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The answer is a qualified ‘yes.’ It is not that WE have God-given authority over Satan; rather, it is that Christ in us does. As John wrote, “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). This needs to be balanced by Jude 9 where Michael, one of the archangels, would not dare to pronounce a judgment against the devil, but instead said, “The Lord rebuke you.” There is a significant balance here. Although I would not call it blasphemous, I would say that when charismatic and Pentecostal TV preachers ridicule the devil with all sorts of silly taunts such an act is stupid. There needs to be a profound respect for the devil’s POWER, even though we have certainly lost all respect for his person. And we are puny human beings who couldn’t stand up to him for a second—were it not for the indwelling Spirit of God. It is God, not we ourselves, who will fight our battles.
The NET Bible is an extraordinary new translation of the Bible with 60,932 translation notes! Read More