On the basis of the salvation God has provided for us, the Scriptures lay out practical guidelines by which we can defeat Satan.

Have Confidence in God. The first decision we must make to be freed from Satan’s power is to choose to trust God. We must acknowledge our helplessness, sinfulness, and lost condition. Then we must accept the free gift of salvation He has offered us in Christ and stand before God clothed in His Son’s righteousness (Phil. 3:1-9; Titus 3:5).

Submit to God and Resist Satan. Although Christ has given us authority over Satan (1 John 4:4), we can exercise it only as we submit ourselves to God and resist the enemy (Eph. 6:11; James 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8,9).

Be Aware of Satan’s Strategies. Satan can take advantage of us if we are "ignorant of his devices" (2 Cor. 2:11). For example, by harboring anger, we "give place to the devil" (Eph. 4:27); by depriving our marriage partner of sexual intimacy, we give Satan an opportunity to tempt us (1 Cor. 7:5); by placing an unqualified man in a position of leadership in the church, we take the chance of making him vulnerable to pride and to "fall into the same condemnation as the devil" and "the snare of the devil" (1 Tim. 3:6,7).

Put on the Armor of God. Using the metaphor of a well-equipped Roman soldier, Paul told how we can be prepared for spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:11-18).

The belt of truth.

Since Satan depends on deceit to maintain his power, our first line of defense is always to be truthful. We must never distort or misrepresent the truth, regardless of any advantage we might gain by doing so.

The breastplate of righteousness.

Any sin in our life leaves us open to Satan’s attack. Even though we are given the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21), we must still continually put on the protection of holy living.

The shoes of the gospel of peace.

With our feet firmly planted on the truth that we are at peace with God and that He is on our side, we can stand firmly against Satan’s attacks. The shield of faith. In order to quench the "fiery darts" of Satan’s temptations, we must trust and believe what God has said about every area of our life.

The helmet of salvation.

This is the confidence that there is coming in the future a great victory celebration. It’s also referred to as the "hope of salvation" (1 Thess. 5:8). This helmet protects us against Satan’s two-edged sword of discouragement and doubt.

The sword of the Spirit.

Since the Word of God is the basis of our faith, we need to learn how to wield it with authority. Scripture is our best offensive weapon against the devil (Matt. 4:1-11).

After he described the various elements of the armor, Paul said that we are to be in constant prayer. Prayer expresses our dependence on God. We can fight against Satan only "in the [strength of the] Lord and in the power of His might" (Eph. 6:10). In the power of Christ with the armor of the Spirit we will be victors.

"Great is our Lord and mighty in power"
Psalm 147:5

What is Satan’s power?

First we know that Satan has been given certain power over the earth. But how much power?

We can look at the book of Job to get some clues. "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." It appears that Satan could not touch Job or his family or his possessions until God allowed him to. But we must also notice that God did allow him to do so.

I believe that Satan is very powerful. We know that Michael (the Archangel) is very powerful, yet Jude states in Jude 1:9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

I am sure we have all heard the statement "fools rush in where angels fear to tread." I think that statement makes some valid points. If the Archangel Michael (heaven’s warrior) does not take Satan on with his own power but only with the power of God, then we should never try to stand up to Satan on our own either.

Does that mean that we cannot defeat Satan? No, it just means that we can only defeat him with God’s power and authority. Don’t ever let yourself get tricked into feeling safe or strong on your own. We, by ourselves, are no more then gnats, but with the power of Jesus Christ (who over came even death) we can overcome the world and even Satan himself, since he has already been defeated.

Don’t let Satan taunt you into going head to head with him, he will crush you. Satan is not to be respected or feared, but his power should command respect and fear from us, because we are at its mercy except when we cloak ourselves in the power of Jesus Christ our Savior.

God’s word is called a sharp sword, faith our shield, truth our belt, salvation our helmet, and righteousness our breastplate. No good soldier would go to battle without his weapon or his protective equipment and as Christians neither should we.

Jude 22-25 Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear–hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy– to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Romans 16:19

Romans 16:19 says:

Be exellent at what is good,

be innocent of evil

And the God of peace

will soon crush satan,

and God will crush him

underneath your feet.

Oorspr. titel: Be exellent what is good

Tekst & muziek: Ramon Pink

© Scripture in Song / Universal Songs