Standing Firm Against the Adversary

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:8-11)

To the churches scattered throughout the Roman provinces in Asia Minor, who were experiencing persecution, Peter identifies the real enemy. Not Rome, not even Nero, but “your adversary the devil.” He was well aware that this was a spiritual warfare. As Paul said, “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” (Ephesians 6:12).

The Greek word for “adversary” is antidikos, made up of two words: anti, which means “against,” and dikos, which speaks of what is right and just. Literally, it refers to an opponent in a lawsuit. The name satan means “adversary” and he is called the “accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:10). The Greek word for “devil,” means “slanderer.” He comes making accusation against us, slandering us before God, before others and even before ourselves. He seeks to turn the world against us and is the source behind all persecution.

The devil is like a roaring lion look for someone to destroy. Though speaking figuratively, Peter may also have had in mind the Christians at Rome who were literally being thrown to the lions. “Resist him,” Peter says. The Greek word, antihistemi, means to take a stand against. When the devil comes against us with lies and persecutions, we are to stand against him by staying firm in the faith. Notice the definite article, “the faith.” The focus is on the object of our faith, King Jesus the Messiah. The apostle James put it this way: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). First, we submit ourselves to God, taking our stand in Him. Then we will be well positioned to stand against the devil.

The attack of the adversary was not against these scattered churches alone, nor would they be alone in standing against him. There were many other believers also experiencing the same persecution — and faithfully resisting the devil. Again, Peter may have had in mind the tribulation believers faced at Rome. They also had something much more powerful going for them, which Peter brings out by way of his closing benediction. The “God of all grace” would be with them and the adversary is no match for that. God has called us to eternal glory by Jesus the Messiah, Peter says, bringing us around again to the abundant mercy, living hope and incorruptible inheritance we have in Jesus, with which he opened this letter. The brief times — the word for “a while” actually means “a little” — of persecution do not compare to the rich and eternal inheritance we have in Him.

The grace of God is here to “perfect, establish, strengthen and settle” us. The word for “perfect” has a range of meaning, any of which would be encouraging for those facing difficult times: to prepare, repair, restore, equip, make whole. To “establish” means to stabilize, make firm or constant. “Strengthen” means to make strong in body or soul; here, with the strength that comes from God. “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might,” Paul said (Ephesians 6:10). To “settle” means to set on a firm foundation.

Peter finishes with a doxology, a praise to the God of all grace for this eternal glory: “To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” It is His glory and His dominion that will endure long after every persecution and difficulty has passed away.

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Keeping the Faith When Things Get Tough
Peter’s Letter to Jesus Believers Scattered Everywhere
Bite-Sized Studies Through First Peter
by Jeff Doles

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Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Resisting the Messenger of Satan

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Therefore submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

Paul was dealing with demonic resistance to his ministry. A “messenger of satan,” he called it (2 Corinthians 12:7). Three times, he asked God that it might depart from him. God’s answer: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

In other words, “Paul, I have already given you everything you need to deal with this. It’s not about your strength, it’s not even about your weakness — it’s about My strength being made complete in you.”

James speaks a similar word about resisting the messengers of satan: “Therefore submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” There are three parts to this word. Two instructions and one promise:

• Submit to God
• Resist the devil
• The devil will flee

Our part is to submit to God, to yield ourselves to Him in obedience. Paul had done this. But we have a second instruction to obey that is just as important as the first: Resist the devil. The Greek word for “resist” is anthistemi and means to stand against, to oppose.

See, Paul asked God that this devil that had been harassing him might “depart.” The Greek word is aphistemi (note the root, histemi). Paul wanted the devil to desist, to stop standing against him, to cease resisting him, to withdraw — to flee! But he wanted God to make it happen for him. However, as James teaches us, that’s not how it works. Paul was trying to get God to resist the devil for him, and that was not working out too well for Paul because the devil was not fleeing.

However, God wanted Paul to learn how to resist (anthistemi) the devil for himself. In fact,He had already given him the grace to do so. Indeed, Paul already had everything he needed to deal with this satanic messenger, he had just not yet learned how to do so.

He finally did understand, though, as we can see in Ephesians 6, where he teaches us how to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (v. 10). Notice how that echoes 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My strength.” The Greek root for “strong” and “strength” is dunamis, power. We are to lay hold of God’s strength, to be empowered with the power of God. How do we do that? Paul details it for us (Ephesians 6:11-18):

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand [histemi] against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground [anthistemi], and after you have done everything, to stand [histemi].

Stand firm [histemi] then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

God has given us His all-sufficient grace, empowered us with His own strength and provided us with the complete armor we need to stand against every messenger of satan. He will not do Himself what He has given us to do, but He has promised that when we submit to Him and resist the devil, the devil will flee.

See also Pulling Paul’s Thorn and Super-Elated with the Things of God.

Give No Place to Fear

Do not … give place to the devil. (Ephesians 4:26-27)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7).

The devil delights in fear and knows how to use it. Take Job, for example. We know that God allowed satan to go after him, but I believe that was because Job himself allowed it. Peter said that satan is like a roaring lion, going to and fro, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). So satan went looking for how he could devour Job. Paul said, “Do not give place to the devil.” He cannot come in on us if we do not give him a place, and if we give him place, he will not pass by an open door but will go right on in. That is why James said, “Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee” (James 4:7). If we resist the devil, he must flee.

So, it was not enough that God allowed satan to pursue Job. He would also have to find Job with his guard down, leaving a place for him to enter in. I think we find that place in Job 3:25, where Job says, “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.”

