Rebuking or Resisting The Devil?

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

My dear friend prayed with great fervor and sincerity. She told the devil and his minions where to go and commanded them to take their hands off a particular situation. She spoke with great authority and seemed satisfied: the devil would listen to her and do as she said. Or would he?

Feeling uneasy regarding her prayer and the Biblical soundness surrounding it, I came home and searched the Scriptures. The Scriptures that lead us into the Truth. Recall that Jesus said:

John 8:31-32 If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

There are a number of verses in the Bible that let us know the truth on this matter. We are clearly led to do two things in regards to our enemy. Ephesians 4:27 says, ‘Neither give place to the devil’ and then in James 4:7, ‘Resist the devil and he will flee from you.’ We ought not to give the devil an opportunity to tempt us into sin and we are to resist him by not giving him any opportunity to take hold in our lives. As we do these two things he will flee from us. There is nothing about confronting the devil head on in a barrage of words. Rebuking does not have the devil running, resisting, however, does.

Furthermore, I wondered if there are examples in Scripture where the apostles took up a verbal attack against the enemy? Again, I searched the Scriptures. Nothing. Rather, as we resist our enemy, Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 6:11 to ‘put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. It is the full of armor of God that will assist us to combat the enemy. These are the only instruments of warfare that are divinely chosen by God. Our own human efforts are useless weapons that will have no effect. How presumptuous and misinformed are we to ignore God’s commands in Scripture of how to confront our enemy and then expect a successful outcome?

Jude 9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Here we are told that even the Archangel, Michael, did not bring a slanderous accusation against the devil. Those who rebuke Satan, are acting independently – even the most holy Archangel did not do that! He only engaged with the devil by saying ‘The Lord rebuke you’. Rebuking is the Lord’s work, not ours. And like Michael, we are to respect and obey the ‘parameters of operation’ ordained by God for us. This is Jesus’ way. He sets the example for us to follow when he says,

John 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

As Jesus obeys God’s will, so too ought we. Jesus dared not usurp God’s authority, and yet we do. Both the Archangel Michael, and Jesus demonstrated their holiness by knowing their place. And this then, is a demonstration of the sanctifying work the Spirit of God is doing in our lives, when we obey His Word.

As faithful defenders of the Truth, it is not enough however, to know the Truth. We must live it. We must be on guard against those who are according to Jude 8, ‘dreamers’ who base their beliefs on their own imaginations, determining their own truth according to their own fancies. A truth that is not really the Truth at all.

Let us pray for those whom we know and love who are walking ignorantly in error. Pray that the Truth will set them free. And if a fellow believer is not following the teachings of Scripture, perhaps the Spirit will guide us into a conversation with them whereby we can present the Truth. Only the Spirit ministering to their hearts as they read Scripture will set them free.

“Father, forgive me for my own ignorance of the Scriptures. Forgive me for creating a truth that does not place You and your commands at the center of my life. Create in me a deeper longing to know Your Word and live it out fully so that you would be glorified, and others would know that I am truly Your disciple. Help me to navigate the way with those I know who confess You as Lord, but their practices do not reflect this. Show me how to bring the Truth in love. In Jesus Name, Amen.”