Submit, Resist, Stand

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

I’m often asked how to remain strong in the Lord when it seems there is nothing to quell the advance of the enemy. There is no simple answer to that, but it is part of our spiritual warfare, and there is no shortage of teaching on that subject today. Go to any Christian bookstore and the shelves are lined with books on the subject. 

I’ve picked up several in the last few years, and here is some of the advice written in them:

Rebuke and bind Satan

Expel demons though deliverance ministries

Assault the stronghold of territorial demons

And on it goes.

I have given a lot of thought to the subject of spiritual warfare over the years. One of the overarching principles of Scripture seems to be that our warfare isn’t so much an assault on Satan’s domain as it is the ability to stand our ground to resist his advances. 

Consider these three Scriptures (and there are more like them)…

James 4:7 — Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

1 Peter 5:9a — Resist him [Satan - the roaring lion of verse 8], standing firm in the faith…

Ephesians 6:13 — 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. 

From these passages (and others) we learn that victory involves submitting to God, resisting evil aggression, and standing firm in the evil day. The evil day is not a specific day like November 3, 2016, but rather a general reference to the evil that presently exists. 

Since Satan is the “god of this age” [2 Corinthians 4:4], he will produce continuous evil until he and his cohorts are bound and cast eternally to their doom [Revelation 20:10-15]. Then, the evil day will surrender to eternal righteousness.

In the meantime, make these three things part of your daily routine:

Submit to God

Resist the devil

Stand firm in your faith

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