Revelation 12:11
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11 And[kai] they[autos] overcame[nikao] him[autos] by[dia] the blood[haima] of the Lamb,[arnion] and[kai] by[dia] the word[logos] of their[autos] testimony; [marturia] and[kai] they loved[agapao] not[ou] their[autos] lives[psuche] unto[achri] the death.[thanatos] KJV-Interlinear
11 "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death. NASB
Overcame, ‘nikao,’ means to subdue, to overcome, to prevail, to conquer, to be victorious.
And they, here, is a general reference to believers throughout history, and specifically to believers who will come out of the Tribulation.
Far too many folks believe that they have to do something in order to fight or defeat Satan. They try incantations, or squinting their eyes, exorcisms, rituals, magic formulas, or simply rebuking or yelling at Satan, or believing really, really hard that their intent is more powerful than Satan. And of course these things are utter nonsense.
Satan is far more powerful than any human who ever lived, with one exception of course, which is Jesus Christ. But as for you or I, none of us have any concept of the power of Satan, nor can we ever match it on a physical level.
However, on the spiritual level, we do have access to the means of defeating Satan, but that too is Gods doing and not ours. We are merely the beneficiary of Gods power and ability in the fight against Satan, and not the means.
Three methods are specified in accomplishing our prevailing over Satan, ‘the blood of the Lamb,’ ‘the word of their testimony,’ and ‘loving not their lives unto death.’
And if you think about each of these categories really carefully, then you will see that they refer to the Cross and salvation, bible doctrine and spiritual growth, and finally the perseverance of living the spiritual life to maturity while in fellowship throughout ones life and not pursuing the carnal aspects of life.
This is your daily bible study as pursued with a passion of desire for learning the things of God and of life, while in fellowship.
Not too many folks have this correct passion. They prefer their own carnal passion of emotion, conveniently ignoring Gods method for the spiritual life, and substituting their own preferences and lifestyle (works), in its place. The carnal over the spiritual is the preference of loving ones life over that which Gods prescribes.
Note, that victory over Satan means faith in Christ, for salvation (blood of Christ) over that of eternal condemnation.
Victory over Satan means daily bible study (word of their testimony) for learning and growing up in the spiritual life, for you cannot speak that which you do not know, and you cannot know that which you have not learned.
Victory over Satan means loving not ones own life, or living in the carnal world, but rather living in fellowship and therefore by the word of Gods power, not by the enticements or adulations of the world.
Note, that nowhere in here is there room for ones own energy or effort. There is no room for ones arrogance of sincerity or purpose. There is no room for the energy or perceived power of human activity of any kind.
Neither you nor I have any power over Satan, except through the defense that God provides us through bible doctrine.
You can learn kung fu and karate and lots of other words. You can learn to shoot weapons of all kinds. You can learn magic tricks and cute little rhymes of incantations even in Latin. And none of these will gain you even an inch in the battle against Satan, who will laugh at you for being naïve.
Do not, however go overboard the other way and believe that you can solve your life’s problems by prayer alone. Fools can go to the extremes in both directions.
Life’s problems are not a fight against Satan, but require the application of responsibility as well as doctrine.
Therefore, even though Satan has his hands in everything in life, to its ruin, we defeat him through doctrine, which is training for life, for responsibility, for a relationship with God through Christ, and much more.
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