Why did I say that the real battle is not between God and the devil, but for our allegiance - to God or the devil?
In Romans 7:14 to 23, Paul described a struggle that we all go through. He said that while he knows that the law is good, he sometimes finds himself disobeying them. It is just like the famous song that goes, "Gusto kong bumait, pero di ko magawa." I do not know about you, but I continue to struggle with this concern every day, even when I am alone. Because of this, I realized that my real enemy is my sinful nature.
Romans 6:16 says, "Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?" While the devil is a defeated foe, I realized that we give him the power to hurt God when we choose to sin.
But how do we overcome our sinful desires? In Romans 7:25 Paul said, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand, I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin." Before Jesus can give us a victorious life, we must first pledge our allegiance to Him. Just like the case of the two thieves who were crucified with Him on the cross. One of them chose to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and went to heaven. While the other decided to mock and reject Jesus and went to a place that welcomes arrogant people like him. I do not think the second thief willingly gave his soul to Satan, but when he rejected Jesus Satan accepted him with open arms.
Jun Arro said there are three things that tempt us - the flesh, the world, and the devil. But there is only one thing that can make us sin, our sinful nature. But how can we have victory over this nature? In my case, the only thing that helped me was when I decided to pursue God with intimacy. As I spent time knowing Him by studying His Word daily, I found it easier to obey Him as I learn to love Him more each day.
Jun and his wife gave us a wonderful acronym to guide our walk: IOS - Intimacy, Obedience, and Study (modified). This is the operating system that should drive our lives. Success will naturally follow when we follow this.
So seek the Lord with intimacy so that you can easily give your allegiance to Him. When you do this He will give you a life that overflows and Satan will have no power to stop Him.
