Defending our Position

In the first lesson, we examined the source of our authority, why Christ has entrusted it to us, and the dominion we are called to exercise because of it. This lesson moves from knowing that authority to understanding how to use it by standing firm against the enemy and defending the ground Christ has already won.

We will explore spiritual vigilance, the armor of God, the legal victory accomplished through redemption, submission to the name of Jesus, and the renewal of the mind. Our purpose is practical: to recognize the enemy’s tactics, resist him in faith, and exercise spiritual authority from a secure identity in Christ.

Be Vigilant: Know Your Enemy

1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

Why must we remain sober and vigilant when we know who we are and how to exercise our authority? This passage gives us the answer. Satan constantly attacks our position, looking for weakness and for some way to regain access—any opportunity to steal, kill, and destroy.

Like a lion looking for a meal, he searches for the easiest target: the spiritually weak, the person separated from the body, or the one who is distracted and has let down their guard. He also looks for those who are sick, hurt, confused, or tired.

These are the general conditions he looks for as he roams about like a roaring lion. Now let’s explore some of the specific things that allow him access to our lives—the things that effectively send him the message, “Yes, you may devour me.”

Obviously, practiced sin is at the top of the list—not an occasional slip-up, but continuing patterns such as gossip, pride, bitterness, selfishness, envy, jealousy, unrighteous judgment, evil speaking, lying, and unforgiveness. Ignorance, spiritual weakness, an undeveloped spirit, speaking evil of leaders, and idolatry can also create openings.

These are only a few of the things that give the enemy access to our lives and relinquish a measure of authority to him. He is always on the prowl, looking for an opening, a weakness, or an opportunity to regain some measure of the authority Christ stripped from him. If we are not vigilant to defend ourselves against his attacks and resist him in faith, he will exploit those openings to hurt us.

The Church has been trained for centuries to accept sickness, weakness, mental illness, and tragedy as normal parts of life. They are not normal; they are trespassers. In many cases, they persist because we have not resisted the devil and exercised the dominion Christ has given us.

As born-again believers, we have been placed in a position of remarkable power and authority. Authority in this context means the right Christ gives us to act in His name, while dominion means faithfully exercising that right over the works of the enemy. Because our position is continually challenged, we must stand and defend it with vigilance. This is what taking dominion looks like in practice.

That need to stand brings us directly to Ephesians 6 and the whole armor of God. The armor and the sword are not presented primarily as tools for attacking and taking new territory; they equip us to hold and defend the position Christ has already secured.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

It takes the whole armor of God and the sword of the Spirit to defend the kingdom of God within us. If we try to stand against the enemy without being properly equipped with the armor and the sword—and without knowing how to use them—we will get whipped every time. The devil knows that if he can keep us from being equipped with God’s armor and weapons, he can deceive us.

This explains the enemy’s strategy. He cannot reverse Christ’s victory or steal the equipment God has provided, so he tries to keep us from putting it on and learning to use it. His primary weapons in that effort are distraction and deception.

The enemy uses subtle deception, constant busyness, and emotional discouragement to pull our focus away from God and leave us spiritually vulnerable.

He attacks our identity by planting lies in our minds about our worth, our past mistakes, or our future, causing us to forget that we are covered by the blood of Christ. He offers tempting, comfortable alternatives to strict obedience, making small sins seem harmless until he gains a foothold. He fills our schedules with religious activity and bombards us with the endless noise of social media and the constant drama of news and television.

He also uses pride and envy to keep our eyes fixed on other people rather than on God’s purpose and promises for our lives. He stirs up arguments, gossip, and isolation to fracture Christian community and strip away the mutual support we need.

He misquotes the Bible, just as he did with Jesus, to make these things appear acceptable or to make God’s Word seem confusing. If he can draw enough Christians into these deceptions at the same time, they begin to believe that this condition is normal. And that, my friend, describes much of the Church today.

Redemption Is a Legal Matter

The basis for our authority is redemption. What Christ did at the cross was not merely a religious event; it was a legal transaction of eternal significance. By “legal,” I mean that Christ’s death and resurrection decisively changed humanity’s standing and the enemy’s claim over us: forgiveness was secured, bondage was broken, and authority was restored.

Revelation 1:18 declares that Christ holds the keys of hell and death, while Colossians 2:15 says that He disarmed principalities and powers, made a public spectacle of them, and triumphed over them.

He emerged from Satan’s domain with a complete, total, and irreversible victory over every force that had held humanity in bondage. Then He sat down because our redemption was complete.

Christ’s sitting down is significant. It is the posture of a legal advocate who has made his final statement: the case is closed, and the victory requires no further litigation. Jesus sat down because it was finished.

