The scriptures you cite refer to Christ’s victory over Satan and the demonic realm, but none of them suggest that the devil has no more power to deceive the nations. Many New Testament passages show that the devil was by no means bound and shut away during the time of Christ.

Peter warned, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world” (1 Peter 5:8,9, NASB throughout answer).

Paul admonished, “Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).

Paul spoke of the end-time “lawless one” whose coming “is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish” (2 Thessalonians 2:9,10).

The book of Revelation shows Satan active throughout Christian history, from the birth of Christ to the Second Coming (see Revelation 12, for example). The devil and his demonic cohorts not only attempt to destroy God’s people, but exert a powerful and deceptive influence in the non-Christian world (Revelation 2:10; 16:13,14).

These are but a few of the many New Testament passages which show plainly that Satan the devil is alive and well on planet earth. Yet, the centuries-old belief that the binding of Satan occurred before the middle of the first century A.D. is still held by some churches.

Some contend that Revelation 20:1–3 simply means that the devil’s influence was to some extent limited following the death and resurrection of Christ. Unfortunately, the description given in these verses does not fit the “limited influence” or “partly bound devil” scenario. Notice:

“And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.”

Notice several points: First, the devil is bound with a great chain. Second, he is thrown into the abyss, or “bottomless pit.” Third, the entrance to the abyss is shut and sealed.

Does that sound like the half-bound devil of the “limited influence” theory? Hardly! This is clearly a description of total, out-of-sight/out-of-mind binding! Satan is out of the picture—completely!

Obviously, this has not yet happened. It will happen shortly after the Second Coming of Christ and just before the start of the Millennium, or 1000-year reign of Christ.

The events of Chapter 20—the binding of Satan, the millennial reign, and the White Throne Judgment—follow the events of Chapter 19 chronologically. The Second Coming is described in Chapter 19. Any eschatological scheme that places the binding of Satan before the return of Christ must either deny that the events of these two chapters are in chronological sequence or deny that Chapter 19 depicts the Second Coming.

The “limited influence” theory simply does not stand on firm ground. Nor does any other theory which places the binding of Satan in the past.