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There are two reasons for Satan to torment people: to keep them separated from God and to disrupt their witness of God. The second could be considered as being within the parameters of the first, except that the target of each is different. Satan's influence for the first is directed toward people who have not chosen God. The second is directed at Christians (those who have accepted Christ's gift of salvation).

Satan works often on the world stage to keep nonbelievers away from God. Unless an unbeliever is reaching a decision to accept Christ, Satan has no need to make any real effort toward them.

The Christian has accepted Christ's gift of salvation and becomes one of God's instruments to spread His word to others through witness of their belief in Christ and their relationship with Him. This makes the Christian a primary target for torment and temptation. Mark 4: 13 20 explains this Jesus own words.

The torment comes for the Christian if they give in to the temptation as it causes a chasm between the Christian and God. God says that he won't leave or forsake us. He keeps His promises, but we become tormented when Satan uses our emotion of guilt to cause us to feel inadequate to witness. He cannot take our souls back from God, but Satan can disrupt our testimony with falsehoods. Two references come to my mind for authority to say the above.

1. Romans 8 particularly verses 22 39
2. Psalms 103: 10 - 12

Satan is given many names in the Bible, first introduced in Genesis as the serpent.

Guilt is one of Satan's favorite torments of the Christian. God never causes us guilt, the perception than he does, is a misconception. What God does offer is to forgive and forget if we but repent. Repenting is a confession of the disobedience and a change so as not to repeat the same sin'. That doesn't mean that we won't, but God knows if we are not sincere.

There have been documented Biblical accounts of God punishing people for turning their backs on Him. Most of these are found in the Old Testament which is under the old covenant that God made with first Adam and later Moses to the Jews.

Adam and Eve were the first to give in to Satan's temptation and discover the torment of guilt and God's wrath. They tried to hide because they became aware of the presence and pleasure of giving into temptation. God did not turn His back on them, but He did send them out of the Garden of Eden and closed the gates behind them.

There are later examples including the example of Job where God knew

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