Resist the Devil
Submission & rejection
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So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you.
James 4:7 (NET)
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Of course, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these two sentences are linked in a singular verse.
Something of note:
The divisions of the Bible — the chapters and verses — were added later than the original writings to help us make sense of what we’re reading. Thus, they are not Canon (i.e., the chapters & verses are not the inerrant Word of God, just a human organization structure).
Sometimes verses don’t align, most of the time they do.
Anyway, here we have two actions expected of the believer in their walk of life:
1. Submit to God
2. Resist the devil
I know I put emphasis on the second one with my category label, but as I’m thinking about it now the first one seems waaayyyyy more important.
In fact, I’m not sure how we can successfully resist the devil without submitting to God. I suppose we could have some willpower, but for long-term victory over temptation & sin, we need the Holy Spirit.
We need to submit to God to align with the Holy Spirit’s empowerment.
Resisting temptation under our own willpower is both exhausting and probably leads to more sin (pride, for example).
If we’re going to walk in victory over sin — resisting the devil along the way — then we must first submit to God.
Submission isn’t a bad word. Soldiers must submit to their commanding officers.
Surely we can submit to the King of the universe.
After all, He’s given us eternal life in Christ and empowers us to walk with Him day by day.
His grace abounds.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2025 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
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