Where did this fear and dread come from? Certainly not from God, for it was not the fear of the Lord, but the fear of circumstances. Job inadvertently opened himself up to the work of the devil by first listening to his whispers, then by meditating on his lies, letting himself be filled with worry and all the things the world fears. Then he probably started speaking out his worries and fears instead of trusting in the goodness of God, which is much greater. Before long, what began as worry turned into great fear and dread; satan soon found that opening and played it for all it was worth.

But what if Job had not been full of fear and dread that these things might happen? What if he had not dwelt on them, letting them become magnified in his heart? The devil would have had no other way to get in, for Job was a righteous and upright man (Job 1:8). But fear left an open door into his life.

The word “fear” has sometimes been defined by the acronym F.E.A.R. — False Evidence Appearing Real. Job worried that these things might one day come upon him. They appeared real to him long before they actually came to pass. Some might say that this was just coincidence, but isn’t it interesting that the very thing Job greatly feared and dreaded was the thing satan actually ended up doing to him?

Now, satan does not usually go for outright terror. That would be too obvious for many Christians and they would not fall for it. But if the devil can’t get terror going, he’ll gladly work on low-level fear, the little worries and anxieties of life. Worry is like a seed, just as faith is like a seed, and when it is planted in the heart, it can spring up quickly into paralyzing fear.

God has not given us the spirit of fear. Neither full-grown fear nor the seedling of worry comes from Him. Rather, God has given us the spirit of power, love and sound mind. This power is actually the miracle-working power of the Holy Spirit. This love is the love God has for us, and when we let it fill our hearts, it casts out fear (1 John 4:18). The Greek word for “sound mind” speaks of self-control. It is about the discipline of understanding and living by the truth. That is how we resist the devil and overcome fear: We believe the love God has for us, and the power we have in Him, and we live by it.

The best time to deal with fear is when it first enters in as anxiety. As Barney Fife might say, “Nip it! Nip it in the bud!” Jesus put it this way:

Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:31-33)

The world is anxious, seeking after all these things. But for those who know the Lord Jesus, that problem has already been solved. Our job is to seek the rule and reign and God, and His way of doing things. Everything else will be taken care of. No worry, no fear. Just divine power and love, and a sound mind. For God “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20).

Do not give the devil a place in your life by letting worry and fear into your heart. Believe the love God has for you and the divine power at work in you, and be at peace. Seek His kingdom, and whatever is needed will be provided.

Super-Elated with the Things of God

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. (2 Corinthians 12:7)

Here is a verse that is commonly misunderstood on a number of points. It is often thought that, because of the revelations Paul received from the Lord, God gave him a “thorn in the flesh” (often erroneously thought to be a sickness of some sort; see Pulling Paul’s Thorn) in order to keep him from becoming proud — lest he be “exalted above measure.”

Let’s take a look at the Greek word for that, hyperairo. It is found twice in this verse.” It is a compound word made up of hyper, which means “over, beyond or more than,” and airo, which means to lift or raise up. Sometimes it is used to speak of exaltation, which might be unseemly when it is applied to a man. But there is also another way this word is used that can have a very positive connotation.

• Renn’s Expository Dictionary of Bible Words says of hyperairo that, in this verse, it means to be exalted “in the sense of being affected by a feeling of supreme elation.”
• Weymouth’s New Testament translation has it as “lest I should be over-elated.”
• The English Standard Version has “to keep me from being too elated.”
• The Revised English Bible says, “to keep me from being unduly elated.”
• The Revised Standard Version: “to keep me from being too elated.”

For a human being to be exalted brings up negative connotations, and for a man to be exalted “beyond measure” causes people to think that a humbling is in order. That is what many interpreters have done with this verse. They read “exalted beyond measure” and immediately jump to the conclusion that what comes next, the “thorn in the flesh,” was given to Paul to humble him. Never mind that the word “humble” does not even appear in the text, but is simply assumed.

What is more, they often assume that it was God who gave Paul this thorn in order to humble him. Again, never mind that the text does not identify God as the one who gave him this thorn; it is called a “messenger of satan.” Unfortunately, though, the prevailing, and generally unexamined, assumption is that it was God who gave it and that it was for the purpose of humbling Paul, to knock him down a few pegs and keep him from becoming proud.

On the other hand, if hyperairo can just as well be rendered as “elation,” as many versions do, then the story this verse tells is more consistent with what the Bible teaches us about both God and the devil: God wants us to be full of joy; satan wants us to be full of pride. And it makes better sense of what the verse actually does say instead of assuming things it does not say.

“Elation” does not speak of pride or arrogance, but of joy and exhilaration. What did Paul have to be elated about? What could have filled him with such joy and exhilaration? The revelations He received from God. Paul was elated about the things God was showing him, and that is something to be excited about. Indeed, it is something to be super-elated about, as the Greek prefix hyper here implies.

Now think for a moment: Who is pleased when we are excited and filled with joy, super-elated about the things of God? Is it not God? And who is displeased when we are thrilled and overjoyed by the things of God? Is it not satan? So why should we assume that God would want to keep Paul from being excited and overjoyed about the things He was revealing to him?

Doesn’t it make more sense that satan gave Paul this thorn (remember, it is called a “messenger of satan”) to keep him from being thrilled and elated about the what God was showing him. If Paul was super-excited about these divine revelations, it could only mean bad news for satan. He would certainly want to deflate Paul, to knock the wind out of his sails. But if Paul was full of pride and arrogance, that would have played right into the devil’s hand. Satan would not try to prevent it. Quite the opposite, he would have done whatever he could to promote it.

