ββ¦we were enemiesβ¦β (Rom. 5:10).
ββ¦the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe notβ¦β (II Cor. 4:4).
Many religious but unsaved people will not accept the fact that they are enemies of God, and fail to understand why the Bible should insist that they are. But the God who says that they are sinners, worthy of everlasting judgment; that their only hope of salvation lies in the One who poured out His lifeβs blood to pay the penalty for their sins β this God of the Bible, they cannot abide. Let one of His servants tell them what He says about them and they are insulted. When this true God refuses to accept their βgoodβ works or their βrighteousβ conduct they react like Cain, of whom we read: βAnd Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fellβ (Gen. 4:5). They simply will not bow to this God, and their attitude betrays their enmity against Him.
But why will they not turn away from their self-righteousness and trust in Christ, who died for their sins?
Simply because they worship Satan, βthe god of this age,β who βhath blinded the minds of those who believe not.β Worship Satan? This too is hard for the unregenerate man to believe about himself. As he has his own conception of God, he also has his own conception of Satan β a wrong one.
Unbelievers do not know that the real Satan, the Satan of the Bible, has a vast wardrobe and, in this dispensation of grace, doubtless appears most often as βan angel of lightβ with βministers of righteousnessβ (II Cor. 11:14,15). This Satan they do indeed worship. They adore him, and try to live by his precepts, convinced that the way to salvation is to do and be good. source
