Satan's Ambition Commendable Before the World?

It wasn’t long ago that Paul’s statement about not being “outwitted by Satan” (2 Cor. 2:11) struck a chord with me. He says he exercised forgiveness and asked the Corinthians to do likewise so that they would not be “outwitted by Satan” be cause he was not “ignorant of his designs.” Apparently Paul was informed about Satan’s specific strategies and our actions or inactions that may give him the upper hand. Even after unsuccessfully tempting Jesus Luke says the devil did not give up, but simply “departed from [Jesus] until an opportune time” (Lk. 4:13). All this has caused me to ask myself whether in fact I am as informed as I should be concerning “the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:11). To be ignorant either unintentionally or by willful neglect is to disregard the scriptural warning to “be sober-minded [and] be watchful [because] your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). With all of this in mind I picked up Lewis Sperry Chaffer’s book Satan: His Motives and Methods and came across this most sobering thought.

“[Satan’s] own terrible sin before God would not be condemned in the eyes of the world, for it is that which they most idealize and praise. In his sin he aspired to that which is highest, and proposed to realize his ideal by his own self-sufficiency and strength.”

And

“[Satan’s] unholy ambition and disregard for the Creator is a most commendable thing according to the standards of the satanic order. In the language of this world, Satan is simply ‘self-made’ and every element of his attitude toward his Creator is, as a principle of life, both commended and practiced by the world.”