when you trusted Christ as your Savior, all your sins were forgiven. Every sin you have committed has been paid for by Christ’s death on the cross. The Bible says, “.. for your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake, 1 John 2:12.” This is amazing, but you must remember that you have a dangerous enemy, Satan. Satan is very angry with the step you have taken. You have left him and joined the people of Jesus Christ. And Satan will attack anyone who wants to live for Christ. Satan cannot take you out of God’s family, but he will do everything he can to make you fail and be discouraged.
But God has begun a good work in you, and you can be sure that he will continue that work.
The Bible says, “I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it on the day of Jesus Christ, Philippians 1:6.”
It is important for us to understand how Satan attacks us. He often puts wrong ideas into our minds during his trials. He makes us doubt our salvation, he makes us think that we can never overcome temptation, he makes us doubt God’s love.
How can we overcome these attacks of Satan?
We can overcome by using God’s Word!
You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free, John 8:32.
Use God’s Word to overcome these attacks of Satan.
When we know the truth of God, we can overcome Satan’s temptations. The Lord Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 In this lesson, we will consider four things that God wants us to know in order to answer Satan. Bible verses are given for each of these. Be sure to memorize these verses, and use them to answer Satan’s attacks
1. God wants you to know that you are saved.
“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:11,12.
After you are saved, Satan will try to turn you against him. He may ask you questions like these: “You don’t think that you are saved just by believing in Jesus and accepting him as your Savior, do you? That’s so easy to do. Besides, you are the same person you were before. How can anyone know that you are saved?”
When Satan puts these thoughts in your mind, what is your response? You cannot say, “I know I am saved because I have good feelings.” You may not have good feelings. We know we are saved, not by our feelings, but by God’s Word. Our feelings change many times in a day, but God’s Word is always the same. His Word says, “He who has the Son has life.”
We don’t have to wait until death to know that we are saved. We can know that now; that is the clear teaching of the Bible. The Bible says, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life!” John 5:13.
The Lord Jesus not only saves us, but He also protects us. Jesus calls Himself the Great Shepherd and His sheep. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” John 10:27, 28.
The Lord Jesus says that His sheep are those who are truly born again, who hear His voice and follow Him. Jesus says that they shall never perish. This means that they shall never be lost. Nothing can snatch a believer out of the mighty hand of the Father.
To assure us that we shall never lose our salvation, Jesus said that all believers are in the hand of His Father. Nothing can snatch them out of the mighty hand of the Father. Jesus said of His believers, “My Father has given them to me, and he is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” John 10:26.
2. God wants you to know that you can overcome temptation.
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13. Satan can attack you in another way. He can plant in your mind the thought: “Okay, you are a child of God, but you are a failed Christian and you will always be that way. There are some sins in your life that you can never overcome. You have failed before and you will continue to fail.”
Again, our weapon to overcome Satan is the Word of God. Let’s understand this verse and what it says. Since it is a long verse, let’s break it down into parts:
a. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man… This means that you are tempted in the same way that other people are tempted. You are also tempted in the same way that they are.
b. God is faithful. This means that God always does what He says He will do. You can trust that God is faithful.
c. He will not let us be tempted beyond our strength. This means that God promises not to let us be tempted beyond what we can bear.
d. But with the temptation he will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. This means that when you are tempted, God will make a way of escape for you so that you may not be tempted. So you do not have to sin.
Make sure you memorize this verse. This verse is long, and it may take some time to memorize it well, but try until you have it memorized. Then use it when you are tempted. God does not promise us a life in which you will not be tempted. You will be tempted. Sometimes Satan makes us think that we have sinned because we are tempted to do wrong. But temptation is not sin. The Lord Jesus Himself was tempted many times, but He never sinned. We sin when we are tempted. As long as you are in the world, you will be tempted, but with God’s help you can overcome temptation. Blessed is the man who perseveres under
trial. James 1:12.
We should not take Satan and his temptations lightly, nor should we be afraid of him. The Bible says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7. God will give you the strength to overcome temptation, so you do not have to sin.
3. God wants you to know that if you do sin, He will forgive you.
“If we confess our sins, He is merciful and forgiving, and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:6. It is true that we do not have to sin. But it is also true that we still have a sinful nature, and we fail many times. The Bible says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8. What happens when we sin? Immediately Satan comes to accuse us: “Now you did this! You should have been like a Christian, look what you did! Christians should not do this, now God is displeased with you and He will not forgive you.”
When we think about our sins, we must admit that they are wrong and that they are displeasing to God. But what does God say in His Word? He says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us.”
No matter how many times we fail, if we confess our sins to God, He promises to forgive us. God does not love our sins, but He loves us. His love for us never changes. God says in His Word: “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” God sees us in Christ. God loves all people, but He loves His own children especially. You may wonder how God could love us, the weak and sinful, as we are. The reason God loves us so much is because we belong to Christ. When God looks at us, He sees us in Christ. God loves us as His own Son. We may find this hard to believe, but it is true. The Lord Jesus said, “For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God.” John 16:27.
4. God wants you to know that He hears and answers your prayers. “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:24
Being a Christian does not mean that we will not have many problems. The Lord Jesus told us in His Word that we will have many troubles and troubles in this world. What does Satan do when you are in great trouble? He puts doubts in your heart about God’s love and faithfulness. He puts the following thought in your mind:
God does not care about you. If He did, He would not let this happen to you.” Or he will say; God is far away and He has other important things in mind. He is busy, He does not want to pay attention to you and your problems.”
But what does the Bible say? The Bible says that God is our heavenly Father and that He hears and answers the prayers of His obedient children. The Bible says, “The eyes of God are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers.” 1 Peter 3:12.
What should we do about our needs? We should pray to the Father in Jesus’ name. Jesus told us that God is truly our Father. He loves his children and wants to meet their needs. The Bible says that God is richly blessed to all who call on him (Romans 10:12). We should come to him and ask for what we need. Jesus said, “Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:24.
God loves us and wants us to come to Him with our problems and worries. The Bible says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”
God does not promise to answer our prayers when we have sin in our lives and we do not want to give it up. But if we do what pleases Him, He will give us what we ask for. The Bible says, “Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that please Him.” 1 John 3:22. God not only meets our needs, but He also guides us when we trust in Him and pray to Him. We face many important decisions in life. If we had to make the decisions ourselves, we would make many mistakes. But we don’t have to rely on our own wisdom to make decisions. We can pray to God and ask Him what we should do. When we surrender these things to Him and trust in Him, He will guide us. The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5,6.
Remember these four things.
In this lesson we have learned four wonderful things:
1. God wants you to know that you are saved. 1 John 5:11,12
2. God wants you to know that you can overcome temptation. 1 Corinthians 10:13
3. God wants you to know that if you sin, He will forgive you. 1 John 1:8,9
4. God wants you to know that He hears and answers prayers. John 16:24.
When we think about all the wonderful things the Lord has done for us, we want to love Him even more. And the Lord wants us to do the same. The Lord Jesus who lives inside you is a person, who loves you and wants to be loved by you. The Bible says, “We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:16.
Loving the Lord Jesus means putting Him first in your life. He will be happy if you love Him with all your heart and do things that please Him.
