BP-004: Footholds and Pathways
Inch by Inch, It’s a Cinch
Berean Paper Status
Division:
Theology, Ethics, and Spiritual Warfare Unit
Classification:
Scriptural, Cultural, and Reflective Analysis
Primary concern:
How deception becomes compromise, cooperation, and captivity.
BP-004 uses Nefarious as a cultural case study in the tactics, techniques, and procedures of temptation. Its narrower biblical question is not whether every evil act proves possession, but how Scripture describes the progression from suggestion to consent, from consent to practice, and from practice to captivity.
Abstract
I’m surprised Satan allowed this movie to be made.
Nefarious is presented as a horror film, but its most disturbing feature is not spectacle. It is conversation. The demon does not spend the film merely frightening a psychiatrist. He studies him, identifies his assumptions, exposes his rationalizations, and offers him an interpretation of freedom in which desire becomes authority and restraint becomes oppression.
The film’s observations deserve examination because Scripture repeatedly describes Satan as a deceiver, tempter, accuser, adversary, and ruler within the present world system. Scripture also distinguishes demonic possession from disease, preserves human responsibility in the presence of satanic influence, and warns believers not to remain ignorant of the enemy’s devices. This paper asks whether possession is always necessary when willing cooperation will accomplish the same objective.
Governing text.
“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
—2 Corinthians 2:11[1]
Central proposition.
Nefarious reveals the dark side’s tactics, techniques, and procedures: identify the desire, question the boundary, rename the compromise, secure cooperation, and allow the pathway to do the rest.
1. What This Paper Claims—and What It Does Not
The biblical record establishes
- Scripture presents Satan as a personal spiritual adversary whose central activity is deception.
- Scripture distinguishes demonic possession from sickness and other afflictions.
- Satan exercises real but limited influence within the present rebellious world system.
- Temptation does not remove human responsibility; people remain accountable for what they embrace and obey.
- The devil can be resisted, and his authority is subordinate to God.
The biblical record does not authorize
- Diagnosing every disturbing behavior as demonic possession.
- Using “mental illness” as a synonym for wickedness or violence.
- Excusing human choices by attributing every sin directly to Satan.
- Treating Satan as God’s equal, the absolute owner of creation, or an unlimited power.
- Using a fictional demon’s words as if they were inspired revelation.
2. The Dark Side’s Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures
Military and intelligence professionals study an adversary’s tactics, techniques, and procedures—TTPs—so repeated patterns can be recognized, anticipated, and countered. Operations security likewise protects information that would reveal how a force operates.[2]
That language describes what makes Nefarious unusually effective. The film does not merely announce that Satan is evil. It dramatizes how the adversary operates.
Temptation
Approach through an existing desire rather than an obvious demand for evil.
Deception
Mix truth with distortion until disobedience appears reasonable, deserved, or compassionate.
Incremental compromise
Secure one small concession, normalize it, and use it as the starting point for the next.
He does not normally begin with, “Choose evil.” He begins with something easier:
You deserve this. You have earned it. It is your life. Do what makes you happy. Who has the right to tell you otherwise?
The objective is not always possession. Cooperation may be sufficient. The ideal target may be the person who serves the enemy’s purposes while remaining convinced that every idea was entirely his own.
3. We Are Not Ignorant of His Devices
In 2 Corinthians 2, Paul warns that Satan can gain an advantage through unresolved division and unforgiveness. The original injury need not have been created by Satan. An existing wound can be exploited. That is the nature of a foothold: the adversary uses territory already opened.
Jesus calls the devil “a liar, and the father of it.” Revelation describes him as one “which deceiveth the whole world.”[3] Yet his deception does not always arrive wearing the appearance of darkness:
“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”
—2 Corinthians 11:14[4]
Effective evil may look reasonable. It may look compassionate. It may look liberating. It may even look righteous.
During Christ’s temptation, Satan quoted Scripture. He cited Psalm 91 while urging Jesus toward presumption and disobedience.[5] The words were biblical. Their application was corrupt. One of the enemy’s most effective lies is a truth twisted just enough to point in the wrong direction.
One of the film’s most chilling ideas is the demon’s suggestion that humanity devised certain evils without requiring demonic invention. The thought lingers because James locates temptation within human desire itself. Satan does not need credit for every wicked idea. Human beings are capable of developing the product; the adversary can assist with distribution.
4. The Lie of “Not Enough”
God placed Adam and Eve within abundance: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.” Only one boundary followed.[6] The serpent redirected attention away from everything God had provided and toward the one thing God had withheld.
