4. Submit to God and then resist the devil.

Submit yourselves therefore to God; resist the devil and he will flee from you.  James 4:7

I’ve left the best till last.  The most powerful way to use authority is to exercise it in a way that facilitates holiness and repels evil.  Here are the two directives from James.  

Submit.  Resist.  

Both are deliberate.  Both require full commitment to follow through.  

To submit is to surrender any place where I’ve held back an area of my life in order to exercise control over it.  I’ve rejected God’s control and perverted authority. Rebellion creates an open door to the enemy. 

But when I pursue God with my whole heart, when I am smitten by His loveliness and decide to live in His presence, resisting is easy and instinctive. I smell something foul a mile away. That’s because chasing God relentlessly culminates in an aversion to the devil.  I will not just object to his temptations; they will repulse me.  I will react with bile in my throat to his suggestions.  

Resisting is an aggressive term in Greek ~ like throwing someone off my property who is coming to do me harm. Self-centered autonomy makes me unable to resist, while submitting to God enables it. 

A holy life builds impenetrable fence lines.  God-chasers hate sin and long to kill it.  Timbers on the ground get repaired and nailed upright.  Never have I exercised spiritual authority in a more powerful way than when I submit my whole self to God and resist evil.  The kingdom of darkness loses ground and the kingdom of God is advanced.  My choices matter!