Your Adversary the Devil

None of us can presume our obedience in the Christian life. All of us must fight the good fight of faith. We all have the same adversary. Peter says that our adversary is the devil. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Pet. 5:8). Satan seeks to destroy us; so, we must restrain ourselves (our thinking, our actions, our desires, our emotions, our speech), and we must be ever vigilant, ever watchful for the worldly devices that Satan entices us with.

Paul warns us, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (I Cor. 10:12). Just because you are saved doesn’t mean that Satan cannot get a foot hold in your life and cause you to fall. Temptation is very powerful, and we cannot play around with it. We cannot think it to be less evil than it is and get comfortable with it. Saved people still have the flesh, and we must mortify the deeds of the flesh.

Fight hard against sin. Fight hard against temptation. We are in a spiritual battle, with spiritual landmines on every side. Watch out for them. Avoid them. Live by faith. Rely on God’s grace. “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise” (Eph. 5:15).