Resist, Don't Minimize, the Devil

It's interesting to note that the strategy that God gives us to walk victoriously over the devil is to resist him. If minimizing the devil would work, God would surely advise it. I warn you that minimizing the devil is the devil's work. Minimizing the devil is cooperating with him. It is teaming up with him against God. God's guidance regarding our position when facing the enemy should be an entirely Biblical one and this is what the Bible requires of us...

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 NASU

If we are to walk as God encourages us to walk, shouldn't we place the same emphasis on the reality of the devil that the Bible places on him? To attempt to minimize the devil has resulted, I believe, in putting blame upon God for the things that the devil is responsible for. It's a real shame that somewhere in the history of the Church, someone in the Church deviated from the Bible and began blaming God for sickness and disease, and many, today, have followed suit. Now, it appears, in the eyes of many believers, God and Satan have switched roles. When sickness and disease were confronted in the early Church, believers believed it to be the work of the devil, but now, due to the so-called advances of modern medicine, the handiwork of the devil has been put on God. Isn't it time that we as believers in Scripture took a stand against this kind of heretical doctrine.

Yes, there are many believers that are fixated on the devil rather than fixing their eyes on Jesus, but the appropriate response is not to react to this out-of-balance perspective with another unbiblical worldview. The correct response is to look to the Scriptures to discover the proper emphasis in our daily living that we should devote to resisting the devil. To minimize the devil and his handiwork is to be asleep at the post, when God has commanded us to "be of sober spirit, be on the alert" regarding the devil.

Thankfully, we do not have to fear the devil, for those of us that are born again have been born into a kingdom that has bestowed upon its citizens an authority over the prince of darkness. We have authority over the devil! And, for those of us baptized in the Holy Spirit, we have power...power to fight the devil!

So, go...submit to the Lord, and RESIST the devil...he WILL flee!!!