“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7
I’m assuming the “submit to God” means obey God. How do we resist the devil? We see Christ resist Satan a few times in Matthew chapter 4. James makes it seem like we resist him once & then the devil will flee. So I guess speaking verbally is the way to go? I don’t know.
I guess speaking verbally is the way to go?
That's one way to go.
How do we resist the devil?
By all means. E.g., Ephesians 4:
27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
Ephesians 6:
13 Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.
1 Peter 5:
8 Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
James 4:
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
OP: James makes it seem like we resist him once & then the devil will flee.
Not exactly.
Resist
ἀντίστητε (antistēte)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 436: To set against; I withstand, resist, oppose. From anti and histemi; to stand against, i.e. Oppose.
This is not aorist indicative but aorist imperative. This is a case of non-past aorist. Resist the devil at once and finish your job of resisting. Then the devil will certainly flee. The whole job is considered as a single discreet event. When the devil comes back, resist again.
It happened to Jesus in Luke 4:
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
"We see Christ resist Satan a few times in Matthew chapter 4." That's got to be the understatement of the millennium.
Heb 5:7 gives us the general gist of how to resist the devil.
He (Jesus) in the days of his flesh, having offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One being able to save him from death, and having been heard because of reverent submission.
Jesus spent his whole life facing temptation. The source of temptation is the devil, so he was constantly resisting him to his final breath.
As James writes,
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you...
Notice Jesus submission was the key to resisting evil - not on his own, for like us, he has no power over evil - this comes from God.
Of course, like we DO, Jesus could have tried to face evil himself, but this would have put his will before God's and that would not work out well.
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. John 6:38
Jesus always (eventually) submitted to God with humility and trusting loyalty. He asks us to do the same.
How do we interpret James 4:7?
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7
Subject yourself to God;
Obey his commandments, follow Jesus example by quoting scriptures when he was tempted by the Devil, and seek God's fruitage of the spirit, some are :
Galatians 5:22-23 NASB
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentlenesses, self-control; against such things there is no law
Resist the Devil;
Flee from evil temptations and his harmful influence, immorality, drunkness, materialism, spiritism, and other evil things which are so prevalent today. Also, pray to God and rely on Him;
Ephesians 6:18 NASB
18 [a]With every prayer and request, [b]pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, [c]be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the [d]saints,