The temptation was larger than fruit:
God is withholding something from you. You could be more. You deserve to know more. Why should God determine what you may become?
The serpent promised, “Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Eve saw that the tree was desirable “to make one wise,” and Adam ate with her.[7] Just a taste. Just a little more. Just one boundary crossed.
Christians have traditionally connected Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 with Satan’s fall: pride, beauty, privilege, and the desire to ascend. Both passages directly address earthly kings—Babylon and Tyre—so a careful reading must distinguish the immediate targets from the traditional secondary application to Satan.[8] The recurring pattern is nevertheless plain: abundance becomes insufficient, privilege becomes entitlement, and “I have” becomes “I deserve more.”
An Entirely Objective Personal Note
Personally, I think it was the chick’s fault.
This position has offended people on theological, social, historical, and probably grammatical grounds. Paul, rather inconveniently for my argument, places responsibility upon Adam: “By one man sin entered into the world.”
But this is an argument for another day.[9]
5. Footholds Become Pathways
Paul’s warning is remarkably concise:
“Neither give place to the devil.”
—Ephesians 4:27[10]
A place is territory, opportunity, room. The enemy does not need the whole house at the beginning. A foothold will do.
James describes the progression without theatrical embellishment: desire entices; desire conceives; sin is born; sin matures; death follows.[11]
Little compromises. Little rationalizations. Little pieces of truth twisted until the lie becomes comfortable. Death by a thousand cuts.
| Stage | What changes | The comfortable explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Foothold | A boundary is crossed once. | “It is only this one time.” |
| Pathway | Repetition makes the route familiar. | “It cannot be that serious.” |
| Road | The behavior becomes normal and defended. | “This is simply who I am.” |
| Destination | The compromise now determines direction. | “How did I get here?” |
Footholds become pathways. Pathways become roads. Roads eventually have destinations.
6. Possessed, Diseased, or Simply Willing?
The New Testament presents demonic possession as real. It also distinguishes possession from illness. Matthew lists diseases, torments, demonic possession, seizures, and paralysis as separate afflictions brought to Jesus.[12] Scripture therefore does not permit the reader to explain away every possession account as an ancient misunderstanding of disease.
Neither does Scripture authorize believers to label every psychological disturbance, violent act, or inexplicable behavior as possession. Mental illness is real, treatable, and not synonymous with evil. The National Institute of Mental Health emphasizes that most people with schizophrenia are not violent and are more likely to be harmed by others.[13]
A person may be mentally ill. A person may be influenced spiritually. A person may knowingly choose cruelty while remaining rational. Those possibilities can overlap, but they should not be collapsed into one category by people who cannot see the heart.
Some people appear so deliberately destructive that “evil incarnate” feels like the only adequate phrase. Yet they remain human beings. That is what makes them frightening. Monsters are easy to place outside humanity. Human beings who repeatedly silence conscience demonstrate what humanity can become when restraint is surrendered.
Scripture describes consciences “seared with a hot iron” and people who become “past feeling.”[14] That language does not require possession. A person can cooperate with evil so consistently that evil no longer feels foreign.
7. Co-opted: When Cooperation Is Enough
Possession is control. Co-option is cooperation.
John’s account of Judas contains two disturbing statements. First, the devil had “put into the heart of Judas Iscariot” the betrayal. Later, “Satan entered into him.”[15] Scripture describes satanic activity while preserving Judas’s responsibility. The suggestion did not become innocent merely because an adversary supplied it.
Ananias presents the same tension. Peter asks, “Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?” and immediately asks, “Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart?”[16] Satanic influence and human intention appear in the same event.
The devil may provide the lie. We remain responsible when we adopt it as our own.
Paul warns of people caught in “the snare of the devil” and “taken captive by him at his will.”[17] A snare does not chase its victim. It is placed along a pathway the victim is likely to travel. The bait is selected for the target.
That is why the absence of visible possession proves very little. Why seize someone dramatically if persuasion, appetite, resentment, ambition, or pride can secure willing service?
8. The Prince of This World
Jesus calls Satan “the prince of this world.” Paul calls him “the god of this world” and “the prince of the power of the air.” John writes that “the whole world lieth in wickedness.”[18]
During the temptation, Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world and their glory, claiming that their authority had been delivered to him and that he could give it to whom he wished.[19] Satan is the Father of Lies, so his sales pitch should not be treated as an uncontested property deed. Yet Scripture plainly assigns him real influence within the present rebellious order.
The necessary distinction is this:
The earth belongs to God, but the present world system lies under the dominion of Satan.
