When Satan appeared to Eve in the garden, he began to put doubts in her head regarding the command of God. He asked if God had said "You shall not eat of every tree of the garden." Eve responded that she and her husband could eat of the fruit of every tree in the garden but one, adding that God had said, "You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die." Satan responded, "You will not surely die" (Gen. 3:1-4).
The book of Revelation says that Satan "deceives the whole world" (12:9). Jesus told the unbelieving Jews, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it" (John 8:44). In "the beginning" Satan attempted to murder the human race by tempting Eve with a lie. He lied about the penalty or consequence of sin. Eve may not have understood what death was, but she certainly understood that it was the penalty for eating the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden. Satan got her to believe that there really wasn't a consequence for sin.
Satan's lie continued, calling God's character into question: "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:5). He got Eve to believe that eating the fruit would actually benefit her, and that God was holding her back from having or enjoying something that she had a right to experience.
The oldest lie in the world is still being told today. Every day we are given the impression that there is no penalty for violating God's commands. Sinners go unpunished. We are told that life is ours to enjoy. Live it up. You only go around once. You deserve a break today. Young people are "expected" to experiment and sow their wild oats. Fornicators, homosexuals, pornographers, gamblers, drinkers, liars, etc., all follow their lusts while claiming "I'm not hurting anybody." We see it happen around us so much that we may be tempted to believe it ourselves.
However, the Bible clearly warns us about the consequences of sin. Paul said that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Solomon wrote that the way of the transgressor is hard (Prov. 13:15). Moses warned "be sure your sin will find you out" (Num. 32:23). Jesus spoke of the binding nature of sin when He said "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin" (8:34).
Worldly sinners are not the only ones who lie regarding the consequences of sin. The Calvinist lies about the penalty of sin when he insists that the sins committed by a child of God cannot condemn his soul. However, the Bible says that a child of God has to repent, confess, and pray in order to receive the forgiveness of his sins (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9). The Hebrew Christians were warned, "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries" (Heb. 10:26-27).
"You will not surely die." The oldest lie in the world, still alive and well today. We know better. Let us strive to live holy lives before the Judge of all the earth.