It is not necessary to deny the existence of God in order to teach “doctrines of devils,” for the devils believe in the existence of God. “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” It is not necessary to deny that the incarnate Jesus is a divine being in order to teach “doctrines of devils,” for the devils confessed this. “And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.” One may emphatically assert the existence of God, and may insist that Jesus is a divine being, and yet may teach “doctrines of devils.”
It is doubtless true that Spiritualism in its varied forms, or spiritualistic teachings, are under consideration in the passage of Scripture in which the expression “doctrines of devils” is found, but it is also true that other false doctrines belong under this head. He who maintains that the divine government is defective, that the law of God is irksome, and that obedience to it is bondage, is certainly defending the creed of devils,— proclaiming the “doctrines of devils.” In working up the original rebellion in heaven which resulted in his being cast out (Revelation 12:7-9), Satan “worked with mysterious secrecy, and for a time concealed his real purpose under an appearance of reverence for God. He began to insinuate doubts concerning the laws that governed heavenly beings, intimating that though laws might be necessary for the inhabitants of the worlds, angels, being more exalted, needed no such restraint, for their own wisdom was a sufficient guide.” “While claiming for himself perfect loyalty to God, he urged that changes in the order and laws of heaven were necessary for the stability of the divine government.” “He promised those who would enter his ranks a new and better government, under which all would enjoy freedom.” But the freedom which Satan promised to his followers was that kind of freedom which means the disregard of all law,— lawlessness and anarchy,— and he has introduced this idea of freedom into this world, bringing with it its train of woe. Instead of enjoying the promised freedom by refusing obedience to the divine precepts, man has been brought into bondage, for “whosoever committeth sin [transgression of the law] is the servant of sin,” and the gospel is the provision to restore the lost freedom by supplying the needed power for obedience in the gift of him who is “the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”
Now the strange part of it is that some who profess to be ministers of the gospel of Christ declare that the very law which Christ magnified and made honorable is a yoke of bondage, that Christ has set his followers free from it, and that to insist upon the necessity of obedience to it through faith in Christ is a denial of the gospel of salvation by faith. To us it seems clear that such teachings as these are in perfect harmony with the “doctrines of devils,” and that they utterly subvert the fundamental principles of the gospel of Christ. Those who maintain such a creed as this really teach that the Son of God came down from heaven to do exactly what Satan was cast out of heaven for attempting to do— to abolish law. But this is entirely contrary to the scripture which says, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”
So far has some modern theology departed from the truth of the gospel.