Psyops in the Pauline Epistles

This Present Evil Age

Galatians 1:3–5 “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Jesus died for us to rescue us from this present evil age. Just about everything in this world is corrupted by sin. The “psyop” is, “the world is not too bad”. The lie is, “I don’t need to be rescued”.

The word “rescue” implies that we were drowning in a sea of sin and death. Colossians 1:13 puts it this way, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,”

The deliverance came through a message of hope called the gospel. Jesus promises eternal life through faith in His Name.

The god of this world (2 Cor 4:4) has a plan to corrupt that good word. Satan’s “psyop” is to pervert the gospel of Christ. The most dangerous lie is the one that changes the simplicity of the gospel to a gospel of works, or any other gospel that substitutes something else for the grace of God.

It is called anathema in Galatians 1:8 “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”

Be careful not to fall for a lie or a “psyop” that says the gospel is anything other than Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,”

Counterfeit Wisdom

Colossians 2:8–10 “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”

Paul warns believers to beware, keep your eyes open, lest anyone cheat, take you captive, plunder you. Here he is instructing the church in Colossae the danger of four aspects of “psyops” that seek to captivate and take them prisoners.

Philosophy - φιλοσοφία philosophia describes a love of wisdom of an earthly nature. This “philosophy’ is not based on the Word of God.

Empty deceit - vain deception. There is no value, no depth, no healing in what was being offered to them. This philosophy opposes the clear teaching of Scripture.

The tradition of men - a substitution for the grace of God. Rules, expectations, teachings that aren’t based on God’s Word. False teachers offering something that tickles the ear, but lacks any value. Something added to the Word.

The basic principles of the world - στοιχεῖον stoicheion elementary spirits. See Gal 4:3, 9 these things we were in bondage to and Christ has overcome.

κόσμος - kosmos the orderly system of the world.

Jesus is the Head of all those principalities and powers! Rule and authority.

The Open Door of Unforgiveness

2 Corinthians 2:10–11 “Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

Forgiveness is the gracious act of demonstrating Christ’s love to one another when we are the wronged. In Greek the word is χαρίζομαι charizomai. BDAG defines it in this way, “to show oneself gracious by forgiving wrongdoing, forgive, pardon.to delight in doing favor rather than getting the better of someone.”

Romans 8:32 uses this same word in the phrase “freely give us all things”. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

Being lifted up in the pride of being “right” or of holding a grudge or something over someone defies the very grace that was given to us to save us and guide us every day. It is a powerful tool of Satan to derail a believers faith. When “Satan takes advantage of us” he is passively exploiting, outwitting, defrauding, and cheating us of the blessings in Christ.

We are instructed to forgive as we are forgiven lest a root of bitterness rise up (Heb 12:15). Don’t be ignorant of this diabolical “psyop”.

Doctrines of Demons

1 Timothy 4:1 “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,”

The sad goal of Satan’s “psyop” is that Christians would leave the faith. Satan twists the Scripture to confuse and unbalance Christians. Rather than read the Holy Bible as it is written he interjects “hidden meanings” and spiritualizes it.

Doctrines here simply means teachings. Imagine developing a teaching or theology and then trying to twist the Scripture to support it. 2 Peter 3:16 has this to say about that, “as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.”

It is an intellectual “psyop” to get Christians to doubt what is so clearly written in the Bible. The answer to this is found in 2 Corinthians 10:5 “Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”

Paul’s Last Word on PSYOPS

2 Timothy 2:24–26 “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

Paul is writing this at the very end of his life having seen the damage Satanic “psyops” do Christians. He is confident that the Word of God has the power to bring some to their senses and help them escape the entrapment of the devil.

Psalm 107:20 describes the wonderful power of the Word to heal, “He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.”

As we conclude this week, I want to leave you with this remarkable promise.

Romans 8:38–39 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”