What do you mean, satan sins?

During a recent Bible study, I discussed the persistent misconception that Satan is a fallen angel. This idea is based on two Bible passages (Isa.14 and Eze.28) which do not deal with Satan, but respectively, with the king of Babylon and the king of Tyre. Concerning the devil (= diabolos), the Bible says explicitly that he sins from the beginning (1John 3:8). It is God Himself who created “the old serpent” (Gen.3:1; Job 26:13). That the devil sinned was no surprise to God, he has never done, otherwise. However much he goes against the will of the Creator, the Creator did not commit a mistake when He formed him. “The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil,” says Proverbs 16:4. The Lord formed the light, but He also created the (prince of) darkness. Everything is perfectly under control: the good as well as the evil (Isa.45:7). The question the above comments raises is this: If the devil corresponds to the purpose of God, how can it then be said that he sins? After all, sin means: missing the mark. If God reaches His goal through all, how can one speak of sin, i.e. missing the mark? The answer to this question is: someone who sins is not missing objectively, but subjectively God’s purpose. That is, the sinner does not realize the goal. He does not have that goal in view, he does not know it or he does not want to acknowledge it. GOD, however, accomplished with everyone His goal, but the sinner has no clue. That absence makes the sinner, justly, to be one who misses the mark. And with that, God also has a purpose!

Delen: