7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Some Christians these days want to "take the battle to the Enemy," to run up to the devil, kick him in the shins, and declare, "Get lost! You're defeated and we know it!" They exhort fellow Christians to a defiant, confident, in-your-face attitude toward the demonic, gathering believers for "prayer walks" during which they claim neighborhoods for Jesus, retrieving the suburbs from the grip of the devil. They see themselves as warriors of light swinging their swords of truth at the darkness, marching into demonic territory unafraid, full of power and authority.
Yikes.
Now, we don't have to be craven, shrinking back in stark terror from the demonic (1 John 4:4), but we have no biblical injunction to roam cities, claiming them for Jesus, or to yell at the devil to go away, laughing at his impotence, either.
Jude 1:8-11
8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.
9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”
10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.
11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion.
The foolish and blasphemous presume to rebuke the devil. Such a role is God's alone, never ours.
What does the Bible actually tell Christians to do in regards to the demonic? How do disciples of Jesus "resist the devil"? By what means can they do so?
For starters, James commands the born-again believer to submit to God. If there is a purposeful order to James's statements in James 4:7 - and I believe there is - resisting the devil is predicated on, it relies on, the Christian acting from a place of submission to God. Getting the order of things backward here is a very bad idea. Don't think to resist the devil if you aren't first submitted to Christ, to the Holy Spirit's will and way in your life. Why? James explains:
James 4:6
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
The man (or woman) who tries to go nose-to-nose with the demonic from a life not submitted to God finds himself opposed on two fronts by far superior powers. Both the devil and God are against him! The believer is only able to resist the devil by the power of God, from which power he is cut-off so long as he is not submitted to God. But he is not just cut-off from divine power, but God actively opposes him so long as he refuses to put himself under God's control. Woe betide the man or woman who thinks to resist the devil from such a circumstance!
What does James mean by "submit to God"? Thankfully, he offers a very clear description:
James 4:8-10
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Here, James describes how we put ourselves under God's authority and control:
1.) Draw near to God.
2.) Be cleansed from sin and double-mindedness.
3.) Sorrow over sin.
4.) Be humble before the Lord.
1.) Draw near to God.
Look (Hebrews 12:2-3; 2 Corinthians 3:18), listen (Matthew 17:5; John 10:16; 1 John 4:5-6), wait (Psalms 37:7; Psalm 37:34; Isaiah 40:31, Micah 7:7, etc.)
2.) Cleanse yourself from sin and double-mindedness.
Repent of (Acts 3:19; Revelations 2:5), and confess (1 John 1:9), your sin. Cease to doubt God (James 1:5-8; Hebrews 11:6; 2 Corinthians 5:7).
3.) Sorrow over sin.
Not tears of shame and guilt but of contrition; sorrow (and, perhaps, tears) born of the knowledge that our sin dishonors Christ, despises the mercy, grace and love of God, and bars us from enjoying Him. (2 Corinthians 7:9-11; Hebrews 10:29; Isaiah 59:2; 1 Peter 3:10-12).
4.) Humble yourself.
Yield (present for use: Romans 6:13-22; Romans 12:1), be led by (Roman 8:14), take the lower place before (1 Peter 5:6; John 3:30), God.
It is only from this place of submission to God, clear of interfering sin and doubt, under God's control moment-by-moment, that the believer can effectively resist the devil in his own life and on behalf of others in their lives. Remember, it is the prayer of a righteous man, who must necessarily be a man constantly submitted to God, that is effective with God. (James 5:16)
Anyway, what does this resistance of the devil look like, exactly? Are we told in Scripture to take the fight to the devil, to charge him, our spiritual sword slashing and stabbing at him? Absolutely not. We are told to stand, not charge.
Ephesians 6:10-18
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
12 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.
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.
14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;
16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
We resist the devil, first of all, in the power of God. It's His might that enables us to stand firm against the wiles (schemes) of the devil. His power is extended to us in the Person of the Holy Spirit, who only exerts his power on our behalf as we are submitted to his will and way. So, Paul is actually saying, when he says be strong in God's power, that we must be submitted to God, as James has commanded. When we are submitted, the Holy Spirit, fills us with himself, and is strong for us against the devil. In this way, we are strong in the Lord, not in borrowing some of God's strength that we exert as we think best.
The strength with which we resist the devil is not for making an attack upon him. We are simply to stand unmoved, in faith (vs. 16), upon the truth, commands and purposes of God. We aren't called to fight for ground but to remain firm on the ground upon which we already stand in Christ, never shifting from a place of intimate communion with God, resting in unwavering faith upon Him and His promises to us.
The apostle Peter echoes Paul,
1 Peter 5:8-9
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
9 But resist him, firm in your faith...
The believer's first and primary mode of resistance of the devil is in regards to what they believe. We are to stand firm in the faith, not being moved away from the truth and hope of the Gospel and our identity and spiritual inheritance in Christ, which are always the very first things the devil seeks to attack. If he can get us to doubt, to become double-minded about who we are in Christ and God's love for us, to wonder if the Gospel is actually true, he has made us yield ground to him upon which he will build a stronghold of lies and sin.
God may place His children in a position where they must confront the demonic head-on, serving as His agent of truth and light as He works through them to move the lost from their bondage to the devil into the kingdom of Christ. But no disciple of Christ should go looking for a fight with the demonic; they need only walk in fellowship with God, rock-solid in their faith, submitted constantly to the Holy Spirit, and as they are, sooner or later, they will find themselves encountering the hidden things of darkness, exposing them and freeing lost sinners in the process.
Ephesians 5:8-13
8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light
9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;
12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.
13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.
So, don't get caught up in the wild, "Let's give it to the devil!" stuff. Walk humbly with God, stand firm in the faith, and let Him decide when, or if, you will stand against the demonic in an overt, direct confrontation. The battle is the Lord's, after all, not yours.
