How Satan can be successful

In my last blog post, I talked about what Satan is trying to accomplish (which I think everyone should be very aware of in order to defend against it).  In this post, I will discuss how Satan is able to be successful.

I believe it comes down to two things:
1) that we can't remember our pre-mortal life
2) that we have physical bodies which have built-in self-destructive appetites

A verses from the Book of Mormon that support this:

"Wherefore, ... reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh" (see citation)

"...I would that ye should look to [Jesus Christ], and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;
And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom." (see citation)

In other words, our physical bodies are programmed with set of desires which contradicts the will of God, and therefore is in line with the will of Satan.  Therefore, Satan is able to tempt us.

This life, therefore, becomes an arena in which we attempt to gain mastery over our own bodies.

This is a very important concept to understand because it helps to clarify which behaviors are good and which are evil.

The goal of Evil

Assertion: There is a devil (also known as Satan or Lucifer), he has no physical body, and he was cast out from God's presence for rebellion.

I am going to defer discussion of how I arrived at this assertion for another time and instead focus on Satan's goals.

The reason I find it valuable to focus on Satan's goals is because once one understands these goals, one can see how the world in which we live sometimes has similar goals which is both a fascinating yet terrifying thing to behold.

Definition of Good and Evil: Evil in this context is simply the opposite of Good. Good is simply whatever God's will is.

Thoughtful observation: God, being a superior being, is more qualified to define what is Good and what is good _for_ us, than we are. Therefore, a wise course of action is to defer to God's judgment about what is right and wrong.

Logical conclusion: Therefore, in order to truly know what is Good and Evil, one must also know God's will. Again, I will defer how to discover God's will to another time as it is very important and deserves its own post (or several posts).

Satan's goal: To make all people miserable like he is miserable.  Also to "to tempt men and women, essentially to prove we are undeserving of the God-given gift of agency." (see citation )

Satan's tactics to achieve his goal:
- Try to get people to be angry at truth
- Convince people that they don't need to change and that everything will just work out
- Conceal his existence
- To kill and enslave those who try to follow God

How Satan portrays the Church of Jesus Christ:
- Satan teaches that leaders of the Christ's church are following the "foolish imaginations" of their hearts and are leading many away from lives of happiness and ease to lives of suffering.
- Satan teaches that leaders of Christ's church attempt to keep their followers in ignorance of the truth by binding them to foolish ordinances and traditions for the purpose of maintaining power and authority of them.

Satan's motivation:
"Satan has many reasons for doing what he does. Perhaps the most powerful is the motive of revenge..." (see citation )
In another post, I will explain how Satan is able to be successful at achieving his goals.