Monday, July 7, 2025

           Paul gave a simple command in Ephesians 4:27. He wrote, “Do not give the devil a foothold.”  The command is a negative one in nature—an admonition not to do something or to refrain from doing something.  Biblical commands are for our good and well-being. These commands protect us from a greater harm or circumstance coming into our lives. God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  God knew what would happen as a result of this disobedience.  Paul too knew that nothing good could ever come from entertaining the devil or the evil ways of the enemy.  So, the apostle issued the order not to do this to the Ephesians (and by extension to all believers even to this day).  A negative command to abstain is not a bad thing.  It is a way of placing guardrails around our mind and heart so we are not led astray by the enemy.
            The command is personal.  It concerns the devil.  He is a real figure.  He is the adversary and the enemy.  He is as real today as anything we can see, hear, touch or smell.  He is the one who rebelled against the authority and glory of God.  He is the leader of all wickedness and evil in the world today.  Paul described the tentacles of the devil a bit further in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  The Bible portrays the enemy as not only the chief adversary of God but also the chief adversary of the Church—God’s people.  Just as the devil makes war against God, he makes war against the people of God as well.    
            We need to be cautious about overstating Satan’s power.  He is NOT the opposite of God.  He is not on equal footing with God.  He is a created being who rebelled against God and lost his position and place in the company of God.  Likewise, we want to be careful not to understate or minimize the power of Satan.  Some people treat him like a fairy tale or ancient mythology.  Satan would be happy for us to overstate or understate him—just so long as we depart from the way the Bible depicts him.  A biblical view of the devil sees him as a strong spiritual force—but also one who was crushed and defeated by Jesus at the cross and the resurrection.  He is already defeated but he still thrashes about violently and ceaselessly. 
            In his command in Ephesians 4:27, Paul used the word “foothold.”  This word comes from military imagery of establishing a beach head or a stronghold from which additional attacks can be launched and additional territory taken and acquired.  When we allow sin into our lives and refuse to see it, to address it and to confess it for God’s forgiveness, we give the devil a foothold.  Unconfessed sin or sin that is enjoyed and welcomed gives the devil a chance to spread his lies, temptations and influence.  To deny the devil a foothold means we do not give him a place or an opportunity where he can further lead us down the road of wickedness and sin. 
            In his book A Deeper Walk, Marcus Warner writes that when we have received God’s forgiveness for a specific sin that we are to commit that area of our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  That area is no longer a foothold or stronghold for the devil and evil.  It is ground that has been claimed for Christ and His glory.  Footholds of the devil can be eradicated from your life.  The enemy can be evicted and removed.  We might have to deal with lies we have believed or told ourselves.  We might have to deal with sins that we have overlooked or minimized.  We will have to put on the full armor of God as protection against the schemes and ways of the devil.  We will have to plant the name and cross of Jesus on those areas that have been reclaimed from the enemy.  I leave you with some final words from Paul in Ephesians 5:11, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”  When we expose the enemy and the worthlessness of his ways, we then deny him a foothold.  Have a great Monday!