If you read this blog yesterday, you know that the Christian battle is not with the people by whom we have been offended or attacked, rather it is with Satan and his minions. While that thought gives us battle direction, it may also give us cause for concern: How am I supposed to take on Satan in all his power?
Answer: You're not. Come again - how is my battle with him but I'm not taking on his power? Because, while Satan is still active in this world, he does not have the power he once wielded. Remember Paul's statement in Ephesians 6:12 that "our battle is with the spiritual forces"? Jesus "disarmed the powers and authorities...triumphing over them by the cross" (Col 2:15).
Satan's power is diminished or bound at this time. Our job is not to defeat or disarm, rather we are to "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). We resist him as we submit to God's will in our lives, as we go to the Father in prayer, as we forgive others, as we minister to the hurting and lost - our battle against Satan is a war against our own selfishness and self-reliance, which he tempts us to give in to time after time.
Jesus won the victory over Satan at the cross. Satan's iron-grip on the world has been broken but he has not given up his efforts to turn as many as time will allow away from the Father and into his camp of self-interest and self-will. Though he is a captive, he is able to take others captive with him through deceit and temptation. He is still "a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Pet 5:8) as his power of deception is great.
However, the truth is more powerful and if you arm yourself with God's word, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32).
Jus' Sayn.
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