In his letter to the Ephesians Paul warned the Christians not to give a foothold to the devil (4:27). I read that the word translated foothold could also be translated ‘opportunity’ or ‘chance’. We are not to give the devil a chance to exert influence over us.
This warning not to let the devil have a chance to exert influence over us is prefaced by the admonition, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger” (4:26b). Excessive anger is one of the means whereby we can surrender influence in our lives to the Evil One. Can you see the danger of holding on to grudges and of dwelling upon past hurts? The way we resist the devil in this regard is by being people of grace who show mercy and forgive!
‘[Paul] probably did not consider this particular vice as the only point of vulnerability for diabolic exploitation. Paul mentioned quite a number of vices in the larger context of this passage, including lying, stealing, dirty talk, bitterness and malice. It is likely that any sinful activity that the believer does not deal with by the power of the Spirit can be exploited by the devil and turned into a means of control over a believer’s life. Therefore, Christians need to resist’ (Clinton Arnold).
This warning not to let the devil have a chance to exert influence over us is prefaced by the admonition, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger” (4:26b). Excessive anger is one of the means whereby we can surrender influence in our lives to the Evil One. Can you see the danger of holding on to grudges and of dwelling upon past hurts? The way we resist the devil in this regard is by being people of grace who show mercy and forgive!
‘[Paul] probably did not consider this particular vice as the only point of vulnerability for diabolic exploitation. Paul mentioned quite a number of vices in the larger context of this passage, including lying, stealing, dirty talk, bitterness and malice. It is likely that any sinful activity that the believer does not deal with by the power of the Spirit can be exploited by the devil and turned into a means of control over a believer’s life. Therefore, Christians need to resist’ (Clinton Arnold).
1 comment:
very true.
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