My first premise is that God has absolute sovereignty in His universe.

That means that the Devil is a part of the larger plan of God. How we perceive our enemy will largely determine how we fight against him. Only if we have a proper theology of God we will have a proper theology of the Devil. Only when we stand in awe of God will we find it unnecessary to be in awe of Satan. Therefore, in our examination about Satan, we also examine God’s power, God’s program, and God’s purposes in the world. The greater our God, the smaller our devil.

Let us boldly affirm that whatever mischief Satan is allowed to do, it has always been and always will be appointed by God for the ultimate service of and benefit to the saints. Although Satan rebelled against God not to be Gods’s servant, that is exactly what he is.

My second premise is that God uses our conflict with Satan to develop character. These struggles give us the opportunity of having our faith tested. Our spiritual war is a classroom where we can learn about the deceitfulness of sin and the chastisement of God—along with His grace and power. God could have banished Satan to another planet or cast him immediately into the lake of fire.

He chose to use the devil, to give him a role to play in the divine drama. God knows that we must fight before we can celebrate. We must learn before we are approved. God permits Satan’s temporary reign, the Puritans used to say, “to increase the saints’ eternal joy.”

In our spiritual warfare we have to learn and identify the most common of Satan’s wiles against us. We must affirm with confidence that we are in a winnable war, we are up against a being who has all the limitations of a created being.

In the Scriptures, we are confronted by an enemy of God who must nevertheless do God’s bidding. We are exposed to a being who will never reign or torment people in hell; nor is he a devil who is the figment of our imagination, a being whom we can outwit if we are clever enough.

The biblical portrait of Satan is that he does indeed have great power, but that it is always limited by the purposes and plans of God.  It is a picture of a proud being who has already been humbled. It is the picture of a being whose greatest asset in his war with us is our own ignorance.

The first and foremost spiritual warfare takes place within ourselfs, we need to realize – even when we are born again – that we have a sinfull nature and the devil is going to attack us through our sinfull nature.

When we know how to fight him inhouse and be victorious, we will be able to use the same techniques to fight him on other spheres and be victorious.

When God throws us into the conflict with the devil He also gives us the resources needed to stand against the enemy. We need to avail ourselves with the assets that are ours as Christians.

1Pe 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

2Co 2:11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

2Co 4:3 – 4 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

2Co 10:3 – 5 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

2Co 11:13 -15 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

2Ti 2:24 – 26 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Eph 6:10 – 12 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

2Th 3:3 But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.

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

Soli Deo Gloria