He is its prince, not its creator; its ruler, not its rightful owner. His authority is real but limited, permitted but temporary. He possesses dominion, but he is not sovereign.[20]
He can offer advancement within his system: fame, fortune, influence, pleasure, approval, and power. Every offer carries an unstated price—cooperation.
9. What Will You Settle For?
Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world. He does not need to offer everyone a kingdom.
- Judas settled for thirty pieces of silver.
- Esau surrendered his birthright for one meal.
- Achan took a garment, silver, and gold.
- Ananias and Sapphira wanted the reputation of sacrifice without the sacrifice.
- Adam and Eve reached for the one thing withheld within a garden of abundance.[21]
The price varies because the person varies. The adversary need only discover what the target values more than obedience.
How much would it take to purchase your cooperation?
Fame? Money? Sex? Power? Approval? Revenge? Comfort?
Or would something much smaller be enough?
Satan Is Not a Used-Car Salesman
Comparing Satan to a used-car salesman would be unfair.
To used-car salesmen.
Satan does not merely sell something defective. He persuades us that we deserve it, convinces us it was our idea, and eventually has us begging him to hand over the keys.
10. If Evil Is Real, What Makes It Evil?
Many people readily use the word “evil” while resisting what the word requires. If an act is truly evil—not merely unpopular, unpleasant, or contrary to preference—then some standard of good must exist by which it can be judged.
You cannot cut a slice of bread so thin that it has only one side.
If morality is entirely a social construct, society can reconstruct it. If morality is only personal preference, the murderer’s morality carries no less authority than the victim’s. If morality is determined by power, atrocities become good whenever the proper authority approves them.
Calling something objectively evil appeals to something beyond preference, fashion, culture, and political decree. That observation does not prove the entire Christian faith in one step. It does force a question: by what standard—and whose standard—have we called it evil?
For some, the resistance is not merely intellectual. If objective evil exists, objective good must also exist. If good exists independently of human preference, humanity may be accountable to a standard it did not invent. Jesus describes people loving darkness rather than light because light exposes their deeds.[22]
11. The Stronger Man and the Limits of the Adversary
Jesus describes a strong man guarding his palace until one stronger overcomes him. The immediate point is not that Satan should be admired for maintaining a peaceful house. The point is that Christ is stronger and can spoil the strong man’s goods.[23]
A faith that never conflicts with personal desire, never challenges the surrounding culture, and never requires self-denial deserves examination. Still, peace does not prove that Satan possesses someone, and adversity does not prove that someone is righteous. Scripture does not authorize that shortcut.
Satan sought to sift Peter as wheat. He walks as a roaring lion, “seeking whom he may devour.” The language is active and selective: surveillance, vulnerability, pressure, attack.[24] Yet Job demonstrates that Satan operates within limits established by God.[25]
The biblical response is not panic:
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
—James 4:7[26]
Notice the order: submit to God, resist the devil, and the devil flees. Scripture does not say to negotiate, improve the terms, or ask whether he might include the undercoating at no additional charge.
12. Which Kingdom Is Living Through Us?
God is present and active on earth, and Scripture teaches that Christ will return bodily. He is not dependent upon humanity in order to act. Yet until that return, the world is intended to encounter the character of Christ through those in whom His Spirit dwells.
Paul writes, “Christ liveth in me,” speaks of “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” and calls believers “the body of Christ.”[27]
Satan presently exercises dominion through people and systems that yield themselves to him. Christ advances His kingdom through people who yield themselves to Him.
Both kingdoms seek human cooperation. The decisive question is not merely whether we believe Satan exists. It is which kingdom our choices make visible.
13. Judgment
Nefarious is not Scripture, and its demon is not a theologian. The film nevertheless understands something modern culture often avoids: effective evil does not need to look evil. It needs to appear desirable, justified, compassionate, liberating, or deserved.
Biblically, possession is real, illness is real, and deliberate human wickedness is real. Scripture does not collapse those categories. It also refuses to let spiritual influence erase human responsibility. Judas, Ananias, and Eve were tempted; they also acted.
Satan’s dominion is real, but it is neither absolute nor permanent. His methods are ancient, repetitive, and effective: question God’s word, focus attention on what is withheld, disguise darkness as light, exploit an existing wound, offer the desired bait, and convert one compromise into a familiar path.
Underneath the language of what humanity “deserves” stands an uncomfortable Christian truth:
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
—Romans 6:23[28]
Missing the Mark
The Greek word translated “sin” is hamartia, related to hamartanō, a verb that can carry the sense of missing a mark or failing to reach an intended aim. The picture is useful. An arrow that misses the bullseye by an inch and an arrow that misses the target completely have both failed to strike the mark.
