“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” — James 4:7
I’ve heard some modern day radio and television theologians that tell people “If you want to defeat the devil and his demons, you’ve got to stand up in his face, point your finger at him, and scream at him ‘Get out of here, Satan. Get out of here, demon. I don’t want you here anymore.'”
Many of these men will even use James 4, especially, verse 7, to back up this idea. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you”. Yet they always seem to ignore the first phrase of this verse “Submit therefore to God.”
We all have a sinful desire and a sinful passion. For every one of us, there is something that the demons know they can use to trip us up in our Christian walk. It’s different for everyone, but we all have something. We need to remember who we are fighting.
“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
Our battle is not with ourselves, we’re fighting demons. This does not diminish our own responsibility to do what’s right. Rather it should push us forward to righteousness.
Now, you might ask “What’s the best way to fight these little battles? Is there a particular weapon I can use that guarantees a win, or will I sometimes lose?” The very next verse in Ephesians 6 answers that question.
“Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” — Ephesians 6:13
Notice that this is God’s armor, not our own. It’s not made by human hands, nor is it concocted or designed by human ideas. It’s all God’s. The next few verses get deeper into what these pieces of armor are, and we’ll get into those another time. I just want us to pay attention that only God can win these internal albattles for us. To give a human illustration, I’ll give an example from my own life.
Back in January (2023), my church hosted a Men’s Purity Conference, where the speaker explained the biblical view on pornography as well as a few other things that very easily trip up a man in his Christian life. About 10 minutes into the first session of the day, my twisted imagination pulled up a few dirty thoughts, things that a good Christian man should never consider in any relation, except for his wife. Almost immediately, I internally pointed my finger at the demon and told the demon he wasn’t welcome here and that he needed to leave. I tried to fight the battle in my own strength. It didn’t work. My imagination kept going, and the dirty thoughts remained for another minute.
Once I understood that my standing up to the demon didn’t work, I mentally sat back down. I closed my eyes, sitting in my pew, and silently prayed. “Lord, get him out of here. That’s the last thing I need to be thinking about. You’re trying to teach me something today, I need to pay attention and learn what You want me to learn. Which means this guy, this demon, needs to go. He’s yours now. Make him gone.” Within a few seconds, the dirty thoughts were gone, my imagination shut off, and I could focus distraction free on what the speaker was saying, what God was trying to teach me.
Once I gave the battle to God, the battle was over. God won the battle for me. The more I understand that I can’t win these battles on my own, the more quickly I give these battles to God. And God always wins, but only when I give Him the battle. Every time I try to fight on my own, I lose. Same with you, and it’s the same with every other Christian you’ll ever meet.
So, in your resistance against the devil, never forget the first phrase of verse 7 in James 4. “Submit to God.” God, in His strength, will win. We, in our own strength, will not.
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