You have authority over the devil.
Authority – the legal right to exercise power of rule, has been given to us over the devil and his cohorts in Jesus’ name. That’s why Jesus said, “In My Name, they (talking of you and me) shall cast out demons…” Mark 16:17. You only exercise that victory through the Name of Jesus (more on this later, but suffice it to say that is the only way to exercise the authority we have over Satan and his demons). Remember, Jesus said in Luke 10:19, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” So you are immune to all the attacks of the evil one as long as you exercise that authority. And many Christians know these, yet they fail in getting the devil to flee. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you”, says James 4:7. But many Christians claim to resist the devil with that authority and yet he doesn’t even move. Why?
Every authority has a legal framework. It would not work unless it’s applied according to the rules that guide the use of that authority. A police man has authority to stop a moving vehicle according to the laws operating in this country, yet he dare not attempt to do that while he is not in uniform, because then his authority is void, he’s just like any other person. He might even be taken for a mad man if he gets in front of a moving vehicle and says, “Stop!” while not in his uniform. In the same way, many Christians appear to be insane to the devil in their attempts to deal with him, and he ends up dealing with them for their ignorance. Don’t be like the sons of Sceva in Acts 19:13-16 – they learnt the hard way. You don’t need to, so what do you do? How do we properly resist the devil?
This post is a continuation of How to stand against the devil (Part 1)
Take him for who he is – a defeated foe. Col. 2:15, Heb. 2:14-15. Matt 28:18 1 Jn. 3:8b
From these scriptures we see that the devil has been defeated by Jesus. Jesus has stripped him (and all his cohorts) of power. He doesn’t have the legal right to oppress you as a child of God. You have been delivered from him, Col. 1:12. You have been made more than a conqueror, Rom 8:37. Sin and Satan should not dominate you because you are under grace – because you are a child of God.
This post is a continuation of How to stand against the devil (Part 1)
(to be continued) Thanks for reading. Do Subscribe to our feeds, share this and bless someone else, your comments and contributions are very welcome!
