Smack Down on Satan

Most Christians believe Satan is the evil, pit-master enemy who would love to devour us or snuff out the Light we want to share with the world. Peter tells us, in 1 Peter 5:8, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

But how do we do that? How can we see the adversary's wicked hand working against us? How do we discern his presence in our day-to-day life? How do we extinguish the fiery arrows he's constantly shooting at us?

After all, if we don't fight back, we will be his victim. His middle name should be Relentless.

Paul knew this. So in Ephesians 6:10 - 18, he explains why we need a battle plan and then outfits us with war gear. If you're not familiar with these verses, I encourage you to check them out.

Now I'm not a Bible teacher, but I am a Bible learner. For about five months, I've been studying and memorizing this scripture about the full armor of God. And I just want to make a couple of observations from my study time. (I encourage you to read and learn from a few Bible scholars on this passage.)

In verse 11, Paul answers the why question. Why we need a battle plan? "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." I can't imagine any warrior going to battle without planning and organizing how to defeat the enemy. That's what Paul wants us to know. Get prepared because the enemy is coming after us.

And then Paul in verse 13 tells us, "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything you can, to stand." Notice he doesn't say "if" the day of evil comes, but "when." Not a question of maybe Satan will come against us. It's a given, he's coming. Again the serpent is relentless.

Now the rest of that scripture confused me for the longest time. If you put on the full armor, why does it say "you may be able to stand your ground?" Finally, the Spirit revealed to me that you have to read the next phrase for it to make sense, "and after you have done everything you can." I believe Paul is saying that first we put on the armor and after we stop flinging our measly arms and ultra egos against the devil, the armor of God will defeat him. It's not us, but His power through His armor which enables us to remain standing.

In verse 16, Paul says, "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." Notice it doesn't say some flaming arrows but ALL. Satan bombards us with his best fiery shots and if we've picked up the shield of faith, God extinguishes them for us.  

It seems to me that if I want to defeat the prince of this world, I need to partner up with my heavenly Father and allow Him to prepare me for battle. Like a tag team in a wrestling match. I tag my Lord and He steps into the ring. Smack down on Satan. And a great big high-five to my King.

What's that preparation look like? Since I've used over 500 words for this week, check out next week's post. In the meanwhile, Peter's advice is a great place to begin. "Be self-controlled and alert.”

How's your battle going? Please share your thoughts and advice on defeating the wicked one. Thanks.