Binding the Strong Man

# 318 - Today's Living Word comes from Mr 3:27 "No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.”

The strong man here is the devil, his house is the world. Three times in the gospel of John, Jesus referred to the devil as the “prince of this world,” Before Jesus arrived on the scene the prince of the world pretty much had his way. Have you ever considered the sheer number of people that were set free from demonic possession after Jesus began His ministry?

This world was a very dark place when Jesus arrived. His first confrontation with the strong man took place after His baptism when the Spirit drove Him out into the wilderness for the big showdown.

The devil threw every temptation known to man at Jesus during those 40 days, but He did not give in, He did not sin. He proved that even as the Man God He was more powerful than the devil, and it was after His return from the wilderness that He began to untie the strong man's victims and set them free.

His persistent and complete resistance to the devil's temptations, kept Him sinless, and it is in steadfast resistance, that the upper hand is gained. Jas 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

If we are to experience victory over the strongman we too must employ the tactic of steadfast resistance, but don't forget the first part of this verse. “Submit to God! That is the real key.

Jesus was perfectly submitted to the Father. He and the Father are One, and therefore He was without sin. When we submit to God, we rely on His sinlessness to gain the upper hand over the powers of darkness. It's not in our sin stained names that we gain the victory, but in the precious, holy name of Jesus.

The key to victory in spiritual battle is to remain in Jesus. He's the champ, not you. It is in remaining in Him that the tactic of resistance is fully employed, and the strong mans hands are tied..

I'm Duane Matz and that's Today's Living Word.