I have spoken enough on this topic recently that I accepted the idea that it is time I write something on it. Too many Christians live with their guard down, or non-existent, and wind up succumbing to some level of “devouring” by the devil, whom Peter identifies as our adversary. Paul writes in his letter to the Romans that we are not debtors to live according to the flesh. (Romans 8) At issue is the propensity of so many of us (more than we actually know) to allow the noisy voice of our flesh to cause us to do something, say something, or go somewhere that will ultimately feed our flesh and its appealing invitation.
When we are born again by the Spirit of God, the Bible teaches us that we are made alive together with Jesus Christ. Our spirit that once was dead (Ephesians 2 – “you were dead in trespasses and sins”), is now regenerated and comes to life – à la, resurrected from the dead. Our inner man now has the ability to connect with our Maker and experience a life-giving, communicating relationship with Him. The problem is that even though our spirit has been regenerated, we still live in an earthly tabernacle that has been accustomed to being satisfied and fulfilled by our actions and decisions. The apostle Paul discovered this phenomenon and wrote about it in the 7th chapter of his letter to the church at Rome. He basically wrote that he was conflicted – those things that he didn’t want to do (succumbing to the flesh), are the very things he kept on doing. And the things that his renewed spirit was teaching him that he should be doing, his confession was “the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” He bemoaned, “I do not understand my own actions.” Maybe you have felt like that – or maybe you feel that way now. The apostle Paul wrote in Galatians,
“Galatians 5:17 – “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
Paul penned the often-quoted words “who will deliver me from this body of death.” Some believe Paul was using the imagery of a practice by some ancient tyrants of tying a dead body to an offender to drag around for the remainder of their sentence – which sometimes could be for the rest of their lives. Whether or not Paul was thinking about these examples, it is a good illustration of what happens to us when we are born again, and yet we still drag around this “body of death.”
I am writing to declare that you do not have to be governed by that tabernacle of clay in which you reside – to repeat what Paul wrote to the Romans in chapter 8, you are not debtors to live according to the flesh. This is one of the main reasons that the apostle would write just a few chapters later (12) that we should present our bodies a living sacrifice to God and be transformed by the renewal of our minds. This way, we are governed by the laws of God written on our hearts (spirits) and not the cry of our flesh to satisfy some carnal desire.
When we discuss the influence and effect of our enemy (through our flesh) on our lives, the conversation invariably turns to how much influence or control can the devil have over a Christian. The late Don Basham, an excellent author, wrote a book in the early 1970s entitled, “Can a Christian Have a Demon?” My reply to that question has always been, “Why would I want one?” Seriously, there is an easy answer (on which I will elucidate further) to this question – yes, a Christian can have a demon, but a demon (or the devil) can’t have a Christian.
James, the brother of our Lord wrote a very practical letter in which he is straightforward (he doesn’t even offer a salutation or introduction), but jumps right in with “when you’re going through stuff, count it all joy.” I like James, by the way. I believe I would have liked to hang out with him. One thing we must remember, though, is that he was once a non-believer. The apostle John writes in the 7th chapter of his gospel regarding Jesus’ family, “for even His brothers didn’t believe in Him.” I suppose this is why he just dives right into the material he wanted to communicate. Very early in the letter, he addresses this matter of yielding to temptation.
“Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
It is the letting down of our guard and rationalizing what may or may not be harmful behavior to our Christian life that opens us up to the activity of the enemy in our lives. The apostle Peter, a contemporary of James, reminds us in his 1st letter that
“Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
(thus our title)
What is he looking for when he is prowling around? I’m glad you asked. He (or one of his minions) is looking for a weakness; a vulnerability; a crack in our armor. When we yield to the call of the carnal nature and even entertain acting upon that call, we have gained the attention of our adversary who then says to himself, “I believe I will help him with that temptation.” (I recommend the C.S. Lewis book “The Screwtape Letters”). Peter admonishes us in his letter to “resist him, firm in your faith,” The best opportunity to resist the wiles of the enemy is when it first appears. Whatever may be your weakness, when the opening presents itself, that is the time we should be the strongest to resist him.
In his letter to the church at Galatia, the apostle offers us a not so pretty list of what the desires of the flesh look like and result in.
Galatians 5:19 – “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.”
