This question is absolutely one of the best invitations I know of that an unbeliever can extend to us as believer to share the gospel with them.   It gives us the opportunity to share the key truths and foundational teachings of the Bible and to potentially see many lies exposed and heart wounds healed in the person who has asked.

Short answer:  I believe that  sin and Satan take advantage of God’s good laws to manipulate and control people, in some cases virtually like puppets.     Again, let’s explore this all the while keeping in mind the two parts to the answer.   The biblical evidence for this and then how to express this to a non-believer.

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First point:   God has perfect integrity and is incapable of breaking His own commandments or laws upon which He has established all of Creation.

In our main scripture pack , we have now read a LOT of verses that talk about God’s integrity and how He never revokes or goes against anything He has decreed in His Word.

Psalm 138:2 King James Bible “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”

As the perfectly just Judge, He enforces and upholds every word.  We might not be able to perceive this in every case

Proverbs 30:5-6 English Standard Version (ESV) “5 Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.  6 Do not add to his words,  lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.”

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2nd Point:   God delegated the bringing the world into subjection and dominion of the Earth to Adam and Eve and their offspring…  In other words, to mankind.

Genesis 1 ESV “And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  27 So God created man in his own image,  in the image of God he created him;  male and female he created them.  28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Strong’s subdue = “כָּבַשׁ kâbash, kaw-bash’; a primitive root; to tread down; hence, negatively, to disregard; positively, to conquer, subjugate, violate:—bring into bondage, force, keep under, subdue, bring into subjection.”  from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H3533&t=KJV

dominion = “רָדָה râdâh, raw-daw’; a primitive root; to tread down, i.e. subjugate; specifically, to crumble off:—(come to, make to) have dominion, prevail against, reign, (bear, make to) rule,(-r, over), take.”

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3rd Point:  Satan covetted the power that God had and saw an opportunity to obtain it when God did this.   Enter sin into the picture.    We see that sin and Satan team of thorns popping up everywhere from this point forward.

Isaiah 14 KJV” ¹² How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!  ¹³ For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  ¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.  ¹⁵ Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.  ¹⁶ They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;¹⁷ That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?”

In this verse we see a lot of information about Satan.  We see that Lucifer/Satan fell from heaven.  That he longed to be like God and that His end will be the pit.   But we also see that he made the earth to tremble and shook the kingdoms and make the world a wilderness, destroyed cities AND kept prisoners.   AND YET at the end of the day, there will be a big shock to see how insignificant and how something of such low stature and power could have done these things.    We need to keep in mind always that his present status is publicly shamed and disarmed and beaten foe.   His tactics are plainly exposed in the Word and the means to defeat Him available to all who will take the time to study and learn how to ealk in them.   Jesus has already triumphed over him.  He has been tried and sentenced and his time remaining on earth is finite but his sentence has not yet been carried out in full.   When it is he will be blotted out from God’s creation altogether. 

Colossians 2:13-15 New American Standard Bible (NASB) “13 When you were dead [a]in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had [b]disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through [c]Him.16 ”

James 4:7 New American Standard Bible (NASB) “7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

Key point:   The first and most essential part of driving back the devil and going on the offensive against him, is submitting to God.   Back a few weeks when I was talking about the “courts of heaven” I emphasized my beliefs that we need to come before the Righteous Judge having taken the care to purify our hearts and be washed of any known sin issues out of reverence.   

The word submit here from the Strong’s means “ὑποτάσσω hypotássō, hoop-ot-as’-so; from G5259 and G5021; to subordinate; reflexively, to obey:—be under obedience (obedient), put under, subdue unto, (be, make) subject (to, unto), be (put) in subjection (to, under), submit self unto.”   The word resist = “ἀνθίστημι anthístēmi, anth-is’-tay-mee; from G473 and G2476; to stand against, i.e. oppose:—resist, withstand.”  flee = “φεύγω pheúgō, fyoo’-go; apparently a primary verb; to run away (literally or figuratively); by implication, to shun; by analogy, to vanish:—escape, flee (away).”   Our positioning when come in opposition against the devil is to be one of being subject to, walking in obedience to the Lord.    It is a pre-req to resisting the devil and having Him flee from us.   

Ezekiel 28:12-19 New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE) “12 Son of man, raise a lament over the king of Tyre, and say to him: Thus says the Lord God:  [a] You were a seal of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. 13 In Eden, the garden of God, you lived;
precious stones of every kind were your covering: Carnelian, topaz, and beryl, chrysolite, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, garnet, and emerald. Their mounts and settings were wrought in gold, fashioned for you the day you were created. 14 With a cherub I placed you; I put you on the holy mountain of God,[b]  where you walked among fiery stones.
15 Blameless were you in your ways from the day you were created, Until evil was found in you. 16 Your commerce was full of lawlessness, and you sinned. Therefore I banished you from the mountain of God;  the cherub drove you out from among the fiery stones. 17 Your heart had grown haughty because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. I cast you to the ground, I made you a spectacle in the sight of kings.  18 Because of the enormity of your guilt,  and the perversity of your trade, you defiled your sanctuary.  I brought fire out of you;  it devoured you;  I made you ashes on the ground in the eyes of all who see you.  19 All the nations who knew you are appalled on account of you;  You have become a horror,  never to be again.”

