Scriptures with Stipulations-Resist the Devil

November 21, 2024

Scriptures with Stipulations-Resist the Devil

The Word of God is filled with so many amazing promises that the Lord gives to His children. When they are applied correctly they can create a positive impact on the life of the believer. Unfortunately a lot of us don’t study the Lord’s Word for ourselves and so we miss key information that we need to know in order to successfully apply the Scriptures to our daily lives.

It is not enough to listen to your pastor preach on a Sunday afternoon because that is not enough to help you understand the Lord’s Biblical law. There are guidelines and rules that God has put into place that both the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness have to abide by. There is no way of getting around it because the fact is that the Lord’s Word will never change it is eternal.

The devil knows the Word of God inside and out and knows the Bible better than most Christians do. He knows how important it is to follow the Lord’s Biblical law and will try everything in his power to sway you away from being obedient to the Holy Scriptures. What that does is prevent you from receiving all of the promises that the Lord has afforded you to have.

That is why it is imperative that you study to show your own self approved, 2 Timothy 2:15. What that does is allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the Word of God to you personally instead of relying on a pastor for the interpretation. A preacher will often times only give you a portion of the passage of Scripture being referenced but can leave out key information.

For instance we have all heard at one time or another that “no weapon formed against you will prosper” but the portion that gets left out is that this is the case for the servant of God. If you didn’t know any better you would think that this passage pertains to anyone that is reading it. Not the case, in fact this particular verse of Scripture has a detailed stipulation attached to it.

The stipulation is that this verse applies to servants or worshipers of God. I have an article that I wrote that covers this very passage it’s called: Scriptures with Stipulations-No Weapon will Prosper. It will go into detail about what the Lord is truly saying when He says that no weapon formed against you will prosper.

I can’t tell you how significant it is to study the Lord’s Word and asking the Holy Spirit for interpretation. This will aid you in understanding the Lord’s stipulations when it comes to the promises found in the Scriptures. Let’s take a look at one of those passages right now found in the book of James.

James 4:7

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

Here we can definitively see that there is a stipulation attached to this verse of Scripture. James is letting us know that in order for us to have the power to resist the devil we have to first submit to God. Anytime you see “therefore”, “if”, and words similar to these in Scripture we need to find out what is it there for. In this case James is including the adverb “therefore” to let us know that what follows it is something that we need to pay attention to.

The word “submit” being used here is the Greek word “hypotassō” which means: to obey and to be subject to. Then the question is to obey and to be subject to what or who? The answer is in the text right after the word submit and James is clear that we are to submit to God. The Lord wants us to be obedient to what He is saying to us in His Word.

What that does is prevent the devil and his demonic kingdom from having a door to open in your life to wreak havoc and cause chaos. This is how we are to resist the devil which in turn means that he has to flee from you. We have to make an intentional effort to refrain from anything that even remotely looks like the enemy. If you are still living like the devil there is no way that you can expect him to just leave you alone.

In fact, he has the legal right to cause turmoil in your life because of direct disobedience to God’s Biblical law. Over and over again the Scriptures reveal to us the repercussions to blatant sin and rebellion.

For instance:

Ephesians 4:26-27 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep my commandments.”

Matthew 7:23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”

What we can gain out of these verses of Scripture is that the Lord requires His children to live their lives refraining from sin and following His commandments. Any time that you go against the Word of God you are giving place to the devil to enter into your life. The wages of sin will always equal death and that is why the Lord is so adamant about us submitting to His will for our lives.

So, what does full submission to God look like? Full surrender to the Lord is following the guidelines that He has outlined in His Word. It is hating the things that He hates and living a repentant life. It has to do with a person not practicing sin allowing it to become a habit. We are all going to fall short of the glory of God because we were born with the sin nature. However, through the power of the Holy Spirit we can overcome.

Now let’s take a look at the final sentence in the passage of Scripture that I am highlighting out of the book of James. It states, “…Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” The word “resist” being used here is the Greek word “anthistēmi” which means: to set oneself against, to withstand resist, oppose. The words “he will flee” being used here is the Greek word “pheugō” which means: to flee away, or to vanish.

When we piece these important words together we can see that James through the leading of the Holy Spirit is letting us know that we are to set ourselves against and oppose Satan and his demonic kingdom. The way that we do that is by living upright in the eyes of the Lord because what that does is gives the devil no foothold in your life and he has to flee.

The final Scripture that I want to point out is John 15:4 and it states, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” This passage of Scripture ties into the primary verse that I am highlighting out of the book of James.

It is letting us know that we are to “abide” or to “remain” meaning that we are to stay connected to the Lord: reading the Bible, praying, and developing intimacy with the Lord. When we stay linked to the “vine” or Jesus Christ, He will lead us in the right direction which will ensure that we don’t get led astray. The main thing that we want to keep in mind is that we want to stay submitted to God’s will for our lives.

Conclusion

The Lord is very clear that resisting the devil means that he has to flee. The thing is there is so much more to this passage of Scripture than just that portion of it. There is an extremely important stipulation attached to it which requires that we submit to God first.

What does that look like? It means abiding by the rules and guidelines that the Lord has outlined in the Word of God. It means to turn away from all sin and everything in your life that does not align with His will for your life. It has to do with studying the Scriptures for yourself so that you can have a clear understanding of what the Lord is trying to reveal to you through them. Full submission requires complete obedience!

Also, don’t forget to check out my other blogs:

Scriptures with Stipulations-Trust the Lord with all of your heart

Scriptures with Stipulations-Seeking God’s Kingdom

Scriptures with Stipulations-No Weapon Formed will Prosper

Scriptures with Stipulations-All Things Work Together For Your Good

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Fight Back

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Feed Your Spirit

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Renouncing

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Confess and Repent

Recognizing Spiritual Strongholds

What are Spiritual Strongholds?

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 1

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 2

The Spiritual Laws of God-Restoration

The Spiritual Laws of God-The General Principles

The Spiritual Laws of God-The Power of Your Tongue!

The Spiritual Laws of God-Having an Understanding

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