Who Made Satan do it?

If you recognize this illustration, it will say something about your age. A comedian used a popular skit where he imitated a woman who had trouble keeping herself from doing bad things. She would always exclaim, "The devil made me do it!” Thousands of sermons and bulletin articles used this as an illustration of sin. When people do not want to take responsibility for their actions, they blame it on someone or something else—even the devil.

But blaming Satan is no excuse. The Bible says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed” (James 1:13-14). Each person chooses to do good or do wrong. We cannot blame anyone or anything when we sin. It is our choice. No, not even the devil makes us do it.

But if this kind of thinking is true, then who made the devil sin? When Adam and Eve sinned, they gave a feeble excuse for what they had done. Adam said his wife gave him the fruit, and Eve said the serpent deceived her (Gen. 3: 11-13). But once the buck is passed all the way back to Satan, to whom can he hand it? Whom can he blame?

Now consider the old doctrine of Calvinism. John Calvin taught that “Men do nothing, save at the secret instigation of God, and do not discuss and deliberate on anything, but what he has previously decreed with himself, and brings to pass by his secret direction” (Institutes, 1.18.1). According to this belief, God causes everything to happen—good or bad.

If Calvinism is true, God not only causes the sin that is in the world by His eternal decree, but He also caused the devil to sin! “The devil made me do it” was a popular joke, but this doctrine goes beyond that adage and says God made the devil do it!

There is a resurgence of Calvinism today. A measure of it has been part of most denominations for hundreds of years, but Calvinism itself was not that popular in the twentieth century. Now that is changing with the “Calvinism is cool” trend. It is time to dust off those old sermons and deal with this issue.

Kerry

West End church of Christ • March 30, 2025