Satan was originally created to be good and lived in Eden.   He was created good but somehow he grew into something else..  One theory (did I stress that this is a theory?)is that God had intentionally put this good Lucifer (anointed cherub) in the garden to serve and minister to Adam and Eve but when he saw what God had given him, this jealousy and sin awoke in him.   Sin entered into his own heart (which was susceptible due to the vastness of his wisdom and vanity in his great beauty, in a way he had turned to self worship).  If you have ever wondered why God put an evil angel in the garden with Adam and Eve, this would answer that question.   This would mean what we are seeing is the tipping point for Satan too.   This may well have been the moment described in Ezekiel where sin was discovered in Satan and he was cast down.   So what Genesis is describing may well be the fall of not only Adam and Eve but of Satan too.     We witness Adam and Eve being expelled in Genesis, but we hear in the verses above that Satan was cast down after sin was found in him.

Note that Satan chose the most subtle creature to tempt Adam and Eve through.    Scripture plainly tells us that we are slaves to whoever we obey.   Via manipulation and temptation, we see the moment that Adam and Eve became subject to Satan who is really subject to sin.   We see this play out again in the next generation.

Genesis 4:7 HCSB  “In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent?[c] 7 If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

 

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4th point Sin and Satan are god of this world in this present age and everyone who is in disobedience to God and His Word are slaves to these things

Scripture spells it out plainly in the verses below.    Sin/Satan have dominion over the world in this present age.  The word sin  makes for an excellent Word study.  Some translations go so far as to give sin a  capital  letter implying that sin is a being and not just a thing. 

2 Corinthians 4:4 HCSB “In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”  The NLT version actually names the god of this world to be Satan

NLT “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”

Romans 6:15-19 New International Version (NIV) “15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.”

Colossians 1:9-14 New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)  “9 Therefore, from the day we heard this, we do not cease praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding 10 to live in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God, 11 strengthened with every power, in accord with his glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy 12 [a]giving thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. 13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

The default setting for everyone born into this world is to be born under the power/dominion of darkness.   Only in believing and receiving Jesus can we be delivered and transferred into His Kingdom.

Key points:   Satan has no power of his own.   He has been disarmed.  The only power he has left is via manipulation and control.    He is the master string puller, the puppet master of all people who walk in disobedience against God.    He succeeds not in getting people to do exactly what he wants, but in getting people to not hearken to or obey God.  He uses the power and dominion and authority that God has given to people against us.  As believers, we can cut off all the strings by hearkening to, (being in the Word and intimate relationship with God)) and meditating on His Word, and by walking in obedience to His statutes and leadings.   Jesus has ransomed us and restored to us all the authority we need  to overcome. He has delivered us from the dominion (being dominated by) the kingdom of darkness and freed us to serve in the Kingdom of the Son.

Luke 10:18-20 New American Standard Bible (NASB) “18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 New American Standard Bible (NASB) “19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

Romans 6:13 King James Version (KJV) “13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”

Key Point:  Do not yield your body parts (this verse “ties” in powerfully with the image of Satan as a puppet master), do not let him pull your strings.   Submit and yield only to God.

How do I leverage this knowledge?   Most people can relate to the cartoons they saw as children where the character had an angel sitting on one shoulder telling them to do what was right and a little devil on the other prompting them to do what was wrong.   It is an iconic image in the minds of most.   And if they are honest in the least, they will be able to admit that this is part of their experience.    “Have you ever had one of those moments where you could hear the two sides in your own head?  I have, far too often.   I knew what to do that was the right thing but chose to do the wrong thing anyways because it felt so satisfying at the time to do it.”   Maybe it happens to them when they are arguing with a loved one or a child and they find words that they don’t believe or agree with pouring out of their mouths.   Perhaps, they have an addiction that no matter how hard they try, the addiction seems to win.   Perhaps, they are living a secret life and are doing things that they know to be wrong but presenting a facade of moralityand uprightness.   The reality is everyone has skeletons in their closet and or big regrets from times when they listened to the wrong voice.     They don’t have to admit anything, just bringing up the question will bring to their remembrance that this is true in them.

“I spent my whole life trying to live up to an image of who I should be in my head, all the while failing and doing the very things I was bent on avoiding… over and over and over again.    When I read the Bible, I found the answers to almost all of the questions my heart had been asking for ages but no one seemed able to answer…..    I finally make sense, the world finally makes sense, it really isn’t random, and there really are answers.   I found my answers here, and would be happy to share with you what I have found if you are interested.”

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5th point.   Adapt the message to the capacity of our audience and recognize the spiritual nature of the conversation.  Our testimonies are powerful in these situations.