The devil wants you to be full of pride and arrogance. God wants you to be joyful, exhilarated, super-elated with the things of God.

Don’t Blame God for Calamity

I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and create calamity;
I, the LORD, do all these things.

(Isaiah 45:7)

Though it is not always clear in our English Bibles, there is a difference between what God perpetrates and what He merely permits. Concerning this verse, Walter Kaiser notes that physical calamity in the world is a matter of what God permits.

Thus, according to the Hebrew way of speaking, which ignores secondary causation in a way Western thought would never do, whatever God permits may be directly attributed to him, often without noting that secondary and sinful parties were the immediate causes of the disaster.

The evil spoken of in this text and similar passages (such as Jer 18:11; Lam 3:38 and Amos 3:6) refers to natural evil and moral evil. Natural evil is seen in a volcanic eruption, plague, earthquake and destructive fire. It is God who must allow (and that is the proper term) these calamities to come...

Augustine taught that evil is not a substance. It is, as it were, a byproduct of our freedom, and especially of our sin. The effects of that sin did not fall solely on the world of humans. Its debilitating effects hit the whole natural world as well...

What we can be sure of, however, is the fact that God is never, ever, the originator and author of evil. It would be contrary to his whole nature and being as consistently revealed in Scripture. (Walter C. Kaiser, Hard Sayings of the Bible, p. 306 s.v. Isaiah 45:7, emphasis mine)

God certainly allows many natural calamities to befall people as a consequence of sin in the world but that does not make him the perpetrator or author of those things.

Given the nature of the Hebrew way of speaking, which often blurs the distinction between what is committed by God and what He merely allows, it is a very tricky proposition to build a doctrine on this and similar Scriptures which makes God the executor of calamities in the world. They are not things God does to us, and we can resist them by prayer and faith without violating the sovereignty of God, for God is not the one to blame for them.

God's promise for His people is, “I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). How much more this is true for us under the New Covenant, in which all the wrath of God toward sin was poured out fully on Jesus Christ at the cross.

God’s plan for you is not calamity but for a future and a hope, and it is found in Jesus Christ.

Our Spiritual Warfare in the Heavenlies

[That you may know] what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church. (Ephesians 1:19-22)

God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-6)

To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 3:10)

The Lord Jesus Christ has been seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of the Father, far above all principality, power, might and dominion, and all things have been put under His feet. God has also raised us up together with Him and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Him. Notice the tense — God has already done this. It is a present reality, not a future expectation. Since Jesus is now seated far above all principality, power, might and dominion, and since we are seated in the heavenlies in Him, then it follows that we also are seated far above all principality, power might and dominion. Since all things have been put under the feet of Christ, and since we are the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:28), then all things have been placed under us as well, for the feet of Christ are part of the body of Christ.

Now, we, as the body of Christ, are in a spiritual warfare, as Paul tells us.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

We have been equipped with weapons of warfare that are mighty in God, that we may pull down and demolish strongholds and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. That would include every principality, power, might and dominion that rebels against the knowledge of God. Though it is largely a matter of mindsets, arguments and imaginations that are contrary to the Word of God, it is nonetheless a warfare that takes place in the heavenlies, in the realm of the spirit. These mindsets are all to be brought into captivity and made obedient to Christ. God has equipped us for this work in order to reveal the many facets of His wisdom.

To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 3:8-10)

God's plan is to make His wisdom known by the Church to the principalities and powers in the heavenlies. How is this to be done? By the preaching of the gospel, making known, as Paul did, the deep riches of Christ, that the world may share in the fellowship of this mystery.

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) and through Him we have been made more than conquerors (Romans 8:37). As His disciples, we have been authorized and empowered to do what Jesus Himself did: preach the gospel, heal sicknesses and cast out demons (Mark 3:14-15; Luke 10:9,17). When He sent out the Seventy to perform these works, they returned rejoicing that even the demons were subject to His name. He said to them,

I saw satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:18-19)

Jesus has given us authority to trample underfoot satan and all his demons, principalities and powers. These are all under the feet of Jesus and therefore under the feet of His body, the Church. The works of satan are destroyed, rendered powerless. Just as satan fell when the disciples did the works of Jesus — preaching the Word, healing the sick, freeing the demonized — satanic principalities likewise fall as we do those same works. For the dark principalities are just as powerless and devoid of authority as satan himself.

As the body of Christ, we have been authorized, empowered and equipped to make spiritual warfare in the heavenlies, that the multi-faceted wisdom of God might be made known to every principality, power, might and dominion. As we preach the Word of God, bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ and demonstrating His power to heal the sick and free those who are oppressed by the devil, these principalities will fall.

A Heart Free of Vengeance

You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. (Matthew 5:38-42)

The Law of Moses allowed, in cases of injury or loss, for a penalty to be applied in proportion to the injury or loss (see Exodus 21:23-25). For example, a man who lost an eye because of the unjust action of another had a right to receive amends or compensation for the loss of that eye, but not in excess of that eye. Or, a man who similarly lost a tooth had a right to be compensated for the loss of that tooth, but not as if he had lost a mouthful of teeth. This principle, known as lex talionis (the “law of retaliation”), is the basis for the modern tort system, in which a person may sue to be compensated for wrongful loss or damage.

