A common question we regularly receive at Good Fight Ministries is whether or not a person can truly sell their soul, as many celebrities have claimed. Most of those who argue against this reality usually point out, “you cannot sell what doesn’t belong to you.” Does this mean that every time a celebrity has spoken about selling their soul that they were simply lying? Well, not exactly.
We cannot sell our souls to Satan in the sense that he then owns them, as all souls and where they spend eternity belongs to God alone:
“Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine: the soul who sins shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:4)
However, one can sell his soul in the sense that we have the freedom to willfully submit our souls to Satan’s service, which ultimately leads to suffering an even greater consequence – eternity in hell. God’s Word makes it quite clear that one can sell himself to do evil:
“There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife.” (1 Kings 21:25)
Jesus also made it clear that you can choose to forfeit your soul to Satan’s evil world system:
“What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
When we reach the age of accountability, we become guilty before God, under Satan’s power and accountable for our sin:
“I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.” (Romans 7:9)
Jesus died to set us free from the power of Satan, sin and death:
“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” (Hebrews 2:14-15)
Because God’s great love for us, and by His enabling grace, we are now free to accept or reject His free gift of salvation:
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.” (Titus 2:11)
God warns us to choose Him over the idols and demon god’s that Satan uses to deceive the masses:
“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:14-15)
“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. NOW CHOOSE LIFE, so that you and your children may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19)
Sadly, many choose to “cling to worthless idols forfeit[ing] the grace that could be theirs” (Jonah 2:8). Jesus warned that we must make a choice between two masters:
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)
To not choose Jesus is to choose against Him. Jesus declared:
“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” (Matthew 12:30)
Bob Dylan was correct when he sang, “But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed you’re gonna have to serve somebody. Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord. But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” We now have a choice. By His enabling grace, we can either choose to be servants of sin and Satan, and suffer in the lake of fire for eternity, or we can choose eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” (Romans 6:16)
We can choose sin and Satan over Jesus, but we cannot ultimately choose the horrific consequences. They belong to the perfect and just God who must punish unrepentant sin. We will all stand before God to give an account for our lives, as He is the ruler of all things. We must reject Satan’s offer of temporal riches and fame and refuse to willfully surrender or ‘sell our souls’ to him. Jesus said Satan is the father of lies and a murderer (John 8:44). Most who willfully sell their souls to Satan get absolutely nothing from him and simply end up being destroyed and sent to hell. Those who prosper in some way by Satan’s power always regret it for all eternity. Satan hates them, uses them as puppets, then seeks to destroy them before they repent. Whether one sells his soul or not, we must all still turn to Jesus to be saved, because we are all under Satan’s power until the moment we embrace Jesus as our Lord and Savior. May the Lord give us the grace to choose life in Christ!
