1. He questioned the word of God to inspire doubt in God’s word. “Has God indeed said?” (Gen 3:1)
2. He questioned God’s goodness “you shall not eat of every tree”. (Gen 3:1) Perverting God’s words, he inspires doubt about God’s goodness.
– Both these doubts are attacks on the mind of man today.
3. He aroused her emotions by contradicting the Word of God. “You shall not surely die”. Satan knows that bold lies built on a foundation of mistrust laid earlier are effective means of temptation.
4. He appeals to her imagination. “You will be like God!”, “You will be enlightened, knowing good and evil” were Satan’s promises to her if she ate the forbidden fruit.
Satan uses the same strategy today to entice people into sin.
Eve was guided not by her spirit, nor by the word of God, but by her soul and body. The lust of the flesh “the tree was good for food” (Gn 3:6a), the lust of the eyes “it was pleasant to the eyes” (v6b) and the pride of life “desirable to make one wise” (vs 6c). It is these three factors which we must overcome in our warfare with sin and Satan today. Jesus overcome all three in the wilderness when tempted by Satan (see Mt. 4:1- 11; 1Jn 2:16).
