Fighting Satan and Sin (Part 1)

Fighting Satan and Sin I. We must not be ignorant of Satan's devices lest he take advantage of us. 2CO 2:11. A. Satan brings us into bondage by exploiting the strengths of his ally which is our flesh and blinding us to the ugliness and sinfulness of sin. EPH 2:3; TIT 3:3; ROM 6:19-21. B. Satan holds us in bondage by blinding us to the truth about deliverance and liberty. C. Satan's entire operation is based upon one concept: the lie. He is the father of lies. JOH 8:44. 1. His power is in the lie: the telling of it and our love of it. 2. Our battles with Satan should not be power encounters (as the vagabond exorcists of ACT 19:13-16) but truth encounters. It is the truth that liberates. JOH 8:32. 3. Satan sells his lies by deception: the better the deception, the bigger the lie that can be sold. a. Deception might be described as being led to accept a lie as truth or as an acceptable substitute for truth. b. Deception blocks deliverance from bondage to a lie. ISA 44:20. c. Remember that Eve was beguiled/deceived (2CO 11:3; 1TI 2:14); she yielded to the perceived advantage of a lie. GEN 3:1-6. (1) She rationalized away the truth on the basis of sensual satisfaction. (2) Yielding to the lie was a means of meeting a legitimate need. (3) Whenever we are tempted to meet a legitimate human need by a means contrary to God's will, this is temptation by the lust of the flesh. 1JO 2:16. (4) Food, sex, happiness, peace, rest, success, acceptance, dignity, significance, power, love, respect, etc. are all legitimate human needs. But we sin when we try to meet these needs by acting independently of God. 4. We must reject and renounce Satan's deceptions and lies about: a. God, His nature, accomplishments and promises. b. Jesus Christ, His person, position and power. c. our natural wisdom and inherent value. d. the identity or acceptability of sin. e. who we are as believers. f. the futility of resistance. g. the means of personal fullness and victory. D. The battle lines are drawn at distinguishing between God's truth and Satan's lies in all things: our thoughts, our words, our actions. We must strive to: 1. think Biblically. 2CO 10:5; ROM 12:2. 2. speak Biblically. 1PE 4:11; TIT 2:8; EPH 4:29. 3. act Biblically. COL 1:10; 1TH 4:1. 4. carefully measure everything against God's word and reject that which contradicts it as a lying deception. PSA 119:128; ROM 3:4. E. Through the renewing of our minds to the truth of Jesus Christ, we are transformed from bondage to Satan's lies and will to the liberty of proving God's will. ROM 12:2; 6:17-18. 1. This means coming to grips with the holiness of God and the utter sinfulness of yourself. ISA 6:1-5; ROM 7:18. 2. This implies that you must stop living in denial: denial of your natural worthlessness, denial of those areas of your life which God says are sinful but your Fighting Satan and Sin 1-8-12 Page 1heart says are OK, denial of the dangers of pathways to evil, denial of the need to effect personal reform, denial of the promises and power of Christ to change you. F. We will never be satisfactorily victorious over sin until we renounce deception in whatever form it is presenting itself to us. 1. renounce: To give up; to resign (to another), to surrender, esp. to give up in a complete and formal manner. 2. In coming to Christ, Paul renounced the Pharisaic deception that subtle perversion of God's word was an appropriate way of ministerial leadership. 2CO 4:2. 3. Have you been deceived into thinking that you are really something when you are really nothing? Renounce that. GAL 6:3; ROM 12:3. 4. Have you been deceived into thinking that worldly wisdom trumps the wisdom of God? Renounce that. 1CO 3:18-19. 5. Have you been deceived into thinking that overindulgence of fleshly appetites is unimportant? Renounce that. LUK 21:34. 6. Have you been deceived into thinking that you are privy to spiritual wisdom which God has not revealed in His word? Renounce that. COL 2:18; GAL 1:8; ISA 8:20. 7. Have you been deceived into thinking that you will not reap what you sow? Renounce that. GAL 6:7. 8. Have you been deceived into thinking that you will not be corrupted by evil communications? Renounce that. 1CO 15:33. 9. Have you been deceived into thinking that your liberty in Christ validates your unfettered thoughts, speech or actions? Renounce that. GAL 5:13; 1CO 6:12. 10. Have you been deceived into thinking that Christ's victory over the powers of darkness means that you can have one foot in each camp or continue the practices of darkness unto Christ? Renounce that. 2KI 17:33; 1CO 10:19-22; 2CO 6:14-18. 11. Have you been deceived into thinking that your situation justifies your corrupt speech? Renounce that. PSA 106:32-33; JAM 1:26. 12. Have you been deceived into thinking that you need only be a hearer of the word but not a doer of the word? Renounce that. JAM 1:22. 13. Have you been deceived into thinking that you can make provision for the lusts of the flesh with impunity? Renounce that. ROM 13:14; PRO 6:27; 5:7-13; 1CO 6:18. 14. Have you been deceived into thinking that simply stopping bad behavior is sufficient? Renounce that. EPH 4:24-32; ROM 12:21. 15. Have you been deceived into thinking that pride is acceptable if it is called something other than pride? Renounce that. MAL 3:14-15; 1PE 5:5-6. 16. Have you been deceived into thinking that your personal prayer life can fall into disrepair and not affect your walk? Renounce that. EPH 6:18. 17. Have you been deceived into thinking that you can cover your sin with anything other than broken-hearted confession and forsaking? Renounce that. PRO 28:13. 18. Have you been deceived into thinking that you need to only forsake bad behavior but not ungodly thoughts or thoughts that lead to bad behavior? Renounce that. MAT 5:27-28; JAM 1:14-15; ISA 55:7. 19. Have you been deceived into thinking that you can trust your heart in the forming of values or doctrine? Renounce that. JER 17:9; PRO 28:26. 20. Have you been deceived into thinking that there is a particular sin that you would never do? Renounce that. ROM 7:8; 1CO 10:12. Fighting Satan and Sin 1-8-12 Page 221. Have you been deceived into thinking that Satan has more power in your soul than does Jesus Christ so you might as well give in to temptation? Renounce that. 1JO 4:4; 1CO 10:13.