“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
Resist the devil
The believer is to “resist” the devil. The word “resist” means to set against, to oppose, to stand against. The best way to resist the devil is to actively resist him by submitting to God. There is no compromise with the enemy. The flip side of submitting to God is resisting the devil.
Mt 4:8-10, “Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
Eph 6:11-13, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
The name “devil” means slanderer, accuser, and is a common name for Satan. One of the devil’s main roles is to accuse us before God. He did this to Job in the Old Testament (Job 1). Yet, the Lord Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us defending us against the charges of the devil.
He 7:25, “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
PRINCIPLE:
Submission to God puts the devil to flight.
APPLICATION:
We need not fear the devil, for the Bible says that we can “resist” him. He has no power over me without my consent. We can take a firm stand against him. God requires active volition on our part when dealing with the devil. We must take the spiritual high ground.
The Christian life is a battle, not a rosy bed of ease. The dynamic believer must stand against the devil in a war of spiritual survival with combat readiness. We must be ready to fight at the first crack of a shot.
2 Ti 2:3-4, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”
We cannot give place to the devil, or he will gain a foothold of warfare on our soul. Once he has that foothold, we will head for defeat.
