“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?” (Gal. 3:1).

           The word bewitched means to malign by a false representation. It suggests the idea that the devil can mislead us into believing something that is false. The apostle Paul warned of this in his letter to the church at Rome. “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.  For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple” (Rom. 16:17-18).

            It is very possible for the devil to deceive us. Consider how crafty he truly is. “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). We should not be surprised at this. Moses describes him in this manner, “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made” (Gen. 3:1).