That is the outward working of the law, but here Jesus is going beyond what is required to address the inward attitude of the heart. His comments must be understood in this context. For example, when He tells us not to resist an evil person, He is not saying that we should never defend ourselves or our families against harm, and He is certainly not suggesting that a community or state should ever accept evil. Nor is He teaching that we should not oppose sin, moral evil or the devil. Rather, the “evil person” is the one who has wrongfully injured us — we are not to take it upon ourselves to exact vengeance.

“Turn to him the other [cheek] also,” does not mean that we should not seek to get ourselves out of abusive situations, or that we must endlessly put up with insult. Rather, we should not be easily provoked, but patient in endurance, slow to anger. In context, it means that we should not be quick to take the offender to court.

“If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.” Don’t be quick to sue someone else. But what if someone wants to sue you? Seek a better solution. Ligation often brings our anger and bitterness in people. It is better to settle with your opponent, even at a loss, rather than lose your joy, peace of mind, and the perspective of love.

Notice that there is a subtle shift here. The Law allows for retaliation; Jesus teaches that we should be more ready to give beyond what is required than to extract all that is allowed. "Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.” As Matthew Henry commented about this passage, “The law of retaliation must be made consistent with the law of love.” Paul catches the spirit of this well:

Do not repay evil for evil. (Romans 12:17)

Do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath [i.e., let God take care of it]; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19)

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)

More will be accomplished by love than by litigation, and by a generous spirit than by a heart full of vengeance.

The kingdom of heaven on earth requires a generous heart that is free of vengeance.

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The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Keys to the Kingdom of God
in the Gospel of Matthew
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Arise God! Enemies Be Scattered!

Let God arise,
Let His enemies be scattered;
Let those also who hate His name flee before Him.

(Psalm 68:1)

When God arises, His enemies are scattered. When we are in covenant with God, His enemies become our enemies, and our enemies become His enemies. That is what happened at the Cross. Jesus went up on our behalf and destroyed our enemies. Three days later, God raised Him from the dead, making His victory complete. Then He went up to heaven, where He ever makes intercession for us before the Father.

• For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)
• Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:14-15)
• Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:15)
• What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall he not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ... Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come nor height nor death, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)
• You are of god, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
• For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:4-5)
• Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

God has arisen on your behalf to scatter and destroy your enemies. And this is how we enter into the victory — through faith in Jesus Christ.

The Measure of satan’s Power

How much power does the devil have over us? All satan has is lies and accusations. He has no real power or authority over us, and we do not have to submit to him. The only power he can have over us is if we swallow his deceit. The New Testament addresses this in a number of ways.

• Paul counsels Christians to forgive, lest we be outsmarted by the devil and his devices (2 Corinthians 2:11). When we are unwilling to forgive others, we leave ourselves open to believe his lies about God's willingness to forgive us.
• Paul also tells us not to give place to the devil, so it must be possible to give place to him in our lives (Ephesians 4:27). And if we leave him an open door, I doubt he will pass by without stepping inside to do some damage.
• Paul also tells us that God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). If we are not walking in the power, love and sound mind of the Holy Spirit, we leave ourselves open to the fearful whispers of the enemy. Kenneth Copeland says that worry is nothing more than meditating on the lies of the devil.
• James tells us to resist the devil and he will flee (James 4:7). So it must also be possible for us to not resist the devil, in which case, he will not flee.
• Peter tells us to be alert and watchful, because our adversary the devil (the Greek word for “devil” means false accuser or slanderer) is walking about looking for people to devour (1 Peter 5:11). So if we are not paying attention to the promises of God, we might fall for the slanders of the enemy.
• Paul declares that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, satan no longer has any power or authority over you — except what you allow him to have.

Don’t Be Fooled: Hold Fast the Word

Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. (1 Corinthians 15:33-34)

The company you habitually keep is either going to build you up in the faith, or tear you down. The issue at hand in 1 Corinthians 15 was the resurrection of the dead:

Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. (v. 12-14)

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the keystone to the Christian faith. Paul goes on to explain the necessity and importance of the resurrection and demonstrate its truth.

But there were some among the believers at Corinth who taught that there is no resurrection, and perhaps suggesting that it was not really the message that Paul and the apostles were bringing. If that was so, Paul asked, then “why do we stand in jeopardy every hour” for the sake of the gospel (v. 30): “If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!’” (v. 31).

This false teaching, if left unchecked, would have sucked the life out of the Corinthian church, leaving them in despair. But like see many other life-sucking situations they were allowing to continue in the church, the believers allowed themselves to be lulled to sleep.

That is what happens when you hang out with a faithless crowd — they nip away at your faith until you are filled with doubt and finally sink into unbelief. Don’t be fooled, Paul says. Then he offers the antidote:

WAKE UP!!!

The Greek word for “awake” means to rouse up, as out of a deep sleep or drunken stupor.

Wake up! Sober up! Pull your head out!

“Awake to righteousness.” Return to what is right. Don’t let your faith be corrupted; eaten away by rot; rusted away by neglect. You have people among you who don’t even know God, and you are letting them influence your faith and pull you away. Don’t let them lead you astray — get out of there!

Picture Paul waving the “smelling salts” under their noses, preaching to them about the gospel, for that is how he began this section, reminding them of the truth they were in deep danger of forgetting:

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:1-3)

Who are the people you allow to have influence in your life. Do they build you up in faith, or do they fill you up with doubt. Don’t let yourself be lulled away, but get a firm hold of the gospel of Jesus Christ (faith come by hearing the Word of God), and let yourself be renewed and strengthened.

