Misinterpretations often take Satan's claim literally as absolute ownership of the earth, fostering either defeatist views that evil is invincible or overzealous dominionism where believers seek to seize political power by any means, ignoring the verse's context of temptation, Satan's limited and permitted influence under God's allowance, and Jesus' model of resisting through Scripture without engaging the devil's illicit bargain.
Luke 4:6
King James Version (1769)
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
In this verse from Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, Satan boasts of possessing authority over the world's kingdoms, which 'is delivered unto me,' acknowledging a temporary dominion granted through humanity's fall into sin, yet the core truth reveals the enemy's deceptive offer as a shortcut to power that Jesus rejects, affirming God's supreme sovereignty and the necessity of obedience through suffering rather than worldly compromise.