If you want to learn how to engage in proper spiritual warfare, you should learn from the greatest general who ever lived. Jesus gave us a winning battle plan in the Holy Scriptures. When it comes to learning how to be a success in a given area, there is no shortage of opinions on how to do it. The same is true in the area of fighting against the devil.
Evidently, this is an intense ongoing battle that we have to fight against such a powerful, vicious, deceptive, and destructive enemy because he’ll follow us up to the gate of heaven with the sole intent of keeping us from ever inheriting God’s blessings.
I don’t know about you but I would prefer to get my opinion and instruction from the greatest military leader the world has ever seen or heard of. Jesus, who is described as the Captain of our salvation, defeated the greatest enemies the world has ever seen, death and Satan. Let’s take a look at a couple scripture verses which describe an event that occurred between both Jesus and Satan.
The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:3-4).
Matthew chapter 4 records how Jesus went into the desert where He was tempted by Satan on three different occasions. This is very important because Jesus was God manifest in the flesh for the purpose of offering Himself up as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity. If the devil could have gotten Him to sin even one time it would mean Jesus would no longer be able to be the lamb of God without spot or blemish. The events in this chapter had the potential to destroy all of mankind.
Notice how the events between Satan and Jesus transpired. The devil did not attempt to reason or argue with Jesus because he knew who Jesus was, in each of the three temptations he quoted scripture. This shows that even Satan acknowledges the authority of the scriptures. However, being the liar that he is when he quoted verses he either added or took away from the actual words in an attempt to make the bible say something it did not say.
Before we examine how Jesus responded to the devil I want to call your attention to something. The bible declares Jesus to be the Word of God. This is made clear in the first chapter of John as well as Revelation chapter 19. With this in mind, anything that Jesus spoke could rightfully be called “scriptures” if He had wanted it to be. That was His prerogative as the Word.
When confronted by the devil twisting scripture did Jesus make up new scripture on the spot? No, He quoted from Old Testament scriptures that were readily available to the people of His day. He did this because in addition to being our Savior, He was our example in how to live a godly and victorious life here on this earth.
Jesus understood that we would need to fight against the devil and He was not going to use any special weapon that we would not have access to. He quoted Old Testament bible verses to show us that the proper response to Satan is to quote scripture to him and use it against him in order for us to send a powerful message that we will only submit ourselves to God.
While there is nothing wrong with being able to articulate your belief in bible truths and utilize rational arguments for why God’s ways are the way to live, ultimately the best way to win is to use the Word of God. God’s Word is the final authority and all will one day be in submission to its decrees.
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