Don’t Be Fooled: Inheriting the Kingdom

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

This is not an exhaustive list; the apostle Paul expands on it in some of his other letters:

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. (Ephesians 5:3-5)

Paul summed it all up pretty well in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The Greek word for “sin,” hamartano, and means to “miss the mark.” Think of an archery event in which you win the prize for hitting the bullseye. To sin is to miss the bullseye.

But Paul not only said that we have all missed the bullseye, but we have also fallen short — we’ve missed the target altogether! God created us to share in His glory, to experience and enjoy all the goodness that is in Him, but we have fallen far short of that.

None of the things Paul listed have any place in the kingdom of God, because the kingdom of God is all about the glory of God, all these things fall far short of that glory. God is all about life and light, but the things on Paul’s list bring only death and darkness. God is love, but the things on the list demonstrate nothing more than selfishness. They are lacking in love for God and one’s neighbor.

Bummer.

But there is a solution. No one has to remain this way. For in 1 Corinthians 6:11, Paul is quick to add, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).

• We can be washed (made clean).
• We can be sanctified (set apart to experience God’s glory).
• We can be justified (declared righteous).
  

Now, we cannot wash ourselves — but we can be washed. We cannot sanctify ourselves — but we can sanctified. We cannot justify ourselves — but we can be justified. How does this happen? Through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul addresses this in another letter:

For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:3-7)

Because of what Jesus Christ has done for us, and through faith in Him, God makes us new—gives us a new birth—by the Holy Spirit. Jesus does not come short of the glory of God, and in Him, neither do we, for we are new creations in Him.

When we receive the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes into us to bring forth the same fruit He brought forth in Christ: “For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

This is what you and I were created for, to experience the life of Christ, the fruit of the Spirit, and the glory of God. This is what the kingdom of God is all about.

Don’t Be Fooled: Understanding Sowing and Reaping

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. (Galatians 6:7-8)

“God is not mocked.” Paul is speaking of an immutable principle: Whatever you sow is what you will reap. God established that at the very beginning, when He created plants and animals each to reproduce after their own kind, and told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. God also reaffirmed this same principle to Noah when He promised, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22). It is true in the natural realm; it is just as true in the spiritual realm. Do not treat it lightly!

It’s a bedrock principle: Whatever you, that is what you will reap.” In his second letter to the Corinthian believes, Paul brought out this accompanying principle: “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6). Not only do you reap what you sow, but also according to how you sow. You will also reap more than you sow. Jesus said,

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measure back to you. (Luke 6:38)

“Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” will be either a blessing or a curse for you — it all depends on what you sow. There’s really only two directions you can go with this: You can sow to the flesh, or you can sow to the Spirit. Here’s how Paul lays it out:

• He who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption.
• He who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

Sowing to the flesh is thinking that everything we say and do, and how we spend and invest our money is about us. It has no lasting value and results only in a harvest of corruption, decay and a ruined life.

Sowing to the Spirit, on the other hand, is realizing that everything we say and do, and how we spend and invest our money is all about God. It has eternal value and that harvest of a life that is rich and full.

Sowing to the flesh is like a thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy. Sowing to the Spirit is lining up with Jesus, the good shepherd who comes to give us life more abundantly (John 10:10).

Earlier in his letter to the Galatians, Paul made this comparison between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit:

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told in the time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we life in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:19-25)

Don’t be fooled. Everything you say and do will either bring life and light, or death and darkness into your world. Choose carefully what will you sow.

Don't Be Fooled: Understanding the Source of Good

Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. (James 1:16-18)

“Do not be deceived,” James says. The Greek verb for “deceived” is the same word Jesus used when He told the Sadducees, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29).

Deception is a trick of the devil played upon a willing heart. He does not want you to know the Scriptures or the power of God. He will be happy enough for you to fill your head with religious theories, but he does not want you to have a personal experience of the Word of God at work in your heart or the power of God at work in your life, for that is death to his plans and destruction to his works. So he tries to lead you astray in your thinking.

Like Jesus, James identifies how it is possible to be deceived about the power of God and the Scriptures. “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.”

This is about the manifestation of God’s power. Everything that is good, mature and complete comes from above, from our Father in heaven. God is not the source of evil, but only of good. Many Christians, however, have been deceived into thinking that God sends diseases upon people or causes bad things to happen to them — to punish them, get them to repent, teach them a lesson, humble them, etc.

But that is simply not so. Nothing evil comes from heaven. There are no diseases there waiting to be unleashed upon the earth. There are no car crashes or any other tragic accidents there. God is the Father of lights, not the Father of darkness. But we know who is the father darkness—the same one who is the father of lies — and we have been delivered from his power into the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13). Anything that is lacking, anything that is not mature and complete, anything that is not good—it does not come from our Father in heaven, but ultimately traces back to the evil one, in whom there is nothing but darkness.

Do not be mistaken. Anything the attributes evil to our Father in heaven is a deception.

James goes on is this same passage to comment upon the Word of God: “Of His own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”

God did not send His Word — neither His the Scriptures not the Living Word, Jesus Christ—into the world to condemn you, but to save you and deliver you from the works of the devil: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse here through the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26).

In context, James has been addressing specifically the question of being tempted to do evil. His point is that such temptation does not and cannot come from God, for He is the giver of all good things.