Paul uses similar language when he writes, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”[32] Sin falls short of God’s perfect standard and purpose—the holiness, obedience, and love for which humanity was made. Whether the failure appears respectable or spectacular, the mark has still been missed.
Once that is understood, grace comes into focus. God does not pretend the arrow struck the center, lower the standard, or call the miss a victory. He justifies freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Salvation is God’s gift, not the reward for getting closer than someone else.[31]
Grace is not God finally giving us what we earned. Grace is God rescuing us from what we earned.
The enemy’s TTPs matter because ignorance creates vulnerability. Recognition creates the opportunity to resist. The final word therefore does not belong to the adversary:
“Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
—1 John 4:4[29]
Watch Nefarious. Then ask the harder question: how many footholds have we stopped recognizing as footholds?
Footholds become pathways. Pathways become roads. Roads have destinations.
Which kingdom is living through us?
Inch by inch, it’s a cinch. That is precisely why the first inch matters.
Notes and References
- 2 Corinthians 2:5–11. Paul’s warning about Satan gaining an advantage appears within an appeal for forgiveness and restoration. Read passage ↩
- U.S. Department of Defense, Joint Publication 3-13.3: Operations Security, discussing critical information that may reveal tactics, techniques, and procedures. Open publication ↩
- John 8:44; Revelation 12:9. Read passages ↩
- 2 Corinthians 11:13–15. Read passage ↩
- Matthew 4:1–11, especially verse 6, where the tempter cites Psalm 91:11–12. Read passages ↩
- Genesis 2:15–17. Read passage ↩
- Genesis 3:1–7. Read passage ↩
- Isaiah 14:4, 12–15; Ezekiel 28:2, 12–17. The traditional satanic interpretation must be distinguished from each prophecy’s stated earthly ruler. Read passages ↩
- Romans 5:12–19, where Paul develops Adam’s representative responsibility. Read passage ↩
- Ephesians 4:25–32. The warning not to give place to the devil appears amid commands concerning anger, theft, corrupt speech, bitterness, and forgiveness. Read passage ↩
- James 1:13–16. Read passage ↩
- Matthew 4:23–24. Read passage ↩
- National Institute of Mental Health, “Schizophrenia,” section on risk of violence. Open source ↩
- 1 Timothy 4:1–2; Ephesians 4:17–19. Read passages ↩
- John 13:2, 21–30; compare Luke 22:3–6. Read passages ↩
- Acts 5:1–5. Read passage ↩
- 2 Timothy 2:24–26. Read passage ↩
- John 12:31; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:1–3; 1 John 5:19. Read passages ↩
- Luke 4:5–8. Read passage ↩
- Psalm 24:1; Matthew 28:18; Revelation 20:10. Read passages ↩
- Matthew 26:14–16; Genesis 25:29–34; Joshua 7:19–26; Acts 5:1–10; Genesis 3:1–7. Read passages ↩
- John 3:19–21. Read passage ↩
- Luke 11:14–23; Matthew 12:22–30. Read passages ↩
- Luke 22:31–32; 1 Peter 5:8–9. Read passages ↩
- Job 1:6–12; 2:1–6. Read passages ↩
- James 4:6–10. Read passage ↩
- Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:27; 1 Corinthians 12:27. Read passages ↩
- Romans 6:20–23; compare Romans 3:23–24. The Greek noun hamartia and related verb hamartanō carry the moral meaning “sin” and can also express failing or missing a mark. The target illustration is useful when it serves the passage rather than replacing the word’s full biblical meaning. The NAS Exhaustive Concordance defines hamartanō as “to miss the mark, do wrong, sin,” while Thayer documents classical uses for missing a mark or object and the New Testament’s moral use for violating God’s law. Read passages · Open Greek lexicon ↩
- 1 John 4:1–6. Read passage ↩
- James 2:10–11; John 19:11; Luke 12:47–48. James establishes universal guilt when the law is broken, while Jesus recognizes greater sin and differing measures of accountability. Read passages ↩
- Romans 3:23–26; Ephesians 2:8–10; 2 Corinthians 5:21. Grace justifies and reconciles through Christ; it is not a comparative reward for missing the mark by less than someone else. Read passages ↩
- Romans 3:23–24. All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory; justification is freely given by grace through Christ. Read passage ↩
Additional Notes
Film source: Nefarious, directed by Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman (2023), based on Steve Deace’s novel A Nefarious Plot. Watch the trailer.
Scripture text: Scripture quotations use the King James Version. Paraphrases and interpretive conclusions are identified by context and should be tested against the linked passages.
Read. Reason. Search. Test.