The Serpent’s Playbook vs God’s Immutable Standards
Introduction
Many Christians have never been shown the big picture of God’s salvation plan for mankind. This brief summary is drawn from my larger study, The Oldest Trick in the Book: Exposing How God’s People Fall for the Serpent’s Playbook (https://1lord1faith.org/the-oldest-trick-in-the-book/). In that work, I explore how every generation faces the same fundamental choice: will we listen to God, or will we be seduced into listening to man’s mortal enemy—the devil—through his subtle distortions of God’s word.
In this outline, I expose the serpent’s original tactics from Genesis 3, showing how those same strategies continue to deceive believers today. In contrast to those tactics, I highlight the immutable standards God has established for His people—unchanging truths that guard us from the serpent’s lies and keep us anchored in God’s word.
The Serpent’s Playbook
Each tactic—and the tragic result—is drawn directly from Genesis 3:1–6, where the serpent deceived Eve. These aren’t just general strategies—they are the exact moves the serpent used to undermine trust in God’s word. And he still uses them today.
- Assume something is missing from God’s words.
“Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1)
The serpent implies there’s confusion or lack in what God said—as if it wasn’t clear or sufficient. People follow in his steps when they suggest that God didn’t say enough, or that what He said needs more explanation. It’s shocking how common this attitude toward Scripture remains even today. But once we learn to recognize it, we can begin returning to what God originally meant.
- Twist what God said or mix in personal assumptions.
“You shall not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4)
Flat-out contradiction. God said they would die. The serpent adds his own spin. People follow in his steps when they take what God said and change it to some extent—or add human ideas that weren’t there.
- Offer a different interpretation that seems more helpful or clear.
“For God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5)
He offers an alternate motive for God’s command—one that makes God look selfish, and the serpent look like the truth-teller, the liberator, even the savior who’s rescuing her from ignorance. When people suggest that God left things vague on purpose, and that a new explanation is simply helping us understand better, that should be a red flag. They may unknowingly be assuming God’s place in your life. That is, after all, exactly what the serpent intended. Remember how the Pharisees added new laws with every generation, giving themselves veto power over God’s commands? It would be naive to think that doesn’t still happen today.
- Set up a false dilemma.
“You will be like God…” (Genesis 3:5)
Eve is made to feel like she has to choose between staying “limited” or gaining enlightenment. The serpent presents disobedience as the only path to fullness—as if God’s way is incomplete. Watch out for people who make it seem like there are only two or three available options—and that the expert teacher is the only one who can guide people to the right answer. Meanwhile, the truth God established for us gets ignored, dismissed, or even mocked.
- Persuade people that the new idea is best.
“For God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5)
I mean, who wants to go through life thinking they are blind? Her trust in God’s word gave way to her own reasoning and senses, and she allowed herself to believe in her heart that “the tree was good for food, that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise…” (Genesis 3:6). The serpent’s framing shifted her value system—away from faith and into fleshly logic. She sought to satisfy her own desires rather than listen to God’s immutable moral standards.
- Replace God’s truth with human reasoning.
“…she took some of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate.” (Genesis 3:6)
The final step: God’s words are overridden entirely. Reason, desire, and peer influence win. Truth is replaced with a lie—and the consequences begin. As James put it, “Then lust, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:15). This was what God was warning of when He commanded not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
- Look to the Creation Instead of the Creator
This is what I see as the “elephant in the room”—a problem few people want to acknowledge or talk about.
“24Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves; 25who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” (Romans 1:24-25)
God’s Immutable Standards
- All Scripture Comes from God and Is Fully Sufficient
Before we can even begin to rightly divide the word, we must settle this: All Scripture is from God. It is complete. It is enough. We’re already opening the door to deception when we treat the Bible as if it’s missing something—or think we need to improve on it.
“Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, WEB)
We don’t need to add to it. We don’t need to fix it. It already gives us everything we need. But we need to read it, and we can’t take verses in isolation and interpret them as we please.
- Don’t Add to or Subtract from God’s Word
One of the most dangerous things we can do is assume God’s word needs our help. That’s exactly how deception starts. Someone adds something God didn’t say—or leaves out something He did.
“You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you.” (Deuteronomy 4:2, WEB)
Jesus pointed this out too. He rebuked the Pharisees for letting their traditions replace God’s commandments:
“Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Mark 7:6-7, WEB)
And then He added, “You do many things like this” (Mark 7:13). As we’ll see throughout this book, that was no exaggeration—it was actually a massive understatement. These kinds of distortions have been multiplying ever since, and they’re still happening today. That’s why this book is needed now more than ever: to help point out what should be obvious, especially to those who the darkness of deception has numbed.
- Live by Every Word that Comes from God
Jesus didn’t just quote Scripture—He lived by it. And when the devil tried to twist Scripture against Him, Jesus went straight back to the real standard.
“But he answered, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4, WEB)
We can’t pick and choose the parts of Scripture we like. We’re called to live by every word God has spoken. The devil tempted Jesus with a classic example of proof-texting—quoting a verse that sounded close enough but didn’t actually say what he claimed. That’s the danger: a verse lifted out of context can look convincing, even when it misrepresents God’s intent. This happens when someone overemphasizes what seems possible in one verse while ignoring a clear command given elsewhere—often one that feels unrelated at first glance but actually exposes the error.
- Listen to Jesus—He Has the Final Word
Moses, the prophets, and the apostles all point to Jesus in one way or another. God Himself said we must listen to Him. If we ignore Jesus, we’re not just rejecting a teacher—we’re rejecting God’s chosen voice.
“You shall listen to him in all things whatever he says to you. It will be that every soul that will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:22-23, WEB)
If your interpretation of the Bible contradicts Jesus, chances are extremely good that your interpretation is wrong. The only exception to this is when we rightly discern the difference between Jesus living under the Old Covenant and us living under the New Covenant. And even though Jesus shed His blood to give us the New Covenant, false teachers will still contend with the marvelous truth that we are under a New and vastly superior Covenant!
- Let Scripture Explain Scripture
A lot of people say, “Scripture interprets Scripture,” but that phrase can be misleading. It can open the door for people to insert their own interpretations under the guise of explaining “what Scripture really means.” But Scripture doesn’t need reinterpretation—it needs to be explained by what God has already said elsewhere. That’s the key: let Scripture explain Scripture.
The devil tried to misuse Scripture with Jesus, quoting Psalm 91 to tempt Him. But Jesus responded by quoting a different Scripture:
“Jesus said to him, ‘Again, it is written, You shall not test the Lord your God.’” (Matthew 4:7, WEB)
Jesus didn’t ignore Psalm 91—He clarified its meaning using another Scripture. That’s how we let the Bible explain itself—by placing each passage within the full counsel of God.
Peter reinforced the same point:
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation. For no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21, WEB)
In other words, Scripture was given by God—and we must let God’s word explain God’s word.
- Be Led by the Holy Spirit
Even though Scripture is our foundation, we still need the Holy Spirit to help us understand and apply it correctly. That doesn’t mean following feelings or vague impressions. It means letting God’s Spirit open our eyes to what’s already there in His word.
“However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.” (John 16:13, WEB)
The Spirit won’t lead you into something that contradicts God’s word. That’s how you know the difference.
