Third, those who overcome the devil do not love “their soul-life even unto death.” As a result of Adam’s fall, Satan joined himself to man’s soul-life, man’s self (Matt. 16:23-24). Hence, to overcome Satan we should not love our soul-life; rather, we should hate and deny it (Luke 14:26; 9:23). This kind of persons do not love their soul-life unto death. That is, even at the point of being martyred, they still do not love their soul-life. They are persons who are willing to be martyred.
If we want to overcome Satan, we must have no self-love or self-care. Loving ourselves and caring for ourselves cause us to lose the position of warfare and to be unable to fight against the enemy. Therefore, in order to overcome Satan, we must not love our soul-life. As long as we love our soul-life, we are dust, good to be food for Satan. But if we do not love our soul-life, that is, deny our soul-life, Satan will have no ground. This is the way for us, through experiencing the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, to overcome Satan.
To be subject to God and to be humble toward God (James 4:10; 1 Pet. 5:6) enable the believers to withstand the devil, that is, to stand against the devil. James 4:7 says, “Be subject therefore to God; but withstand the devil, and he will flee from you.” To be proud toward God is to side with God’s enemy, the devil. To be humble toward God is the best strategy to fight God’s enemy; it always causes him to flee from us.
The devil is as a roaring lion, howling in hunger, walking about, constantly and aggressively seeking for prey, that is, seeking someone to devour. Therefore, we need to be sober and watchful, being firm in our faith, in order to withstand him (1 Pet. 5:8-9). Peter charges us to withstand our adversary, the devil, because he accuses us day and night. However, to withstand does not mean to resist or to struggle against. Rather, it is to stand firmly as a rock on the ground of our faith before the roaring devil. In 1 Peter 5:9 faith refers to the believers’ subjective faith, which is their faith in God’s protecting power and loving concern.
In nothing should we give any place to the devil. In Ephesians 4:26-27 Paul says, “Be angry, yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your indignation, neither give place to the devil.” According to the context, to continue in anger is to give place to the devil. If we hold on to our anger, we are actually welcoming the devil. However, if we relinquish our anger, we close the door to the devil and give him no place.
Satan is subtle in taking advantage of the believers. Satan, the evil one, is behind the scenes in every scheme, and he works according to his schemes. His schemes are his plans, plots, devices, designs, wiles, intentions, and purposes. In 2 Corinthians 2:11 Paul reminds us not to “be taken advantage of by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” This verse indicates that, even in the church life, Satan may be behind the scenes. Even forgiving a brother may involve not only the church but also the devices of Satan (vv. 6-10), for in such a matter Satan may be crouching, looking for a way to execute his evil plans and devour the weak ones. Therefore, we need to be aware of the subtlety of the enemy.
When Satan came to Eve, he came as a serpent. When he came to the Lord Jesus in Matthew 16, he came through Peter. However, the Lord Jesus was on the alert and realized that Satan was in front of him. For this reason, the Lord said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!” (v. 23). Just as Satan came to the Lord Jesus through Peter, Satan may come to us through a certain person. Therefore, we need to be on the alert and know the devices of the devil.
The believers can overcome Satan because they are guarded by the faithful Lord from the evil one. In 2 Thessalonians 3:3 Paul says, “The Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.” We are guarded by eternal comfort and good hope (2:16-17). Only the eternal life can guard us from the evil one. The whole world lies in the evil one (1 John 5:19), but we have a part within us that has been regenerated, born of God, and has the life of God. The divine life with which we have been born of God will keep and guard us from the evil one (vv. 18, 4; 3:8-9).
The believers need to experience the dispensing of the Divine Trinity in the matters of not loving the world and of overcoming Satan, the devil. God created man to live on the earth for the fulfillment of His purpose, but His enemy, Satan, in order to usurp the God-created man, has formed an anti-God world system on this earth. Therefore, the world denotes the enemy’s scheme, system, and organization to usurp the place of God in man and eventually to gain full possession of man.
The ground for us to overcome the evil one is that we love God, not love the world or the things in the world, including the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life. The lust of the flesh is the passionate desire of the body. The lust of the eyes is the passionate desire of the soul through the eyes. The vainglory of life is the empty pride, boast, confidence, assurance, and display of material things of the present life. If we keep the love of God with which He has loved us, we will not love the world or the things in the world. The world is against God the Father, and the things in the world are against the will of God. The world and its lust are passing away, but God, His will, and those who do the will of God abide forever. Paul charges us not to be conformed, fashioned according to this age. Therefore, instead of living according to the modern fashions of this age, we need to flee to the Triune God and His Word.
Through the dispensing of the processed Triune God the believers can overcome Satan, the devil. We can overcome Satan because we apply the blood of the Lord Jesus as our covering by taking the Lord’s blood to counter Satan’s accusations and attacks. We can overcome Satan because of the word of our testimony, which is our testimony that the devil has already been judged by the Lord. Furthermore, in order to overcome Satan, we should not love our soul-life but rather we should hate it, denying our soul-life, and even be willing to be martyred. James says that to be subject to God, to be humble toward God, is the best strategy to fight God’s enemy, because being subject to God always causes the devil to flee from us. Peter says that the devil is as a roaring lion, howling in hunger, walking about and constantly and aggressively seeking for prey, that is, seeking someone to devour. Therefore, we need to stand firm as a rock on the ground of our faith in order to withstand our adversary, the devil. In nothing should we give any place to the devil. The whole world lies in the evil one, but we have a part within us that has been regenerated, born of God, and has the life of God. The divine life with which we have been born of God will keep and guard us from the evil one.