“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
and he will flee from you
“Flee” means to take flight, run away, escape, shun. We get our English word “fugitive” from the Greek word. The idea here is that the devil will avoid us when we resist him by submitting to God. God puts this in the frame of a promise.
PRINCIPLE:
A great principle of spiritual victory is to plead the promises of God.
APPLICATION:
When we obey the two-sided commands of “submit” and “resist,” we can claim the promise of God of victory over the devil. God guarantees that he will flee from us. There is cowardice in the devil when he sees us actively applying God’s principles to experience.
1 Pe 5:8-9, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”
Christians are under attack from the devil. We must resist him; otherwise, we leave ourselves exposed to defeat. Active resistance to Satan’s assaults is a divine duty under our Commander-in-Chief.
Humility is not weakness; it puts the devil to flight.
