture is crystal clear—there is no one like God. Not even close. Over and over again, the Bible says it: There is no one like Him. There is none equal to Him. So, what Satan is offering to us is completely false… the idea that we could be like God. Calling their own shots. Deciding for ourselves what’s right and wrong. The devil always packages it in a way that sounds appealing. 

Welcome to The Point of Purity Podcast. A powerful weekly study filled to the brim with the all the tools from Scripture you will ever need to build a lasting life of Biblical purity and godliness. I’m your host Steve Etner – author, National Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry and this is Episode #262 entitled “Surely You Jest.”  

In this episode, we’re going to keep digging into what happened with Eve in the garden—and honestly, you’re going to see pretty quickly that Satan hasn’t changed his playbook at all. The same strategy he used back then, he’s still using it on you and me today.

And that’s why we’ve got to be careful with God’s Word. When we start to doubt what God has said—and instead of going to Him for clarity, we start leaning on our own thoughts—it doesn’t take long before things get fuzzy. We begin to forget what He actually said, or we twist it just a little. And over time, that can lead us to step outside of God’s will altogether.

That’s exactly what the enemy wants. He’s after your mind. He wants to pull you away from that simple, sincere devotion to Christ. Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians 11:3—just like Eve was deceived, our minds can be led astray the same way.

And, as we saw in last week’s episode, it usually starts with one simple question: “Did God really say that?” That’s all he needs. Just a little doubt. Just enough to get you thinking. Because once you start questioning God’s Word, the next step gets a whole lot easier—denying it.

You see this shift in Genesis 3:4 when Satan says to Eve, “You will not surely die.” And you can almost hear the tone, right? There’s this edge of sarcasm in it. Like, “Come on… you really believe that? You actually think God’s telling you the truth? You’re not going to die. He’s just holding out on you.” That’s the lie.

And here’s the thing—once you start doubting what God said, it becomes a lot easier to believe something else instead. And once you believe something else, it’s not long before you start acting on it.

That’s how the enemy works. It’s subtle. It’s slow. It’s all about deception. He doesn’t usually come at you with something obviously wrong right away. He just nudges your thinking. Gets you to question. Gets you to hesitate. Gets you to entertain something you shouldn’t. And if you don’t take that back to God—to His Word—eventually that doubt can turn into rejection.

Now look at how Eve responds when Satan pushes back on God’s truth. She says, “God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden…’” (Genesis 3:3). But think about what’s missing here. She doesn’t push back on Satan. She doesn’t shut the conversation down. She doesn’t say, “No, that’s not true. God is good. God is right.” She stays in the conversation. 

Why? Because the deception is already starting to work. She’s entertaining the thought. She’s letting it sit in her mind. That little seed of doubt that Satan planted—it’s starting to grow. And now it’s beginning to crowd out what God actually said.

That’s the danger. When we allow wrong thoughts to hang around long enough, they don’t just stay neutral. They start to take root. And if we’re not careful, those thoughts will begin to choke out the truth.

So here’s the takeaway: when doubt creeps in, don’t sit there and wrestle with it on your own. Take it back to God. Go back to His Word. Anchor yourself in what is true. Because the battle is happening right there—in your mind.

Alright, let’s slow this down and really look at what God actually said. In Genesis 2:17, God told Adam, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Pretty clear, right?

Now compare that to what Eve said. And here’s where it gets interesting. Not only did she leave something out (like we talked about last episode when she omitted the word “free”), but now she adds something in. She tells the serpent that God said, “You must not touch it.”

But God never said that. So now she’s doing two things—she’s subtracting from God’s Word and adding to it. And we might be tempted to think, “Okay… but what’s the big deal? Isn’t it actually a good thing to not even touch the fruit?” It might sound like it at first. But here’s the problem—when we start adding to what God said, we begin to change who God is in our minds.

Think about what Eve’s addition does. Instead of seeing God as generous—who gave her an entire garden full of everything she could ever need—she starts focusing on the one thing God said she couldn’t have. And by adding that extra restriction, she begins to make God look less kind… less giving… even unfair.

It’s like her thinking is starting to shift: “Why would God hold this back from me?”  “Why is He making this harder than it needs to be?”  “Is He really looking out for me?”

Do you see what’s happening? Her focus is moving away from God’s goodness and onto what she feels like she’s missing. And that leads to the second problem.

By adding to God’s command, she actually makes it feel heavier than it really is. Now it’s not just “don’t eat it”—it’s “don’t even touch it.” And suddenly, God’s instruction starts to feel restrictive, overwhelming… even unreasonable.

You can almost hear the thought process: “This is too hard.”  “Why would God expect this from me?”  “Does He even understand what He’s forcing me to deal with?” But here’s the truth—God’s commands are never meant to crush us. Scripture actually tells us they’re not burdensome to those who belong to Him. They’re given out of love, for our good.

But when we start adding to what God said, we twist that truth. We turn something good into something heavy. And without even realizing it, we make it all about us—our feelings, our struggles, our perspective—instead of trusting God’s heart.

That’s why God is so clear in Scripture about this. He says over and over again: don’t add to My Word, and don’t take away from it. Why? Because when we do, we’re not just changing words—we’re changing the truth. And that’s exactly where the enemy wants us.

