Resisting the devil by rebuke or through the quoting of scripture has resulted in complete and total failure when practiced in my life. There were times that I was rebuking and quoting at the devil incessantly and yet my enemy was able to maintain his grip on my life. I studied and went to every meeting I could to better hone my devil chasing skills. I found my lack of success both discouraging and confusing. I had dedicated my life to God. I was a Christian who was practicing his faith to the best of his ability. I had asked Jesus into my heart as a young child. I had been baptized in water as well as in the Holy Ghost. I read my bible and had a devotional time nearly every day. I was being a Christian the best I knew how and still even through the rebuking and scripture quoting I was unable to find release from the enemies firm hold on my life.
The scriptures said, "Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you". I had prayed the prayer of salvation. I was resisting the devil through firm passion filled rebukes. I was quoting scripture in the face of my enemy according to the example Jesus gave when he was tempted in the wilderness. The enemy retained his hold on my life. Through great mental exercise, strain, and discipline I would hold the enemy at bay for short periods of time until the pressure would become too great and like a dam bursting forth the enemy would come rushing in.
I did eventually find victory. The secret is very simple and yet it is so frequently taken for granted and missed entirely by most. This key ingredient that I was missing can be so subtle that it is assumed that all in the church have already taken this step. Ministers brush over this step when preaching because it is believed that most of the hearers have already put themselves in this position with God. This key ingredient to the mix is a foundational element in the gospel, the gospel that is supposed to set men free. We have preached another gospel and then, when men are not set free, we have tried to use scripture and lame theology to explain why our 'new' gospel has failed.
We must submit to God. That is it; "Submit to God". Submitting to God is where we find freedom. Submitting to God is where we find victory over the enemy. Submitting to God is where we find peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Any attempt at rebuking the devil and scripture quoting at the devil will only result in self deception, discouragement, and confusion, until we submit to God.
We can pray, read the bible, ask Jesus into our heart, attend church, pay tithe, witness to others, speak in tongues, heal the sick, say that Jesus is Lord, and any number of other spiritual exercises, and still not submit to God. We must submit to God. It is not enough to make a decision to follow Jesus. We must actually follow Him. All of the things mentioned above can be accomplished outside of a life submitted to God. If we think that religious activity is proof of a life submitted to God then how do we explain the fact that the church itself, the bride of Christ no less, is so riddled with addiction and sin. Most men who claim that Jesus is Lord and that they themselves are Christian do not know what it is to submit to God.
I want to make it clear that I do not say these things from a spirit of haughtiness or judgmentalism. I say this with a broken heart for a church that is bound by the very same vices that are in the world. The church and the world are barely distinguishable from one another.
A couple of years ago I heard a pastor say at the end of his sermon that we needed to ask God to show us what our weaknesses were and then ask God to help us strengthen those weak areas. He continued by telling us that we needed to start praying and studying the bible more so we could overcome addictive behavior that is in our life. This statement grieved me deeply. This way of life that is based upon the flesh will only result in strengthening the addiction. I have tried this route. For many years I tried the pray more, read more, try harder to be strong method, and it does not work.
The concept of submitting to God is quite simple but it is not what many have thought that it was. As long as a person has taken on a commitment to Christ as a means to get to heaven or avoid hell I would say that they have yet to submit to God. Submission to God is essential to our salvation. When asked by the rich young ruler what must be done to inherit eternal life, Jesus told him that he had to give everything away and come follow him. This is submission to God.
The Word "believe" in the New Testament is defined as "entrust". In order for us to entrust ourselves to Jesus we will have to submit ourselves to Him. A small child who is being coaxed into jumping from the counter top and into the arms of her loving dad will have to submit to her dad’s wishes and she will have to trust that he will catch her. That child could say that she trusts her Dad. The child could want to make the jump in all sincerity. She could have a desire to be in her Dads arms. It is not until she actually makes the jump that she has submitted to her Dads wishes and exercised her trust in his strength. This is what is required of us by our loving heavenly Father.
Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me. This is what Jesus is asking us to do. This is how we submit to God. This is what Jesus himself did as our example. If we follow Jesus He will lead us to the cross. At the cross we will become dead to this world. We will take on the nature and the very Spirit of Jesus. His Word will be alive in us and with that Word we will have the authority that comes with it. To such a person who has truly submitted himself to God the idea of resisting the devil will become a reality by second nature and not just a theory based upon knowledge of the scriptures.
I know that this whole idea might seem redundant but it is not. We do a disservice to people when we lightly brush over this very important point and go straight to the rebuking and quoting part.
It is my opinion that much damage has been done to the modern church by this oversight.
We should not expect that men with hardened hearts will immediately soften and submit their lives to God within the time that is normally allotted at the end of a service. For the most part the time spent listening to the preacher has been just enough time to convince a person that they are in need of a savior. To think that a quick prayer and a few words is enough for one to submit to God is not very realistic. It will take time for a man to let go of his life which he has grasped tightly in his fist for years.
A man may want to be free of sin well enough but it is another thing entirely to submit to God. A man might recognize that his sin is destroying his life and therefore be willing to try all sorts of things to be free of it. A man might hear that he needs to rebuke the devil and use scripture in the process of that rebuke and therefore undertake this practice in an attempt to free himself from his oppressor. A man may want to turn from sin but if he does not turn to God he will replace the sin that he turned away from with another sin. It was often the case for me that I would try to be free from lust through the religious exercise of rebuking and quoting. I would experience momentary relief but the sin of lust was only replaced with the sin of religious pride. It was through my great effort of religious duty that I was holding lust at bay and therefore I was proud of my success. Lust and the practice of religious duty are both works of the flesh, neither is pleasing to God and neither involves Him.
It is necessary in order for us to be free from sin to turn to God and not just away from sin. Turning away from a particular sin does not mean that we have turned to God. Turning to God does mean that we have turned away from sin.
Lust, hatred, and pride, held in check, are still lust, hatred, and pride. In order for a man to be free from these works of the flesh he must die. When the man dies his bond with these works of the flesh is broken. He must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Jesus. In order for a man to be able to resist the devil he must first submit himself to God. He must know what it is to be in Christ, in reality and not just in theory. A man who has submitted to God will know what it is to walk after the Spirit.
This submission to God is not a onetime event that we can recall happening way back when but it is a way of life, moment by moment. If we walk according to the Spirit we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If we walk according to the flesh we will not be able to please God regardless of how much devil rebuking or bible quoting that we do.
If Jesus is nothing more than an addition to our life that we hope to get fringe benefits from then we have not submitted to Him. This ‘friends with benefits’ attitude is proof that we are still in charge and that we are hoping that He will submit to our will. In the midst of this kind of self-deception men, such as myself, have attempted to practice the "rebuking/quoting" method with no success.
In this day, when the drugs are stronger and sex is free, the weak selfish gospel that we have peddled is useless. The man made theories and book learned knowledge of God which we have laid as a foundation is crumbling beneath our feet. We need a church that is ready to submit to God in reality and not just in theory. We need men, women, and children who understand the power of God in their own life because they have submitted to Him. These submitted people will be the church that will be able to stand in authority and run the devil out of God's house.
