Did Jesus believe there was satanic power? Absolutely, for He said, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28).

Did Peter believe there was satanic power? Absolutely, for he said, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).

Did Paul believe there was satanic power? Absolutely, for he said, "And the God of peace shall bruise [to crush completely] Satan under your feet shortly" (Rom. 16:20).

Did James believe there was satanic power? Absolutely, for he said, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble" (James 2:19).

The New Testament writers obviously believed there was satanic action in the world of their day. They knew the powerful potential for destruction the adversary possessed. They continually warned of the ever present temptation that could beset every person.

Jesus and His disciples, however, were not mythological in their belief. They did not make satanic power into something it was not. They knew that the enemy of their souls would never come from without. The temptation to corruption that would destroy them would always come from within their own thinking. They knew the mind, when out from under the control of the Holy Spirit, was the adversary that brings death and destruction to the soul of man.

Satanic activity, the forces of the adversary to God, always come from the inner working of the mind of man. As Paul warned the Philippians, "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things" (3:18,19). The glory of man (the intellectual power of the mind under control of the Holy Spirit) becomes the shame of man (the power of the carnal mind now taking man down and away from God with every imagination).

In a world created by his fantasies and imaginations, man now believes he controls the events of his life. God still rules every action of the universe, but in the make believe world of his mind man thinks he controls his life. The imagination of man’s mind is the great adversary to the ways of God.