Satan's tactics

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?’” Genesis 3:1
Here in Genesis 3, we see the tactics that Satan uses to tempt us into sin – and we’ll note that they really are the oldest tricks in the book. There are three things that he says to Eve, which we’ll notice that he still uses today in tempting us.
Firstly, he says, “Did God really say...?” Satan’s first tactic is to cast doubt on God’s Word. If you’ve ever been discouraged in your Christian walk, perhaps you have doubted your salvation, or the fact that God loves you no matter what, because you are His child – then you can know for certain that this is an attack from Satan. God wants us to have assurance and not doubt. This is why it’s important for us to know His Word and hide it away in our hearts. Satan knows Scripture, and he will malign it; that’s why we need to know it too.
Secondly, he says to Eve, “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3:4) – a direct denial of what God said (Gen. 2:17). He uses the same trick with us: telling us that we’re special and some aspect of the Bible doesn’t apply to us. He’ll say, “I know the Bible says this is a sin, but that was then and this is now; it’s socially acceptable – it’s right.” Again, we need to know God’s Word and resist him.
Thirdly, he says to Eve, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5). In effect, he is implying to her that God is unfair, that He is holding something good back from her. It’s interesting that Satan appealed to Eve’s desire to be more spiritual, to be more like God. He’ll make us feel the same way, like God is stopping us from reaching our true potential, that He is selfish and doesn’t want to share. But all God’s commands are for our good (Deut. 10:13). He is completely fair with us. We don’t deserve to be like God – this is a mark of a cult, that we can become ‘little gods’. We need a Biblical view on our position before God: we were sinners with nothing to offer Him. He pulled us out of the pit and made us co-heirs with His Son. This should fill us with humility; we didn’t do anything to deserve it. God does share His blessings with us. But we must always remember that He is God, and we are not.