Resisting The Devil

Resisting The Devil

We all will have to endure the wiles of the Devil in our lives. The Bible describes the Devil as our adversary, stalking us like a roaring Lion, seeking whom he may devour. And if the Devil is anything, he is persistent!

With a vicious enemy like the Devil, what can a person do to escape his wrath? How can a mere human being resist or even hope to compete against this supernatural Angel of evil? Ephesians 6:11 informs us that the Devil is a “wily enemy” and that we need special armor if we ever hope to resist him. 

As we struggle to stand firm in our faith, we must realize that the enemies we are up against are not merely human ideas, but real sinister forces that come from the powers of darkness. 

What is the Devils Ability?

As an angelic being, he has more power than any human being. Satans power both in the heavenly realm and here on earth is great and should not be underestimated.

In fact, I John 5:19 says that “the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” Since he began his instigation of evil on earth, Satan has been labeled as the “prince,” or “god,” or “ruler” of this present world. 

The Bible says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12)

Well, the Bible does in fact offer us some valuable info on how to resist the Devil. However, most readers only focus on one aspect of the Bible’s counsel for resisting the Devil. That focus stems from the following verse from the book of James:

Our Fundamental Spiritual Resistance Formula

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. 

There are three dynamics involved in this verse that we need to analyze very closely. They include Resistance, submittance and abidance. 

“Resist the Devil, and He will flee from you.” This is the line that most people focus upon when contemplating how to contend with the Devil. 

Offering Resistance to an enemy is almost always a defensive measure! And much too often, that is the case with the Devil. Satan is always on the offensive against us! He is constantly accusing us of things before God, he continually seduces us with temptations, and he strategically plots all kinds of chaos in our lives.  

Resist / Greek anthistemi means to withstand, or the ability to exert oneself so as to counteract or defeat an enemy and or stand against temptation.

While Resistance can be a defensive maneuver on our part, there are other actions we can take to use the only offensive weapon we have against the Devil, and that is in the utilization of the full armor of God, namely the Word of God itself!

The Devil is a Primarily Offensive Adversary

But this single specific point about “resisting” the Devil is of itself insufficient in our combat with our adversary. 

As a matter of fact, we as individual human beings possess no capability whatsoever to “resist the Devil.” The Devil is vastly more powerful than us! He is far more intelligent than us! And he is much more experienced in the affairs of this world than we are; as he has been operating in our world for several thousands of years.

In fact, the Devil is capable of “sifting” any of us like wheat as he planned to do with Peter, we’re it not for the effectual prayers of Jesus himself on his behalf. So thus it is that prayer is an essential tool in resisting the Devil.

Since Satan is such an overwhelming and powerful offensive force; we cannot simply “resist” him, since we as human beings were created a “little lower” than the angels, and cannot contend with him in any combative type situations. (Hebrews 2)

Resisting the devil must first be accompanied by ones total submittance to God. An unsubmissive believer will never see victory. Furthermore, an non-submissive believer is nothing more than easy cannon fodder for the Devil. 

Submittance to a Higher Power

The verse from James 4:7 informs Christians that in our struggle against our powerful foe, our efforts to “resist” the Devil’s wiles; lies in our faith and persistent submittance to God!

The very first step in our formula to resist the Devil requires our personal “Submittance” to God, to his Word, to his Will, and also to the  purposes for which we are called. 

Almighty God, the creator of Heaven and earth, the creator of mankind and the angels alike is by far the mightiest power that exists. 

Ephesians 1:21 expresses that our advocate with God, Jesus Christ, our Savior, wields immensely much more power than any other power in this world, or in the world to come, and that God has placed all things under his feet. 

Therefore, for this reason, it should always be expressly repeated from James, that the effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man, praying incessantly to Christ will avail much; including the powers to resist the Devil! 

Jesus Set the Example of Resistance and Submittance

In the books of Matthew 4 and Luke 4, Jesus set an explicit example for all of us on how to resist the Devil.

And please make sure to take note from this story, if the Devil has the brass to tempt the Lord, he will surely never be reluctant at any point to approach us with his schemes.

In this situation, known as “the temptation” of Christ, the Devil tried three different tactics to entice Jesus into temptation. Satan utilized his most effective inducements to seduce Jesus into succumbing to his highly offensive campaign! 

In fact, the Devil offered Jesus a deal that is probably the grandest deal that he can offer to anyone; namely the glory and authority of the kingdoms of this world!

In each instance of the Devil’s devious tricks, Jesus responded by emphatically quoting the Word of God! Our Lords ability to “quote” immediately his Fathers Word were in reality the sharpest rebuke of Satan that could also be utilized as an offensive weapon against the Devil! 

After Jesus repeated quotations of the Word, and his total rejection of Satan’s big deal; the Devil Fled! Satan cannot stand to keep on hearing Gods Word quoted at him. Gods Word tossed back in his direction absolutely infuriates him. 

Using the Scriptures to expose Satan’s lies and temptations is the most effective way to strive against him and resist him. 

Abidance in God

In his sovereignty, God considered it wise, as part of the curse that fell on the world after the fall of Adam and Eve, to allow Satan to retain much of the power he usurped within our fallen world. But thankfully, God has placed temporary limits upon the powers that the Devil acquired in his rebellious cosmic struggle against God. 

All the power that Satan has is predicated upon the permissive purposes of Almighty God. The Devil has no autonomy to do anything God that does not permit for his infinitely Divine and wise purposes. 

That is just one more reason to “abide” with, yea even fellowship with Almighty God! The word “abide” is derived from the Greek word “meno” and refers to “tarrying” with or dwelling within the relationship that we can have with God! 

The way that we “abide with God” is by being continually soaking up his Word, studying it and researching its depth. Also we “abide with God” by talking to him daily via prayer, and simply maintaining a clear conscience before him.

John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

James concluded his formula for resisting the Devil with the following statement: “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”

Thus to “abide in God” is to “draw yourself near to him” and ground yourself in his Word! This will assure you that the Lord God will always be “near to you” when the Devil comes calling. 

Forcing the Devil to Flee!

The promise in James 4:7 that Satan will flee; assures us that we are not totally defenseless against Satan’s devices. Through our personal Submittance to God and by Abiding in him, we can forcefully Resist him! 

Why will resistance cause the devil to flee? Because he knows he cannot have victory over us if we are prepared to do battle against him. As mentioned before, the Bible assures us that we need only put on the full armor of God to be fully protected from evil and to actively resist it. 

There is nothing more frightening to Satan than a believer who is fully and uniquely equipped with Almighty God’s spiritual armor! 

One last thought though: while Satan will tire of contending with a fervent spiritually equipped Christian, and Flee; he will still make it a point to keep track of you in the future, seeking for a more subtle and opportune occasion to test your spiritual discipline! 

Remember the last state of our Lords Temptation in Luke 4:13? “And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.”

Oh but what a joy it is to abide with God, yet see the Devil return for yet another round of testing, and then “watch him flee” when God steps in again to defend us! 

Focus on the Bible

by: Darrell G. Young

November 24, 2021