◄ What Does James 4:7 Mean? ►

As Christians, we are not under law but under grace. As God's children who are saved by grace through faith in Christ, we can walk in spirit and truth OR we can live our life in the lust of the flesh. We can yield to the work of the Holy Spirit within OR we can submit to the evil influences of Satan.

As believers, we can allow sin to rule and reign in our mortal body and give in to the sinful desires of our fleshly nature OR we can consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We can allow sin and Satan to have authority over our bodies OR, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can nail our old sin nature to the Cross and present our members to God as instruments for righteousness, holy and acceptable unto God. We have these choices because we are not under law but under grace.

Whenever we allow sin to govern our choices and impact behaviour for evil, we place ourselves back under the influence of Satan. Oh! we do not lose our eternal security. We remain positioned in Christ, accepted in the Beloved, set apart unto God, and united with Him. However, instead of living as a spiritual believer and walking in spirit and truth to the glory of God, we behave as a carnal Christian walking in the desires of the flesh, and taking heed to Satan's temptations as we succumb to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.

James contrasts the gracious wisdom of God with the foolish 'wisdom' of the world, and calls Christians to be "spiritually-minded" and not "carnally-minded." He exhorts us to meekness and purity, spirituality and sincerity, and warns against envy and strife, boasting and deceit. He also gives us various steps to achieving a spiritual walk including submission to God, drawing near to our Heavenly Father, humbling ourselves before the mighty hand of God, and not giving Satan a foothold in our life.

But one very important exhortation is: "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." In order to overcome the temptations of the enemy, we are simply instructed to resist; resist the devil, resist the temptation, resist the sin, resist the evil.

When temptation hammers on the door of our mind, we are to simply to say NO! We are to decline that sinful temptation and turn down that lustful desire. We are to refuse that fleshly fancy and resist the devil and all his devious schemes, designed to coax us into a multiplicity of sinful activities that would discredit our testimony and dishonour our God. When we resist Satan, he will flee from us.

Praise God that, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we have authority over our bodies to present our members to God as instruments for righteousness, holy and acceptable unto God - for we are not under law but under grace.

Thank You, Heavenly Father, that I am no longer under the domain of Satan but am a child of God who is under grace and not under the Law. I pray that I may walk in spirit and truth to Your praise and honour. In Your power, I pray that I will resist the influences of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Help me to walk in meekness, purity, spirituality, and sincerity all the days of my life, to Your praise and glory. In Jesus' name, AMEN.