Do we really have power over the devil? Pretty broad question, I guess. And, depending on your faith background, the answers are going to vary greatly. Probably most Christians would say “yes”, we, as believers in Christ, have power over the devil. After all, Jesus sent out His disciples expecting them to cast out demons in His Name. However, in that case, the power over the devil didn’t reside in the disciples, but rather in the Name of the One they served.

So, do we have power over the devil?

My suspense novel The Strange Man hits stores all across the United States on February 1st. Inspired by my Christian faith as well as my passion for the fun monster movies and spooky stories of my childhood (the ‘80s), I wrote this book as a thrill ride, yes, but also as an examination of faith. One of the questions I explore is: How much power do we really have over the devil?

In The Strange Man, our hero is Dras Weldon, a young twenty-something who is struggling with growing up. His is a life of ease, of entertainment, and of convenience—but the real world, the supernatural world, with all its troubles, seriousness, and consequences, comes barreling down on him and Dras is forced to rediscover a faith that he’s let atrophy over the years in order to stand against the Strange Man, a demon intent on stealing the soul of Dras’ best friend Rosalyn. With his friend’s soul on the line, Dras questions himself: “What can I do against the devil?”

The Strange Man brings horror and bloodshed with him, and, in a key scene in the book, a victim calls on the Name of the Lord to be delivered from the monster…but dies anyway.

In the editing process, one of my editors took special note of this development and wondered what I was inferring. Was I showing that Christ had abandoned this character to death? Was my intention to say that calling on the Name of the Lord wasn’t “enough” to stand against evil? What was I saying?

It’s a difficult question, tantamount to the age old “Why do bad things happen to good people?” or “If God is love, why is there evil in the world?”

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Hebrews chapter eleven. “The Hall of Faith” as some call it. Here, the Bible recounts the great heroes of the ages and all that they accomplished through their faith. The armies they overthrew, the evil men they subdued, the lives they touched. But actually, it’s the last part of the chapter that I love the most.

“…and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.”
Hebrews 11: 36-40 NASB

Here we have the B side. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather belong to the first group. Yet, to me, this second group has the greater testimony of faith, because they saw no reward for it, this side of death. They were strong in their resolve, dedicated to the Lord, and no doubt cried out to Him in their time of need, but they died at the hands of their enemies. I’d say the devil scored a victory the day these men and women died. Or did he?

Do we have power over the devil?

In The Strange Man, our hero combats the demonic forces by his faith. As his faith holds strong, his defenses do as well, but when he experiences doubt and self-defeat, Evil’s strength grows. Is this Biblically accurate?

Personally, I believe that Christ’s strength is sufficient. Even when we are undeserving of His favor, even when we struggle with sin, even at our worst, Christ is still faithful. I’ve experienced this in my own life and seen it at work in those around me. I’ve seen God’s blessings come, even when I’d all but given up.

At the same time, however, I know that in my life, my problems seem larger when I give into my fear of them. The subject of the devil is an important one—as we need to be educated and “alert” against him, as the Bible warns—but it’s a delicate one, too. I think that Jude 1:9 indicates we should have a healthy respect of the devil. That passage in Jude says that there was a time when the archangel Michael and Satan quarreled over Moses’ body and, in the end, Michael left the rebuking of the devil up to God. And that’s Michael. Protector of Israel. Powerful archangel. If Michael knew enough that the battle against Satan belonged to the Lord, how much more should we, mere mortals? The Strange Man is fiction and meant to be fun as well as challenging, but in real life, I think it’s important to be careful not to make light of the power of the devil. I certainly don’t think we need to be kicking down doors “rebuking” all over the place. Real life encounters with demonic possession or influences need to be taken very seriously with real prayer, patient wisdom, and reliance on God.

James 4:7 gives us instructions on how we can combat the devil, and it’s very interesting. James writes “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Notice that we’re told to submit to God first. I’d venture to say that if we have any hope of combating evil in our lives, this is our first stop. It’s God’s power that delivers us, not our own doing, correct? Once we’ve submitted to God—surrendered to His will—then James says we can resist the devil and he will flee. He won’t be destroyed, but we’ll have survived the encounter.

I’m not one who sees demons under every rock. Sometimes I think that, as Christians, we blame too many of the world’s problems on the devil when, in reality, it’s humanity’s own doing. But I think that there is a supernatural enemy out there “prowling like a lion seeking someone to devour” as the Scriptures put it. Do we have power over this one? No. Not in ourselves. Ultimately we have to put ourselves in the hands of God, by faith, trusting that His will be accomplished. Even in our times of “defeat”. As terrifying as that thought can be, it’s one we can only face with total reliance on God. And if we’ve stood by our faith, held to our convictions, and resisted the devil in our hearts—even if we died physically, I’d say we won the war.

Perhaps that’s our power over the devil.

What do you think?

— Blog by Greg Mitchell, Author of The Strange Man – now available for pre-order on Amazon