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Do Christians have the authority to rebuke the devil Question: "Do Christians have the authority to rebuke the devil?" Answer: There are some Christians who believe they not only have the authority to rebuke the devil, but they believe they must be about the business of rebuking him continually. There is no biblical basis for such a belief. It must be remembered that Satan, unlike God, is not omnipresent. He can only be in one place at a time, and the likelihood of his personally harassing individual Christians is miniscule. Of course, he has legions of demons who do his bidding, and they are everywhere seeking to destroy believers’ testimonies. It should be noted here that the Christian cannot be possessed by a demon, in the same way people in the Bible are described as being possessed. As Christians, we need to be aware of the reality of the presence of evil. As we struggle to stand firm in our faith, we must realize that the enemies we are up against are not merely human ideas, but real forces that come from the powers of darkness. The Bible says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" Ephesians 6:12, NAS). Clearly, God has allowed Satan significant amounts of power and influence over the earth, at least for the time being, and always within God’s sovereign control. The Bible tells us that he prowls around like a lion in search of prey, looking for victims to devour (1 Peter 5:  . Satan is the power at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God (Ephesians 2:2). Anyone who is not under the control of the sovereign God is under the control of the devil (Acts 26:18; 2 Corinthians 4:4). Born-again Christians are no longer enslaved to Satan or to sin (Romans 6:6-7), but this does not mean we are immune to the temptations that he puts before us.The Bible does not give Christians the authority to rebuke the Devil, but to resist him. James 4  (NLT) says to "submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."Zechariah 3:2 tells us that it is the Lord who rebukes Satan. Even Michael, one of the most powerful of the angels, did not dare to accuse Satan, but rather said, "The Lord rebuke you" (Jude 1:9). In response to Satan's attacks, a Christian should hide under the covering of Christ. Instead of focusing on defeating the devil, we should focus on following Christ (Hebrews 12:2) and trust that He will defeat the forces of evil. It is not necessary for a Christian to rebuke Satan because God has given us His full armor to stand against evil (see Ephesians 6:10-1 . The most effective weapons we have against the devil are our faith, wisdom, and knowledge about God and His Word. Even Christ, when tempted by Satan, did not rebuke him but answered him with Scripture (see Matthew 4:1-11).To gain victory in spiritual matters, we must maintain a clear conscience and have control over our thoughts. "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Recommended Resource: The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare (Revised & Updated) by Ed Murphy. |
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Hi Dennis, Good post! I agree with you scripture does not teach us to rebuke the devil. As you already quoted James 4: 7 Therefore submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Our submission is to God first, then we only resist the devil we don't rebuke him in the name of Jesus as some do teach. God Bless You Sue I agree Sue, sadly there many things taught that arent backed by scriptures
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bro T:An excellent post, brother! I liked it when I read it 
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Young53M thought that was an excellent discourse on this subject Dennis. I hope that many take this much misguided topic seriously.If some people knew the real truth on this they would feel silly
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8/16/2008 6:08 pm |
I agree completely.
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Hi NJ
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When I read the title to your blog the answer that immediately came to my mind was this, why would we need to rebuke the devil, we have JESUS! All we need to do is pray to Him and He does it for us. This is my opinion. May God Bless You in ABUNDANCE
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8/16/2008 8:04 pm |
100% true
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8/16/2008 8:19 pm |
but i do have a question can demons be seen? i belive they can if you beckon one enough. or am i off base
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I think they can be seen....angels are sometimes seen too
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8/17/2008 12:16 am |
Great post Dennis. I do send demons away in the name of Jesus when I feel something going on. I had my last physical attack 12 yrs ago. God is good! I just kept standing in Jesus, and my relationship with Him, and telling them I was under the blood, and they had no authority here. I also sent the last ones to the abyss. I wasn't sure if it was scriptural. I prayed Jesus if this is ok, lol, and in Jesus' Name I sent them to the abyss and said, Never come out again. I never was attacked physicaly again. I was held down, smothered, terrorised while paralyzed, and other things. Was horrible for many yrs before I came to Jesus, and then for a few months after I came to Jesus. I was raised in the occult, and the demons didn't want to let go. But I didn't rebuke the devil because I knew that scripture about angels argueing over Moses' body. I understood I should pray and cast them away from me. Not try rebuking satan. I do say, get behind me satan sometimes. Thanks for the post. Robin   "Love is Patient..."
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We have been given authority over ALL the power of the enemy...GBU!
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not the Question, question is rebuking
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8/17/2008 4:33 am |
but i do have a question can demons be seen? i belive they can if you beckon one enough. or am i off base
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8/17/2008 9:15 am |
Good stuff, Dennis. Too many Christian's blame things on the Devil rather than taking personal responsibility to submit...and learning to take thoughts captive...and immersing themselves in the Scriptures so that they, as Christ did, can recognize the lies of the enemy. I always think of Flip Wilson...(remember him??) "The Devil made me do it." Nu Uh! 
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Our war is not carnal, it is spititual, that for me says there is a war between God and His Heavenly hosts and satan and his demons, demon is the opposite of an angel, they are real, I've had run ins with demons, terrifying before you know the truth of God and his word, nothing by ANY means will harm us, if we are in christ, amen.. See Luke 10:19 ... That is one great scripture! Jesus rebuked demons and said greater things than He did, we will do .. God bless you Dennis and that is meant nicely ok! Bible says we are to divide the word of truth and this is what we are doing, getting to the bottom of it all, like a good mystery, cant leave it, got to know the truth and the end, amen! And that is what God wants, for us to know the truth and be set free! Cheers
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