Who caused Satan to sin?

 by Matt Slick

No one but Satan caused Satan to sin.  God did not cause Satan to do anything bad.  He chose to sin and rebel against God.  There are descriptions of Satan in the Old Testament that might help us answer the question. Perhaps the two most relevant are found in Isaiah and Ezekiel:

• Isaiah 14:12-14, “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth. You who have weakened the nations! 13 “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven.  I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.’  14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.  I will make myself like the Most High.’”
• Ezekiel 28:14-15, “You were the anointed cherub who covers and I placed you there.  You were on the holy mountain of God.  You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.  15 “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you.”

It would appear from these two sets of verses that Satan found within himself the motivation to be prideful and to seek that which belonged to God.  Because of this, and because of his rebellion against God, Satan sinned.  So, no one caused Satan to sin.  He sinned out of his own free will.