Let’s be real for a second—Satan does not want you walking in victory. He doesn’t want you living a godly life. He doesn’t want your life pointing people to Christ. So what does he do? He goes after your mind. Every single day, he’s working to twist your thinking—just a little bit at a time. He wants you to question God’s Word. Because if he can get you to question it, the next step is much easier—he can get you to doubt it… and eventually deny it. And once that happens, you’re wide open to believing his lies instead. That’s the strategy.

Alright, let’s look at what Satan says next, because this is where things really get bold. In Genesis 3:5 he tells Eve, “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Here’s what makes it so crazy—Adam and Eve were already made in God’s image. Genesis 1 tells us that clearly. They already reflected Him. They already had that identity. But Satan gets them to doubt that… and then convinces them they’re missing something.

That’s how he works. He takes something that’s already true and twists it just enough to make you feel like you’re lacking. Like God is holding out on you. Like there’s something more you need that He hasn’t given you. And then he offers his version of “truth” to fill that gap. But a lie is still a lie, no matter how good it sounds.

And here’s the deeper part of the lie—Satan wasn’t just saying, “you’ll be like God” in the sense of reflecting Him. He was tempting them with something much bigger… the idea that they could be like God in authority. Independent. Calling their own shots. Deciding for themselves what’s right and wrong.

And Scripture is crystal clear—there is no one like God. Not even close. Over and over again, the Bible says it: There is no one like Him. There is no other God. There is none equal to Him. So what Satan is offering here is completely false—but he packages it in a way that sounds appealing.

And once Adam and Eve start questioning God’s Word… and then start doubting His truth… they become wide open to believing that lie. They actually start to think, “Maybe God is holding something back. Maybe this fruit really will give us something better.” And that’s the turning point.

Now before we wrap this up, there’s one more thing Eve does that we’ve got to see, because it kind of pulls everything together. If you’ve been tracking with this, you’ve seen the progression:
 First, she leaves something out of what God said. Then she adds something to it. And now… she changes it.

When she talks to the serpent, she says, “you must not touch it, or you will die.” But that’s not what God said. God said, “you will surely die.” That word matters.

When Eve leaves out “surely,” she softens what God said. She takes something that was certain—absolute—and turns it into something that feels… optional. Like maybe it’ll happen, maybe it won’t. Do you see the shift? What was once a firm warning now feels like a possibility.

And that’s exactly what happens when we start drifting from God’s Word. Things that were once clear become fuzzy. Things that were once firm become negotiable. And here’s the danger—when we stop going back to God for answers, we start looking elsewhere. We start letting other voices speak in. And those voices will always pull us away from truth, not toward it.

That’s exactly what happened with Eve. She started by entertaining doubt. That led to questioning. That led to distorting the truth. And that made her completely vulnerable to the lie.

And eventually… she acted on it. Genesis tells us she saw the fruit, desired it, took it, and ate it. And Adam followed right behind her. And in that moment, everything changed. God said they would “surely die,” and they did—not physically right away, but spiritually. There was now separation between them and God. And that’s always where this road leads.

Listen, this isn’t just an old story—it’s the same strategy the enemy is using in your life today. He wants to get you away from God’s truth. He wants you making decisions based on your feelings, your perspective, your desires—instead of God’s Word.

And all he needs to start that process… is a small seed of doubt. “Did God really say…?” If that seed takes root, your mind will start running with it. That’s why it’s so important to stay grounded. Let God’s Word live in you. Fill your mind with it. Go back to it daily. Set your thoughts on Christ, not on “King Me.” Guard your heart. Pay attention to what you’re thinking about.

And when a thought comes in that doesn’t line up with God’s truth—don’t just let it sit there. Take it captive. Deal with it. Replace it with what’s true. And remember this—you’re not doing this on your own. In Christ, you can do this. You can win the battle in your mind.

 As we close things out today, I just want to quickly point you to a resource that I really believe could make a real difference in your life.

It’s the updated second edition of my book, Extreme Mind Makeover: How to Transform Sinful Thoughts and Habits into Patterns of Life Pleasing to God.

At the heart of this book is a simple but powerful truth: your thought life matters—a lot more than most of us realize. Scripture makes it clear that what you think eventually shows up in how you live. Your thoughts shape your words, your actions, your attitudes… really, your whole life. And if you’ve been listening for a while, you’ve probably heard me say that again and again.

When you train your mind to think in line with God’s truth, over time your life starts to follow in that direction. But if your thinking drifts into that self-focused, “King Me” mindset, that’s going to show up too—in your habits, your choices, and your relationships.

So it really comes down to some honest questions: How do I actually change the way I think? How do I break free from patterns that keep pulling me back? How do I guard my heart in a world that’s constantly pulling me the wrong way? That’s exactly what this book is meant to help you with.

So if you’re serious about growing in this area, I’d encourage you to head over to Amazon and purchase your copy of Extreme Mind Makeover: How to Transform Sinful Thoughts and Habits into Patterns of Life Pleasing to God, or type in my name, Steve Etner, and you’ll find it along with some of the other books the Lord has allowed me to write.

And if you have not yet subscribed to this podcast, let me encourage you to do so today so you won’t miss any of our upcoming episodes! So, until next time this is Steve Etner – author, National Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry – reminding you that if you are going to glorify God in your everyday living, He must first be glorified in your every moment thinking.