The Devil as Our Enemy.

Elsewhere, we see the devil identified as our particular enemy. But don’t take my word for it. Listen to what the Bible says:

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph 6:11).

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Pet 5:8)
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7).

And give no opportunity to the devil. (Eph 4:27).

Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. (Luke 10:19).

For some have already strayed after Satan. (1 Tim 5:15).

Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. (1 Tim 3:7).

I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain. (1 Thess 3:5).

But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? (Acts 5:3).

Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (1 Cor 7:5).

Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. (1 Chron 21:1).

Because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. (1 Thess 2:18).

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat.” (Luke 22:31) .

But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. (2 Cor 11:3).

So that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs. (2 Cor 2:11).

He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. (1 Tim 3:6).

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. (Col 1:13).

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. (Matt 13:19).

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Heb 2:14–15).

Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” (Matt 4:10).

Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. (Rev 12:17; Rev 13 and elsewhere in the book).

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. (Rom 16:20).

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:10).

And they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Tim 2:26)
The weeds are the sons of the evil one (Matt 13:38).

These verses are only a sample of what the Bible says about our enemy. Have we forgotten that we battle not flesh and blood but the devil and dark powers? The Bible hasn’t.

Jesus commands his disciples to love their human enemies (Matt 5:44). We should not treat people like the world treats its enemies (even if they view us as enemies). The Bible is more than clear on who our ultimate enemy is—and these verses are only a sample.

Read through the Bible with a mind to spot such things. The dark powers play a major role throughout the Bible.

Our ultimate enemy is the devil. Jesus says so. He calls Satan “the enemy” (Luke 10:19). He tempted the first parents. He continues to do so. He does so by enticing our passions and desires so that we choose to sin. That’s his work: sin.

The devil is a liar (John 8:44). And it’s been said that the devil’s greatest lie was convincing people he didn’t exist. Maybe. Or maybe his greatest lie is thinking that people, our neighbours, are our ultimate enemy and not him.

A point of clarification: I do not mean enemy in the sense of human war, and I also know that people may hate us in this life and call us an enemy. After all, Jesus says “love your enemies” (Mat 5:44) which implies people will view us as enemies just as we had at one point viewed God as an enemy (Rom 8:7). So there is an obvious sense that we will have enemies in this life.

My point is that whether someone is our enemy or not, we should view people as those whom God loves and whom we should love too. The god of this world has blinded many (2 Cor 4:4). Our response? Be like Jesus and pray: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Our ultimate enemy is the devil.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

What does the word enemy mean? An enemy is someone who hates you and wants to hurt you. Satan hates God and wants to hurt Him. Because you are God's child, Satan hates you and wants to hurt you,too. He wants to destroy everything that belongs to God.

Satan shows that he is your enemy in many ways. He lies to you. The Bible says he is "the father of lies" (John 8:44). He tries to trick you into doing wrong things so you will disappoint God. He tries to get you to sin against God. What does the Bible verse at the top of this page tell you about Satan? He is your enemy; he prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour (destroy).

Is Satan always successful in finding someone to destroy? Does Satan always win? No! You can escape the danger and guard against Satan's attacks. When you obey God, Satan loses. If you have trusted Jesus as your Savior, you have God's Holy Spirit living in you. God is greater than Satan. When you let the Holy Spirit control you, you will obey God and do what is right. You need to be alert, listening to God and watching out for Satan's attacks.