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and entices. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. (James 1:13-15)

James makes a comparison of sources by noting what each “brings forth” (the Greek verb is apokueo). Temptation to evil “brings forth” (apokueo) death. But the Word of God is the word of truth, whose purpose is to “bring us forth” (apokueo), “that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures,” that is, reflecting the glory of His goodness.

Any idea that God is out to condemn you, destroy you or do you harm in any way is mistaken — a lie of the devil. The devil is the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy. But Jesus is the Good Shepherd who has come that you might have life and have it in abundance (John 10:10)

The Word of Your Testimony

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. (Revelation 12:11)

No matter what you might be facing today, this is how you overcome: By the blood of the Lamb. By the word of your testimony. By loving Jesus more than anything else in life.

Who do you overcome? “That serpent of old, called the devil and satan, who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and He did this by His blood shed on the cross. That is why the Bible can freely declare, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

But what is the word of testimony? We know that it must have something to do with faith:

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:4-5)

The word of your testimony is the confession of your faith:

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)

Seeing then that we have a great high Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. (Hebrews 4:14)

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)

Your testimony is what you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth. It is a powerful force that can overcome whatever obstacle you may face. That is what Jesus taught His disciples:

For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (Mark 11:23)

The Greek word behind “confess” is homologeo and literally means “to say the same thing.” It is about coming into agreement with something? What are we to come into agreement with? The Word of God. Whatever the Word says about something, that is what we are to say. When you believe the Word of God in your heart and confess it with your mouth, it becomes the word of your testimony.

Here are some confessions you can make to come into agreement with the Word of God:

• The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want [be in lack]. (Psalm 23:1)
• The LORD is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust. (Psalm 91:2)
• He forgives all my iniquities and heals and my diseases. (Psalm 103:3)
• He delivers my life from destruction and surrounds me with lovingkindness and tender mercies. (Psalm 103:4)
• He satisfies my desires with good things so that my youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:5)
• With long life He will satisfy me, and show me His salvation. (Psalm 91:16)
• Jesus bore all my sicknesses and pains, and by His stripes I am healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)
• I am accepted in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:6)
• My God shall supply all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19)
• In all these things I am more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ, who loves me and has given Himself for me. (Romans 8:37)
• Nothing shall be able to separate me from the love God has for me and has demonstrated for me in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:39)
  

These are just a few of the promises, but there are many other confessions you can make in agreement with the Word of God. In fact, whatever your circumstance, whatever your need, God has already spoken a promise and made a provision that covers it. It’s all in the Word.

What is the word of your testimony? Is it based upon the finished work of Christ on the cross, and in agreement with the promises of God? Then today you are an overcomer.

Crushing Satan

And the God of peace will crush satan under your feet shortly. (Romans 16:20)

Wow! Imagine satan crushed under your feet. That is what God is doing. That is why Jesus came: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). The Greek word for “destroy” means to break up, to loose and put off, to dissolve and disintegrate, even to melt. It is thorough, complete and irrevocable. It was the anointing of the Anointed One is for, to completely remove the burden and utterly destroy the yoke (Isaiah 10:27).

This was God’s plan from the beginning, when Adam and Eve rebelled against God. He gave this promise, which is known as the protoevangelium, the first mention of the gospel (“good news”): God said to the serpent (satan), “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed [Jesus Christ]; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15).

In the movie The Passion of the Christ, this is graphically portrayed in the first scene, where Jesus is shown praying in the garden of Gethsemane: A snake slithers out from the robes of the satan figure — and Jesus abruptly crushes its head under His foot. That is what happened at Calvary; satan got Jesus up on the cross, right where he wanted Him, but it turned out to be the death blow for satan — Jesus crushed his head!

How did that happen? Because it was not for Himself that Jesus died — it was for us:

Surely He has borne our griefs [literally, sicknesses]
And carried our sorrows [literally, pains]
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted [as if on His own account]
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

(Isaiah 53:4-6)

The wounds and bruises with which satan wanted to afflict Jesus were for our benefit. Jesus endured the chastisement that rightfully belonged to us, and in its place, He gave us His peace. The Hebrew word for “peace,” shalom, refers to wholeness — nothing missing, nothing broken.

Notice in Romans 16:20, it is the God of peace who crushes satan under our feet. That might seem to be a disjunction; what does peace have to do with crushing? But that is exactly how God has given us His peace — Jesus crushed the head of the evil one and destroyed all his works. The work of the devil is to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came to give us His peace, the life of God in abundance (John 10:10).

If Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, then why are they still around today? Because God is not only doing a work in and for His people, He is doing a work through His people. Jesus has delivered the death blow to satan and all his works, but He has given His people the authority and power to enforce that victory over the adversary:

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:19)

Jesus has not only given us authority, but power also, just as He promised: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8). This is the same power by which Jesus performed all His miracles and destroyed the works of the devil: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth wit the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38). The broken power of the devil is no match against the power of the Holy Spirit.

The power of death, the last enemy, was broken when God raised Jesus from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit:

Which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to com. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:20-22)

God raised Jesus from the dead. Forty days later, Jesus ascended to His throne in heaven, where rules and reigns forever. All things have been placed under His feet, his authority. The devil and his works have been destroyed — dealt the death blow — though it has not fully manifested on earth as it is in heaven. For we are living between the time of the cross and the end of this present evil age:

Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all things under His feet. (1 Corinthians 15:24-25)

God has put all things under Jesus’ feet; God is putting all things under Jesus’ feet. It is not a contradiction, for what God has already done in the spiritual realm is now being worked out in the natural; what He has already perfected in heaven is now being brought forth on the earth. We are living in the time of that outworking. Indeed, we are a part of that outworking, just as Jesus authorized us to bind and loose on earth what is already bound and loosed in heaven (Matthew 18:18), and to pray, “Kingdom of God, come! Will of God, be done on earth as it is in heaven!” (Matthew 6:10).