So in talking with a citizen of the present age who is presently subject to sin and Satan as the rulers of their hearts and lives, who is potentially blind and deaf to spiritual truths, we need wisdom and knowledge to understand how to speak truth into their lives in a way that they can actually hear it.     You have all heard me pray this so so many times, I very often pray this under my breath or out loud whenever possible before engaging in these types of conversations.  “Would you mind if i prayed a little prayer? God if you are out there, would you help us both to see what we need to see and hear what we need to hear and to find the answers that we are looking for to this question?  In Jesus name”  Most won’t object to this.

2 Timothy 2:25-26 King James Version (KJV) “25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”

In the Amplified:

2 Timothy 2:24-26 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)”24 And the servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome (fighting and contending). Instead, he must be kindly to everyone and mild-tempered [preserving the bond of peace]; he must be a skilled and suitable teacher, patient and forbearing and willing to suffer wrong.  25 He must correct his opponents with courtesy and gentleness, in the hope that God may grant that they will repent and come to know the Truth [that they will perceive and recognize and become accurately acquainted with and acknowledge it]…”

This verse is wonderful as it gives us amazing advice of how not to trigger the defensive, shut down, get offended and run away response that is so easy to trigger.   I have watched in awe and wonder as God has been developping these things in me.   I still fall short and communicate poorly at times, BUT I have grown by leaps and bounds from where I started.

Revelation 12:11 New American Standard Bible (NASB) “11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even [a]when faced with death.”

Key Points:  Potentially, this would actually be an excellent time to take someone’s situation before the “courts of heaven” and ask for a “stay” on the spiritual blindness and deafness part of the judgments the person you want to share with is possibly under.   Remember that the god of this world has blinded them in  many cases lawfully.   It can be extremely beneficial to have bound him and have him out of the picture when sharing these things.  The blood of the lamb is what allows us to be effective intercessors and opposition to the devil as we saw in the verse further up in this post.   Our testimony is also part of the equation.   Do note that I intentionally refer to my own testimony often.

So going back to the playdough analogy…   We know that some part of them recognizes that God created them to be good and Holy, that this part of them longs for redemption.   We also know that the truth is written on their hearts and that all of creation is witnessing to them that God is for real.  They are part of God’s creation, part of them is witnessing to them that God is real.  So we speak earnestly to that part and water and encourage that part, we strengthen them and use the power of our words to speak over them the truth of who they really are.   Here are the things I am mindful of but not able to practise consistently yet.

1. I try to prepare my heart  to SOW only  and to be on guard against the need to convince.   I share scripture with the mindset of a sower sowing perfect and incorruptible seed.    Nowadays we have made planting seeds an science which requires precision, equipment and human knowledge.  Sowing is much simpler, you grab a handful of seeds and (still with skill) throw it in a way that distributes it somewhat evenly.   It falls where it falls and the sower knows that some of the seed will take (wherever it falls in the right place and right kind of soil) and some, even a large measure of the seed will not thrive.   But our seed supply is limitless so we can joyfully sow knowing that other opportunities will come, other sowers will come and that the seed will never fail.    In Timothy we see this expressed in the words that we must not be quarrelsome or contentious.   I do not sow seed with a need to convince others.  Actually the less I say the better.  The moment I hit the slightest indication of offense or hardness, I change topics and move on.  The moment I try to force the seed into another person, they tend to put up higher walls and greater defenses as they actually feel assaulted by such an approach.   Sometime immediately almost always eventually, they will put up such high walls that I will have lost all opportunity to share the Word with them.
2. I view debates and arguments as harmful and not beneficial.  The moment I catch myself in one of these I try to apologize….   ” I am so sorry,  I appreciate and value our “friendship” too much to debate.   We are all still learning and I have so much more to learn about these things.   Thank God the truth is out there and I believe that we both really want the same things…”  this is an opportunity to speak blessings over them.   “I appreciate/admire your ________________ and know that you long for ________________ (justice, kindness, peace, the best for the world, the best for your children, the best for your husband, healing) in the world.  Thanks for stirring up my own heart.   Whatever the answer is, your right, it is something worth pursuing.”
3. If the door remains open to discussion, then I keep the words in Timothy at the forefront of my mind, with gentleness, and meekness and respect trying to engage them with things like …. “Ooooohhhh, excellent point..  what about this________?  Have you considered this_________________?  Do you know, I know it seems counter-intuitive but this is how I have seen that play out when I applied scripture to that situation?”.  “I don’t know, I would have to think on that, it is a really really great question.  What do you think about it?”
4. Always exit the topic graciously and with kindness and love.

My life speaks louder than any words I will ever say.   If I live in hypocrisy saying one thing but living otherwise, every word I speak loses power.   So aiming to maintain a lifestyle of availability and flexibility (leaving enough margin so that when someone needs help I can say YES), and of integrity (honesty and consistently doing what is good and right) are the core things that give my words credibility.  I chaffs people when we aim to live set apart and Holy lives because some part of them knows that this is right and good and our choice to live in this way is convicting.    But  living a lifestyle of rightouesness is the very thing that actually gives weight to our words and testimonies.

Proverbs 22:1 ESV “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,  and favor is better than silver or gold”

1 Timothy 3:7 ESV “7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.”