Satan and Evil Spirits:
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You Can Beat Them
The Secret to Casting Out Demons, Defeating the Devil, and Overcoming Temptation
The Forgotten Weapon in Spiritual Warfare
And Key to Successful Deliverance Ministry
The Truth Summarized
Even though the Bible claims we have great power over evil, the way most of us actually live is humiliatingly different.
Christians are invincible in the face of evil only when they are in total submission to God and would rather suffer torture or loss or death than let evil win.
For those who are in union with Christ, evil spiritual powers are nothing but caged beasts, unable to touch us. Satan’s entire forces can only resort to idle threats or bribes to entice us into entering their cage where they can rip us apart. Nevertheless, Satan is such a supernaturally powerful evil genius that he can end up luring into his cage every living Christian. The only sure thing to protect us is what the Bible calls death. No one, no matter how terrifyingly cunning, can threaten or entice a dead person.
The key is not physical death but something that can at first seem as scary and as extreme. The Bible calls it death to self, or being crucified with Christ. Like Jesus’ death and resurrection, however, what seems like a ghastly end is actually the beginning of a brand new life. As Jesus revealed, losing one’s life for Jesus’ sake is the key to finding real life (Matthew 16:25; John 10:10). Becoming a true Christian is like recklessly throwing all your money away on “worthless” desert land. People mistakenly think you are a fool, because only you know there is an oil field underground.
As soon as you die with Christ, you rise with him and begin reigning with him, with your every spiritual enemy under your feet.
The Truth Expounded
Although vigorously denied by the average person, everyone not a genuine Christian is a slave of evil. John 8:33-34 They answered him, “We . . . have never been slaves of anyone. . . .” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. . . .”
A person might have no idea he has lost his freedom until he tries to act as if he were free. If you enter a room and the door locks behind you, you might not realize you are imprisoned until you try to leave. Likewise, many people are blissfully unaware that they are enslaved by an addiction until they try to quit. Then they usually do their utmost to live in denial. “I could quit any time I want,” they tell themselves.
Being enslaved by evil applies to much more than what is commonly regarded as addictions.
Proverbs 5:22 The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast.
Acts 8:23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin
Romans 7:14 . . . unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
Titus 3:3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.
Despite slavery to sin being broad, however, commonly accepted addictions provide a window on how slavery to sin operates.
As it begins to dawn that we are enslaved, our minds are likely to do surprising things to avoid the truth. For example, slaves to sin typically do their best to fool themselves into thinking they are enjoying their bondage.
Years ago, when the dangers of smoking were less publicized, psychologists brought together a group of smokers. They asked the smokers to describe how much they liked smoking, then subjected them to a strong presentation on the dangers of smoking. A follow-up study revealed that those who kept on smoking despite increased awareness of the danger, claimed to enjoy smoking more than ever. What tricks our minds can play, rather than face the disturbing truth of bondage!
Peter highlighted the extent of people’s delusion:
2 Peter 2:19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity – for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
The only way to remain free from slavery to sin – to not be mastered by evil – is to keep making God our master. Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters. . . You cannot serve both God and Money.
Romans 6:16-22 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey – whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? . . . But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. . . . Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
The only alternative to being a slave of evil is to become God’s slave. That sounds like bad news until we begin to realize the implications of having a master who is so mind-bogglingly good that he has no equal:
Mark 10:18 . . . No one is good – except God alone.
Being God’s slave is not remotely like being tricked and ensnared like sin’s slaves. Instead of forcibly submitting to a master who will destroy us, being God’s slave is voluntarily submitting to a master who, as Jesus proved, would rather be tortured to death than see us harmed. God’s slaves are love slaves. At any instant we could rebel, but we choose instead to revel in God’s loving wisdom, and obey like a starving man saying yes to food.
To be a love slave of God is not to lose one’s identity but to become more gloriously alive than we could ever otherwise hope to be. Obeying God is like a seal plunging into the ocean. Suddenly a clumsy, lumbering landlubber is transformed into a graceful, acrobatic sea creature, able to dart and somersault in astounding fashion. Nothing could be more liberating.
Whether God or evil is our master, is determined not by a one-off decision – deciding to become a Christian – but by whether we live in continual obedience to God. This is why Scripture has to warn Christians not to let sin become their master:
Romans 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Remaining free from slavery to sin is a daily decision:
Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. . . .” (emphasis mine)
So unless we keep making God our master, sin and Satan and his hordes are able to enslave us. This is why “Submit yourselves, then, to God” comes immediately before, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Only when we are in complete submission to God can we expect to successfully resist the devil and his deceptive schemes.
We sometimes act as if “Lord” were a mere courtesy title. It means master, and this is why the word appears so often in the Bible. Fully obeying God, however, is nothing like the scary thing that it seems. It is warmer, safer and more satisfying that even obeying one’s own whims. What makes obeying God so satisfying is that no matter how much you want to look after your best interests, God wants it even more. The God of infinite love is more devoted to you and loves you more than you care for yourself. No matter how smart you are, the all-knowing Creator of the universe is wiser still. His guidance is the expression of his yearning to pour infinite intelligence and divine foreknowledge into your every decision. To obey God is to say goodbye to foolish decisions and hello to mastery over self. Yielding even to God’s scariest commands is not only the smartest decision you could ever make, it is like yielding to a lover’s caress.
Most of us are tempted to think, “I’ll obey God almost all the time. I’d only disobey if asked to do something that is quite inconvenient.” That’s not letting God be our God. Making our own decisions as to which of God’s directions we will obey is making ourselves god – the one who decides what we do. To push God out of part of our lives is to reject wisdom and security and love. It not only breaks God’s heart, we deeply wound ourselves. Making oneself god is what Eve thought she was doing when she disobeyed God. Tragically, the devil fooled Eve into thinking that obeying God was not in her best interest. She thought that exercising the option of disobedience would make her as smart as God. Instead, she foolishly trashed her relationship with the true God, the Source of life. By refusing to let the loving Lord be her master, she became subject to the only alternative: death, sin and Satan became her master.
We find it so hard to take from theoretical doctrine to practical reality the thrilling truth that God is good, infinitely wise, and passionately and selflessly devoted to our eternal welfare. Little children are sure they know how to have the most fun – eating nothing but ice-cream and candy, chasing balls on to busy streets, sticking forks into electrical outlets, playing with scorpions, and so on. They remain safe, healthy and grow up to be outstanding adults, however, only by obeying parental directions that at the time they don’t like.
No matter what our age, we find it hard to believe that there is anyone in the universe who knows better than us what is best for us. Nevertheless, the truth remains that, relative to the infinite intelligence of Almighty God, we are as little children and as likely as them to be dangerously mistaken as to what will end up giving us the greatest satisfaction and happiness. To submit to God is to let him give us his best. Like running for cover and warmth during a blizzard, we desperately need to snuggle into the God of infinite wisdom. To enter into total submission to God is to enjoy the ultimate safety.
If total obedience still seems scary, I understand. There’s a link at the end of this webpage just for you, about how God’s will for you is more wonderful than you could imagine. If, however, you are unsure as to whether you have a genuine personal relationship with God, it is vital to get this sorted immediately. Please bookmark this page and read You Can Find Love http://www.net-burst.net/love/luv.htm before proceeding.
Next Part The Implications for Deliverance Ministry
© Copyright, Grantley Morris, 2006, 2008. For much more by the same author, see www.net-burst.net These writings may be freely copied provided they are not placed in a webpage, nor in anything that is sold and provided this entire paragraph is included. For use outside these limits, written permission is required. Freely you have received, freely give.