God is crushing satan under our feet. He has given us authority to trample on the power and works of the enemy. Just as these things are under the feet of Jesus, they are under our feet as well. For we are His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (see The Fullness of Him Who Fills). Not only that, but the Bible says that, just as Jesus is seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of the Father, we are also seated there in Him. God has “made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:5-6).

God is putting all things under the feet of Jesus, and you and I get to be a part of that victory. As believers in Jesus, we no longer have to listen to the lies and accusations of the devil, and be subject to his power, for that power has been broken and has no authority, and no ability, to rule over us. We are part of the body of Christ. We are now part of that fullness which fills all in all. God is crushing satan under our feet, and that is the outworking of His peace, His shalom, in the world.

Taking the Offensive

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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. 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.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

We are in a spiritual warfare. It is not enough for us to take a passive stance in our helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth and the hob-nailed boots of the gospel of peace on our feet. These are defensive devices. But we must also get active with the offensive weapons of warfare. We must take up the Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) and pray with all kinds of prayer and supplication in the Spirit (that is, Spirit-led prayer).

The outcome of this thing is already determined in our favor. We are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ (Romans 8:37). But that is no reason to go passive. Rather, it is all the more reason to get active and aggressive, and press the battle. The assurance of victory does not do away with having to get out on the field and put it over on the enemy.

Ready yourself for battle. Put on your armor and take up your arms, the weapons God has given you to enforce the victory of Jesus Christ on the evil one and all his works. Exercise the authority of God’s Word and let the Holy Spirit lead you into all kinds of prayer. The battle belongs to the Lord, so pursue it in full confidence.

Stand on the Promises

Someone asked why there are so many atrocities in the world. Are they the will of God, something He desires to happen, or is there some other reason?

The reason we are in this mess in the first place is because Adam and Eve disconnect from God, the source of all blessing, way back there in the Garden of Eden. We were created to walk in the glory of God, but as the apostle Paul said, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Jesus took our wages upon Himself and so that all who receive Him would have eternal life.

Not only that, but God has given all those who receive the Lord Jesus Christ the means to deal with sin and its results in the world. We have the authority of the blood of Jesus and the name of Jesus. We have the authority of prayer (especially the Lord’s Prayer), the authority of faith, the power of the Holy Spirit and the Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God). The problem, however, is that a lot of God's people are just sitting on the premises instead of standing on the promises.

At one point in his ministry, the apostle Paul had a thorn in the flesh, which he called a “messenger of satan.” Three times he asked God, “Lord, get this thing off me.” And the Lord answered him, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9). But that did not mean, “Paul, just suck it up and learn to live with it.” It meant that God had already given Paul everything he needed to deal with that thing and overcome it. The problem was simply that Paul had been looking to God to do for him what God had already equipped him to do.

If you have received the Lord Jesus Christ, you have been given the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority of Jesus’ name. You have been given the authority of prayer and the Word of God to wield as a sword to come against the enemy of rightness (righteousness). Now it is time to learn how to walk in that power and authority and stand on the promises of God.

Subduing the World

Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. (1 John 5:4-5)

In the beginning, when God created man and woman, He blessed them and gave them this mandate: “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28).

How do we subdue the earth? The apostle John gives us the answer: “This is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.” The same Greek word, niké, is behind both “victory” and “overcome.” You might recognize the word niké as the name of a popular brand of sports shoes. Literally, it means to subdue. It is about forcefully bringing something into subjection.

When God created man, there was still much on earth that needed to be brought into line with His plan. So He gave man, who was created in His image, the authority to do just that. By the time Adam was done, the whole world was to look just like the Garden of Eden. Of course, we know that Adam and Eve disconnected from God and hooked up with satan, and God’s plan for the earth was dealt a severe blow. But we also know that God sent His Son into the world to destroy the works of the devil and reconcile us back to the Father. The works of the devil were destroyed at the Cross, and we have been made more than conquerors (hypernikeo) through the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:37). It is by faith that we receive this victory.

God raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at the right hand of the Father, far above all principality, power, might and dominion. That is, He put all things under the feet of Jesus, subjecting them to Him! (Ephesians 1:19-22). Not only that, but God has also raised us up together and made us sit together in Christ at the right hand of the Father. All things have been subdued and placed under the dominion of Christ — and of us, too, since we are seated in Christ on the throne of heaven. All of this we receive through faith in Jesus Christ. No wonder John calls our faith the victory that overcomes the world!

Now, notice that John speaks about this victory, this overcoming, in two tenses. There is the past tense, the act by which the world has been overcome. This is what happened at the Cross on our behalf — the mighty act of redemption that not only set us free and reconciled us to God, but also destroyed the works of the devil. We stand in this great victory by faith. It is this act and this faith that John refers to when he says, “This is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.”

But there is also a second tense that John uses to talk about this victory. It is a present and continuing sense: “Whatever is born of God overcomes the world … Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” The victory has been won, the enemy has been subdued and put under the feet of Jesus, and the works of the devil have been destroyed. Our work now is simply a “cleanup” operation, enforcing the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ over all His enemies.

