Disarming the Devil

J U LY 6

by Nicholas T. Batzig

C O N T E M P O R A R Y C H R I S T I A N I T Y , G O D ' S G R A C E , & T E M P TAT I O N

L
ast spring, a spider wove a cobweb across the
entryway to our house. In the evening, it took the
cobweb down and it spun a new one in the same spot
the very next morning. This event recurred over a period of
several weeks. At rst, I simply sought to avoid the cobweb by
sneaking under it whenever I came or went. (I’m sure that our
neighbors thought I was practicing the Limbo whenever they
saw me doing this.) A er about a week or so, I realized that
something had to be done. I took a broom and knocked the
web down. Much to my frustration, this didn’t solve the
problem. A new web hung across the front of our entryway
the very next morning. Finally, I did what I should have done
at the outset—I killed the spider. Problem solved.

Many people approach sin the same way that I initially dealt
with the cobweb. Most simply seek to avoid dealing with sin
as long as they possibly can. Others attempt to get rid of their
sin by cleaning themselves up (Luke 11:24–25). A real and
lasting solution, however, required Christ to come and
conquer the one who conquered man. It is only in this way
that believers can live in the full enjoyment of deliverance
from the guilt and power of sin. It was not sufficient for Christ
merely to lay down His life in order to atone for the sins of His
people—He also had to conquer the evil one. The Apostle
John intimated as much when he wrote, “The reason the Son
of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John
3:8). The conquest of the evil one in the death of Jesus is an
essential part of the work of redemption in that it results in
liberty and victory for those for whom Christ died (1 John
2:14).

A er the creation of the world, Satan wove a web of deception

and lies in order to lead our rst parents in rebellion against
God. Ever since the fall of mankind, “the whole world lies in
the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). So powerful is the
devil’s in uence on humanity as a whole that Scripture
describes him as “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2). All
the sin of men and women against God occurs in tandem with
the stratagems of Satan. Having led mankind in rebellion
against God, Satan now manifests his in uence over men in a
variety of ways. False teaching (1 Tim. 4:1) and false living
(John 8:44; Eph. 4:26–27; 1 Tim. 3:6–7) are foremost among his
principal strategies.

In addition to the manifold temptations of Satan, he also has a

number of psychological weapons in his armory. The evil one
“has the power of death” and “through fear of death [subjects
men] to lifelong slavery” (Heb. 2:14–15). Satan loves to keep
men and women in bondage to sin and in the fear of death.
Even believers are subject to Satan’s oppressive attacks, but
the devil assaults us uniquely. All of the devil’s malice is
aimed at the people of God so that Scripture refers to him as
“the accuser of the brethren.” The evil one loves seeking to
condemn those whom Christ has redeemed.

In order to deal with these aspects of Satan’s work, the Son of

God came into the world. Jesus came to conquer the one who
conquered man. In that rst great promise of the gospel (Gen.
3:15), God swore to send a Redeemer who would crush the
head of the serpent. In order to redeem those who were fallen
in Adam, the Redeemer had to be a man—born of a woman. In
order to conquer the one who conquered man, the Redeemer
also had to be more than a man. He had to possess such divine
origin and power that He could overthrow the rebellious
kingdom of the evil one and reestablish the righteous rule of
God in the hearts of His people. The seed of the woman is
none other than the God-man, Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul
drew a straight line from Genesis 3:15 to Christ when he
wrote, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth
his Son, born of woman, born under the law to redeem those
who were under the law” (Gal. 4:4).

Jesus died to take away the devil’s power

over the consciences of believers.

When Jesus began His earthly ministry, He did so by facing off

against that great serpent of old in the wilderness (Luke 4:1–
13). As the last Adam, Jesus subjected Himself to an onslaught
of temptations by the evil one. By virtue of His obedience, the
Son of God struck a decisive blow to the powers of darkness.
From the wilderness to the cross, Jesus was destroying the
kingdom of darkness by obeying His Father, proclaiming the
gospel and casting out demons. When He hung on the cross,
Jesus fully and nally “disarmed the rulers and authorities and
put them to open shame, by triumphing over them” (Col.
2:15). The death of Jesus on the cross was the exorcism of all
exorcisms (John 12:31). The last Adam was cleansing the
world of its arrogating occupant. By His death, Jesus defeated
the evil one and took all of his weapons away from him. On
His way to the cross, Jesus explained that He was going to
“bind” the strong man (Matt. 12:29; Rev. 20:2, 4) and deliver
captives. The hymn “Praise to the Holiest in the Height,”
captures the essence of the victory of Jesus, the last Adam,
over the evil one:

O loving wisdom of our God!

When all was sin and shame,
a second Adam to the ght
and to the rescue came.

O wisest love! that esh and blood,

which did in Adam fail,
should strive afresh against the foe,
should strive and should prevail.

There are now two main bene ts that ow from Jesus’ defeat
of Satan. First, the devil is bound so that the gospel may
spread throughout the nations for the conversion of God’s
elect. The devil is bound so that he can no longer deceive the
nations to the degree that he did before the incarnation (Rev.
20:2). Before Christ came into the world, the nations were
completely under the darkness and enslaving power of
idolatry. This was Satan’s premier stronghold. He is a liar and
the father of lies. He holds men in captivity by holding them
under the lying deception of false teaching and beliefs. In the
death of Jesus, God so bound the devil that the gospel might
go to the nations. The spread of the gospel to the nations in
the new covenant is a direct manifestation of the binding of
the evil one. The preaching of the gospel sets a free course for
the conversion of God’s people “from every nation, from all
tribes and peoples and languages.” We now go boldly into the
world to proclaim what our Savior has done in His death on
the cross. Interestingly, the very message that we proclaim for
the salvation of the nations includes the message of the
binding of the One who deceives the nations. When we
preach the devil-defeating, sin-atoning, wrath-propitiating,
death-conquering death of Jesus, men and women are set free
from the enslaving power of Satan.

Second, the devil is bound so that believers may have their

consciences protected from Satan’s malicious accusations.
Jesus died to take away the devil’s power over the consciences
of believers. Christ has conquered Satan, sin, and death. In
doing so, He has taken away the devil’s power to keep
believers in bondage to the fear of death.

When believers sin, the devil and his cohorts stand ready to
heap condemnation on them. Among the thoughts he speaks
in the consciences of believers are these: “How could you do
this? You’re not a Christian. A believer would never do
something like this. You have surely out-sinned the grace of
God.” These and other such accusations the devil hurls at
believers. Sinclair B. Ferguson puts it succinctly when he says,
“Satan trades in accusations.” However, just as Christ took
away the devil’s power to hold men under the bondage of the
fear of death, He took away the devil’s power to paralyze
believers under his condemning accusations. Now, the
 believer has the strongest possible con dence because of the
victory of the Redeemer over Satan and sin. As Charitie
Bancro put it,

When Satan tempts me to despair,

And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God, the Just, is satis ed
To look on Him and pardon me.

Rev. Nicholas T. Batzig (@Nick_Batzig) is an associate editor

for Ligonier Ministries. He blogs at Feeding on Christ.

Covering topics including Contemporary Christianity, God's Grace, &

Temptation.

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