The enemy was defeated, and the legal ground he had occupied was removed. Humanity’s guilt was answered through Christ, and the authority and power lost through sin were completely restored.

Because the verdict has already been rendered, the believer approaches the enemy from a place of victory rather than to fight for victory. Spiritual warfare is therefore not an attempt to persuade God to defeat Satan again; it is the faithful enforcement of what Christ has already accomplished. The believer stands in that superior position and exercises dominion over the works of the devil.

There is a vast difference between fighting an enemy whose defeat is uncertain and enforcing a legal verdict over an enemy who has already been defeated. The first is exhausting and produces anxiety. The second is the authoritative act of a child of God who knows the case is closed and ensures that the defeated party complies with the judgment.

Every Knee Shall Bow at the Name of Jesus

Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

That victory also explains the authority carried by the name of Jesus. Every being in the universe is subject to that name, and Christ has entrusted His name to His body. Yet the name is not a formula or a magic pill; it is exercised through relationship with and submission to the One it represents.

Have you ever heard the name of Jesus used in prayer, commanding sickness or devils to leave, yet seen no result? I have, and it troubled me for years. Eventually, I asked God why sickness and devils did not bow and obey when I spoke the name of Jesus. I will never forget what He said to me that day:

“For you to walk in the authority of my name, YOUR knee must be the first to bow”

This brings us to the reality of submission. Submission does not earn Christ’s authority; it aligns our will with the Lord whose authority we carry. Carelessly using the name of Jesus while walking in disobedience is taking the Lord’s name in vain. The enemy does not fear a person who does not fear God. He fears that name in the mouth of a believer who is completely submitted to the King of Kings and has laid their sovereign crown of free will at the feet of Jesus.

When submission and faith come together, the name of Jesus functions as the instrument through which the believer exercises Christ-given authority. The next question is whether the believer’s thinking is prepared to act from that submitted position.

Developing the Inner Man

This is where the renewal of the mind becomes essential. A renewed mind is one whose assumptions, judgments, and responses are being reshaped by God’s Word until they agree with the believer’s identity and position in Christ. The unrenewed mind remains the enemy’s primary advantage—not because Christ’s authority is absent, but because that authority may not be recognized or exercised with confidence.

Christ’s authority is legally present, complete, and fully available. But an unrenewed mind will not consistently exercise it with settled certainty. Spiritual authority requires a mind that knows its identity, understands what it carries, and responds according to truth rather than pressure.

Romans 12: 1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 12 joins the two ideas developed in this lesson. Verse 1 describes our submission—the first knee that must bow. Verse 2 describes transformation through a renewed mind. Submission places our will under God’s rule; the renewed mind aligns our thinking and believing to Christ’s finished work. Together, they enable us to demonstrate or “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

It is God’s will for you and me to exercise mastery and dominion over Satan and his works. We do not manufacture that authority through our own effort. We receive it through Christ, express it through submission, and learn to exercise it through the daily renewal of our minds to His Word and His ways.

This distinction explains why some believers understand the doctrine of authority yet struggle to exercise it. The authority itself is not absent or incomplete. The difficulty lies in trying to act from a mind that has not yet become settled in the believer’s identity and position in Christ.

An unrenewed mind still interprets circumstances through present facts, changing feelings, and personal performance. Under pressure, those measures can speak more loudly than God’s Word and weaken the believer’s confidence.

A renewed mind responds differently. Through consistent feeding on the Word, fellowship with the Father and with believers of like faith, coupled with the daily declaration of identity in Christ, truth becomes the believer’s governing reference point. From that place, the believer can exercise authority with confidence and resist the devil until he flees.

Walking in dominion is not a single exercise of authority but a deliberate, intentional, daily process. As the submitted believer’s thinking aligns with God’s Word, knowledge of authority becomes a settled conviction, and that conviction becomes the birthplace of decisive action. The first place a Christian must take dominion is in their own heart. To stand as Satan’s master, we must first master the kingdom within us by renewing our mind.

This is the first step to standing as a master over circumstances rather than an intimidated victim. The believer with a renewed mind occupies a superior position in Christ, takes dominion, and enforces that position. The enemy has no answer to authority exercised in the name of the One who has already defeated him.

The relationship among these truths is now clear: Christ’s completed work establishes our legal position; submission aligns our will with His; and a renewed mind equips us to act from that position under pressure. These elements do not create Christ’s victory; they prepare the believer to stand in it and enforce it consistently.

Together, they produce exactly what the enemy fears most;

A Christian who is legally entitled and fully equipped to enforce Christ’s victory and take dominion over all the works of the devil.

In the next lesson, we will explore how spiritual authority is exercised and what is required to take dominion, stand our ground, and destroy the works of the enemy.

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JESUS IS COMING!