As unattractive as these results are, we still sometimes still yield to their allure in a time of weakness. When we succumb to some carnal temptation and attempt to satisfy our fleshly desires, we are at that time frustrating the righteous requirement of the law (Romans 8) being fulfilled in us.
Here is where we allow the enemy to stop prowling and to attempt to knock us off our walk with Christ. Now, this happens not when we occasionally trip up or in a moment of weakness yield to the desires of our flesh. The promise of 1 John 1:9 brings us back to the straight and narrow path.
“I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do (make a practice of doing) such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Galatians 5:21
When we give ourselves to the works of the flesh repeatedly and willingly, it is at that point the devil is allowed (by us) to set what I will call fishhooks in our flesh for the purpose of influence.
He then is allowed to tug on those fishhooks whenever temptation comes our way. Deliverance from the devil is the removing of these fishhooks from our lives, and recommitting these areas of our lives to the Lord Jesus. This is why I said a Christian could have a demon (allowed influence in our lives by abdication), but the devil cannot have the Christian because we are a child of the Most High God – or in the words of the Scripture, “You were bought with a price… you are Christ’s.”
How do we avoid this yielding to the influence of the devil in our lives? Well, there are a few practical ideas that I will offer. I had a great Little League baseball coach. He taught us excellent fundamentals of the game and it wasn’t until later that I realized not everyone had the instruction I/we had. One of the fundamentals he taught us was to determine what we were going to do with the baseball if it came to us. We must ascertain (he didn’t use that word with 11-year-olds😊) the situation and have already predetermined our action before the ball was pitched. What base or player would we throw the ball was already determined before the batter hit the ball. It is a similar exercise in our walk with Christ. Paul wrote to the Colossians that we must “Set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Where is our focus? To what are we giving the attention of our mind and energies? You can’t wait until you find yourself in some compromising position and expect yourself to make a good and wise decision. No, if we wait till then, most of the time we will have already lost the battle. If you suffer or have suffered from alcoholism, you decide beforehand that you are not going to find yourself in some place or position where now you have to be strong and resist the temptation of a drink (just an example). Paul wrote to Timothy that when confronted with youthful lusts, his response was to RUNNNNNN. Or as Wash Hogwallop said in “O Brother, Where Art Thou,” “R-U-N-N-O-F-T!”
Continuing in the letter of James, he wrote that God opposes those who are proud (full of themselves and their own abilities). Instead of (especially us men) bowing our back and declaring we are strong enough to resist the temptation (particularly in some area we have already exhibited weakness, and maybe even failure), we remember that God opposes the proud, but to those who will humble themselves before Him (“I can’t do this on my own”), He gives ample grace to make it through this challenging situation.
For men who have had particular weaknesses (like addiction to pornography), an accountability partner has proved beneficial in that moment when we haven’t prepared and we find ourselves in maybe a compromising moment. Your person of accountability can be that stabilizing force that lends you their strength in that moment, so you are able to avoid a disastrous outcome.
At the end of the day, once again the brother of Jesus offers us the instruction that will keep us in the posture of avoiding the wiles of the enemy prowling around looking for a let down on our part. James wrote these words as something that is not just recited, but put into practice.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves (yourself that you have denied) therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
I have often heard people (innocently) use this verse to oppose the devil and they leave the first part of the verse out and simply proclaim “resist the devil and he will flee.” I have always contended without the first part of the verse, there can be no second part. In other words, before you have what you need to resist the devil, you must have first submitted yourself to God. That exercise of presenting a laid-down life before the throne of God is what allows us to then resist the devil. We have no strength or ability in and of ourselves to resist the schemes of the devil. So, you guessed it, one way of gaining victory over our prowling adversary is to be in such a place of fellowship with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit that his schemes have no effect on us. Or as the apostle wrote the church at Ephesus, “Leave no room or foothold for the devil.” Jesus told the Pharisees that they were trying to kill Him because “My word finds no place in you.” In the same manner, we can choose to allow the deceiving words of the devil to “find no place in us.”
Let us determine to live not in fear of succumbing to some temptation of our flesh, encouraged by the enemy of our souls, but rather to live a life that has denied oneself, embraced our cross of life daily, and is following our Lord Jesus.
Here is our encouragement and strength.
“God condemned sin in the flesh…in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:4