As we continue in our faith in Jesus Christ, we will keep overcoming the world again and again, subduing it and bringing it under the lordship of Christ and the dominion of God’s kingdom. Kingdom of God, come! Will of God, be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Warring with the Bread and the Cup

Do this in remembrance of Me. (Luke 22:19)

Yesterday I took the Table of the Lord, and I took it in the mode of warfare. Jesus said of this Table, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” To remember is to recall something to mind, to relive the experience of something. The remembrance of which Jesus speaks is not a passive remembering, but a very intentional one.

So I took of the Table to put myself in mind of the Lord Jesus Christ, His body given for me, He blood shed for me. I took it to recall to my heart the covenant promises He has secured for me. For He said, “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20).

I also took the Table to put God in mind of His covenant promises to me, for I was drawing on them to see them come forth in my life. Just as one places a demand on a check by presenting it to the bank and cashing it in, I was placing a demand on the provisions of the covenant God made with me in the blood of Jesus Christ. I’m done with making my own provision for anything anymore; I’m depending upon the provision God has made for me. If I can’t have it through the covenant of God — believe me — I don’t need it and I don’t want it! For His provision is all the blessing and abundance of heaven itself.

Finally — and here is where it became spiritual warfare — I took the Table of the Lord to put satan in mind of the body of the Lord Jesus given for me and the blood of the Lord Jesus shed for me. I wanted the devil to know that I know who I am in Christ, what I have in Christ, and what I can do in Christ. I wanted to put him in mind of the fact that I belong to Jesus Christ and He belongs to me, and that I am in covenant with Almighty God. This means that to mess with me is to mess with God. I wanted the devil to know that I would not be accepting his lies and accusations, his fears, his poverty, his sicknesses, his bondages, or anything else he wants to deliver to my doorstep — I’m refusing delivery! I wanted him to recall how and where and why his head was crushed. I wanted to serve notice that I am in receipt of God’s promises and that I am enforcing the provisions of the covenant I have in the blood of Jesus, and that satan and his devils will have to clear off all that is mine.

There is, of course, much more to the Table of the Lord than spiritual warfare. There is intimate and profound fellowship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. There is spiritual nourishment, refreshment and strengthening. There is the intense joy of His manifest presence. But there is also a time for warring with the bread and the cup.

Battle With Your Baptism

Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the Living God? (1 Samuel 17:26)

When David asked this concerning Goliath, he was not engaging in idle name-calling or WWF-style trash-talk. No, he was getting to the very heart of the matter — his covenant with God.

Circumcision, the cutting away of the male foreskin, was the covenant sign God established with the children of Israel. All men of God, young and old, bore this sign in their body and were constantly reminded by it that they were in covenant with the Living God. The essence of covenant is in exchange: All that we have belongs to Him; all that He has belongs to us. Our enemies are His enemies; His enemies are our enemies.

Goliath was uncircumcised; he had no such covenant with God. Goliath was a Philistine, an enemy of covenant Israel, and therefore an enemy of God Himself. So David understood that when Goliath defied the armies of Israel, he was actually defying the armies of the Living God — and this would not stand.

But why did Saul and his armies allow Goliath to carry on in this manner? Surely Almighty God knows how to vanquish His enemies. But the problem was that Saul and his men had forgotten how to trust in God and walk in the authority of His covenant provisions.

David, however, understood his covenant position with God very well and was thus undeterred by the size of the Philistine armies or even the size of Goliath himself. He was ready to take them all on, fully relying on the Living God with whom he and all Israel were in covenant. He knew it would be more than enough to prevail in any battle. So David defeated Goliath, cut off his head and sent the Philistines fleeing.

But what does this have to do with baptism? Just this: As circumcision was the sign of covenant with God under the Old Testament, so baptism is the sign of covenant with God under the New. It belongs to all those who receive the Lord Jesus Christ, and identifies us with the people of God.

Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we all shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believer that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. (Romans 6:3-9)

John said, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). The Son of God took on flesh, becoming fully human as well as fully divine, and identifying Himself so thoroughly with us, took on all our enemies and defeated them at the Cross. For all those who receive the Lord Jesus Christ, the devil and his works no longer have any authority over us.

Baptism is an ordinance, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ has ordained it for us. But it is also a sacrament, that is, an outward and physical sign of an inward and spiritual reality. All who have received Christian baptism have received a precious sign from God that we belong to His people and have covenant relationship with Him.

David said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the Living God?” Today, we can face any enemy or adversity and say, “What is this unbaptized circumstance that it should defy the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.” This is battling with our baptism.

Martin Luther understood this very well. He hung a plaque on the wall of his study which read, “I have been baptized.” This was his battle cry whenever the devil came after him with lies and accusations. He said, “The only way to drive away the devil is through faith in Christ, by saying: ‘I have been baptized, I am a Christian.’”
Whenever the devil comes railing after you like Goliath, with deception, condemnation, sickness, depression, poverty, fear — whatever — remember that he is an “uncircumcised Philistine.” He has no covenant with God. But you do — and your baptism is the outward, physical sign that you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, who has destroyed all the works of the devil. God has given you this sign so that you may remember who you are — and whose you are — and walk in the covenant promise of God and the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … Yet in all these things were are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Romans 8:31-37)

Through faith in Jesus Christ, we enter into covenant relationship with God. Baptism is not the cause of that relationship, but it is the outward sign God has given to show that we have covenant with Him. Remember your baptism — the sign of who you are in Christ — and go do battle against the things that do not line up with the authority of heaven.