“The devil made me do it.” Flip Wilson popularized this catchphrase in the early 1970’s. It was a comedy. But he didn’t originate the notion that we somehow would justify our sinful actions by blaming the devil.
In Genesis 3:13 Even told God “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” It didn’t work for her, it doesn’t work for us either.
The devil is our adversary. He wages war against God’s people and is bent on leading us into sin. There are examples of this in 1 Corinthians 7:5; 2 Corinthians 2:10-11; and 1 Peter 5:8. Consequently, we understand the reason for James’s command in James 4:7, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you. The promise he will flee assures us we are not defenseless against satan’s devices. We cannot alibi “the devil made me do it.” because we are able to resist him with God’s help. So, when the devil attacks we can use the following tactics:
1. Run To God
Our first and greatest defense against the schemes of the devil is to live in a right relationship with God. James 4 gives us severity ideas.
- “You adulterous people. Don’t you know that friendship with the works is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes a enemy of God” -James 4:4.
Jesus was saying: Stop your affair with the world! Quit flirting with the devil. Instead, make the intentional choice to live as an enemy of the world and the devil by aligning yourself with God.
- “Submit to God” (James 4:7). This means to put yourself under God’s authority. The intent is to stop resisting God and resist and resist the devil.
- “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). We cannot resist the devil if we are not living in close relationship and intimate communion with God,
2. Humble Yourself Before God
Pride makes us vulnerable to Satan’s attacks. Pride was the devil’s downfall, and he wants us to be prideful. It is one of his chief weapons in his warfare against us. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction and an arrogant spirit before a fall.” James teaches us in 4:6 :
- “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble
- “Humble yourselves before the Lord (v 10). To humble ourselves before God means to stop resisting Him, to fall prostrate (stretched out) before Him, to submit to Him and to lean on His power (v 7).
- Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify our hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail (v 8-9). To call to God in verse 8 suggests James’s audience has moved away from Him. Verses 8-9 are a call to repentance and purity of heart.
James 4 tells us the person who lives in friendship with this world does not view sin as a big deal. And it is through the sind we tolerate that Satab gains a foothold in our lives. James urges us to take sin seriously. Grieve over it. Weep over it before God.
3. Take Up The Word Of God
The Word of God (Bible) is a theme in James 1. We have the Word of God to fend off the enemy’s attacks.
- By “the sword of the spirit -which is the Word of God *Ephesians 6:17) we stand against the schemes of the devil (Eph 6:11). The devil’s only weapon against us is deception. God’s truth protects us from satan’s lies. (2 Corinthians 11:3).
- Jesus responded to the devil’s temptations by quoting the Word. “It is written…it is written (Matthew 4:4-5; 7). If Jesus resisted Satan’s attacks with scripture, we also should meet satan’s attacks on the same basis (Psalm 119:9-11).
Jesus was able to use God’s Word because He knew God’s Word. If we do not know the Word, we cannot use the Word. A sword can deflect an enemy’s attack only if we are able to handle it skillfully and precisely, otherwise, we are left vulnerable to Satan’s deception.
The promise of James 4:7 not only eliminates “the devil made me do it” alibi but assures us we can resist him. James 4:4 promises, “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.“ Jesus is our victory.
“When Satan Knocks, I send Jesus to the door.” – Billy Graham
From Pity to Praise 