Anyone who has served Jesus for any length of time will appreciate the truth of there being an evil entity who is intensely opposed to the reign of Christ. Plans to prayerfully spread the Gospel are met with a myriad of obstacles, and we often experience persecution (Revelation 2:9). Especially, getting the family ready for church on a Sunday morning is often a battle. Why? Because we have an enemy who wants to discourage and stumble us in whatever way he can.

Every Christian faces a three-fold enemy of the world, the flesh and the Devil. Even though Satan has been defeated by the person and work of Jesus (Luke 10:18; John 12:31; 1 John 3:8), the spiritual battle continues. And while it is impossible for someone who has been born again to be possessed by an unclean spirit, there is still a sense in which believers are oppressed by the Devil. This article examines what the Bible says we should expect in this regard.

1 Peter 5:8 tells us we should be self-controlled and alert because our enemy the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. What’s more, we’re told that if we submit ourselves to God and resist the Devil, then he will immediately flee (James 4:7). While we are ultimately kept safe by the sovereign power of God (Jude 1, 24; Phil 1:3-6) this doesn’t mean that there are not real spiritual threats or dangers.

Setbacks and Opposition in Ministry

In 1 Thessalonians 2:18 the apostle Paul says, “We wanted to come to you — certainly I, Paul, did, again and again — but Satan stopped us.” Clearly, the Devil has a certain amount of influence in this present world. Elsewhere, in Ephesians 6, Paul famously writes that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers in the heavenly realms.

While within divinely predetermined limits, the experience of Job is also illuminating. In chapters 1 and 2, we are explicitly told how the Devil was the cause of Job’s suffering. Whether it be the theft of oxen and donkeys by the Sabeans, a fire from heaven which destroyed his sheep, three lots of Chaldean raiding parties who carried off his camels, a mighty wind which caused the death of his children, or the personal suffering of physical illness. Each and every one of these things are directly attributable to Satan.

Anyone who has served Jesus for any length of time will appreciate the truth of there being an evil entity who is intensely opposed to the reign of Christ. Plans to prayerfully spread the Gospel are met with a myriad of obstacles, and we often experience persecution (Revelation 2:9). Especially, getting the family ready for church on a Sunday morning is often a battle. Why? Because we have an enemy who wants to discourage and stumble us in whatever way he can.

Unresolved Anger

One of the things which is striking about the work of Satan — particularly in the New Testament epistles — is how ‘ordinary’ it is. Take for instance Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:26-27. “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”

Note the logical flow between the two verses. In verse 26 we are told not to allow our anger to be expressed in sinful ways. Being angry in and of itself is not a sin. As with Jesus’ response to the Pharisees in Mark 3:1-6, sometimes anger is not only justified, but a godly response. Although, being continually angry all the time doesn’t bring about righteous life which God requires (see James 1:19-20).

The key though is to not let the sun go down while we are still angry about something and we haven’t made an attempt to resolve it. Sweeping our anger under the carpet like that doesn’t solve things, but only makes it worse. Indeed, it gives the Devil a ‘foothold’ in twisting our hearts and driving a wedge between ourselves and the other person.

Unforgiveness and Division

Closely following on from the previous point, is Satan’s strategy to “divide and conquer”. The Lord Jesus says that even the Devil would not drive out a demon from someone because it would destroy what he is doing (i.e. Matthew 12:25-28). Alternatively, though, Satan seeks to divide Christians against each other (contra Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20-23).

One of the chief ways in which Devil does this is through division. And the mechanism through which this is achieved is unforgiveness. In 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 the apostle Paul refers to the restoration of an individual who had previously undergone some form of church discipline.

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