Last time we started a discussion of the mandate of the PPOG that is found in Eph 4:27; where we find a command for defensive action in the spiritual life, in the words " And do not give the devil an opportunity".
The mandate comes from the Greek words "mede didomi" "mede" is translated "do not” and the word translated "give " is "didomi" the second person plural active imperative of "didote" that means to "cause to happen" to "grant or to allow "
The Greek word translated opportunity is "topos", and it means a place or a room or space that can be occupied. In the context it is referring to a place or room in your soul that can be occupied by the devil's lies and propaganda that are the source of deception. Rev 12:9;
So the verse is warning us not to make any room in our soul for the thoughts that are promoted by the devil, or his kosmos system that comprise the kingdom of darkness.
The space that is to be denied the devil and his kosmos are the arrogant mental attitude sins that become motivational evil that eventually leads to functional evil that is the product of the kosmic system.
When one is proud, jealous, vindictive, afraid, bitter, angry, unforgiving, or immersed in self-pity and guilt, one "gives the devil an opportunity".
We saw that just as Bible Doctrine gives the rooms of the soul pleasure and freedom, a lack of doctrine in those rooms leaves space for the devil and produces slavery and bondage
David said in Psa 139:23-24; Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know
my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
The Lord has set us free, but believer's must stand firm in that freedom through their positive volition towards God's word in order to experience it. Gal 5:1;
Unless a believer is free from this room of secret faults or sins that cause bondage in the soul, the believer will never enjoy true freedom. That room will be like a dungeon or a prison in the life of the believer that provides the base of operation for the devil that gives him an opportunity.
The Lord desires to set us all free from this guilt, condemnation, fear, insecurity, self introspection, and low self esteem, John 8:32,
John 8:36; says, If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.
This freedom is established in the believer when they have the right standard of thinking. Rom 12:3;
The result of this freedom is described in Psa 68:6; Isa 61:1, Isa 42:7; Psa 69:33, Psa 146:7b; Jer 15:11;
But is it only possible when believers obey the command to be on the defensive against Satan's strategies and do not give him an opportunity or provide any secret room or space in their soul.
This is because we are in a conflict, and defensive action is a grace function. Believers are dependent upon the grace provision of God to hold their ground and not give place or opportunity to the devil.
Eph 6:13 is a command for defensive action, Pick up and put on the full armor from God that you may always be able to hold your ground in the day that evil attacks you.
The evil day is the day you are attacked by any system of evil.
James 4:7; commands us, Hold your ground against the devil and he will flee from you.
The ground is the spiritual advance and momentum that the believer has achieved from making positive decisions toward doctrine. It is easy to lose one's ground, and lose the doctrine that one once had if the rate of forgetting exceeds the rate of learning and recall.
2John 1:8 warns us, Watch yourselves, that you might not lose what we have accomplished (your momentum and spiritual growth), but that you may receive a full reward ([imputation of your escrow blessings in time and eternity).
1Pet 5:8-9; Be sober minded (attain spiritual self-esteem), be alert, your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for some believer to devour; therefore, hold your ground against him by standing firm in doctrine.
What God has provides for us, He provides in grace, and the defense of grace has no weaknesses because we to not try to establish ourselves we simply rest in reality of the finished work of TLJC that is our unassailable position because of our union with TLJC.
When we try to establish ourselves in our own merit and try to use our human strengths and abilities against Satan, we are defeated, but with grace we win.
This was why Paul's position was always established in Grace. 1Cor 15:10;
Encouragement for this defensive action against Satan is found in 1John 4:4, where he states "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world."
We are to be on the defensive against Satan because he and his angels in the angelic conflict use offensive action. In human history, the sovereignty of God and free will of man coexist by divine decree because human history is an extension of the prehistoric
angelic conflict. This is the reason why mankind was created.
Satan learned that he cannot directly attack the sovereignty of God, which is immutable, so he attacks the volition of God's creatures. Satan tries to make creatures choose against the Creator, and for the creature, and his plan of attack is to use God's own creation and his creatures against him.
He uses this type of attack because he is operating from a position of weakness.
The greatest attack on human volition occurred in the dispensation of the hypostatic union against the humanity of Christ.
Jesus Christ was attacked constantly, and He was tempted beyond anything we will ever know but he never gave the devil a place. John 14:30;
Heb 4:15; For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality; rather our Lord has experienced everything that we have, except sin.
Satan's offensive began in the prehistoric angelic conflict when he revolted against God with the thought, that is revealed in Isa 14:13-14; "I will be like the most high God."
The result of this rebellion against God is stated in Rev 12:3-4; And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth....
The result was a great trial, in which Satan and all fallen angels were condemned to the eternal lake of fire. Matt 25:41; "depart from me you who have been condemned into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels."
Satan was already judged and condemned before the creation of the human race.
However, Satan was granted an appeal, and so mankind was created to resolve the angelic conflict. All the witnesses in the appeal trial are members of the human race. Satan's strategy is designed to attack the human race and corrupt human volition by establishing a place in the souls of mankind at two critical points:
The first is at the point of the Gospel where Satan attacks to obscure the content of the Gospel, obscures the fact that salvation is only by Grace through faith alone in TLJC alone.
2Cor 4:3-4; And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
These are blind to the brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God and his grace that we will ever get.
As the "angel of light" 2Cor 11:14; Satan's objective is to establish systems of religion that look good and appear as "light" to mankind where the works of mankind replace the function and mechanics of the grace of God.
The Gospel of Grace is attacked by the teaching of salvation by works, or faith plus something else like water baptism or repentance, and of course this is a direct attack against the true light that is revealed in God's word that is salvation by Grace through Faith alone in TLJC alone.
Gal 2:16; Knowing that a person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Christ Jesus... for by the works of the law no flesh will be justified."
Rom 3:28; "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Eph 2:8-9; For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.
From this,, we can see that we are not made right with God by means of keeping the law or trying to keep all the rules, but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ.
The Jews had the best system of rules the world has ever seen, but we are told in Gal 3:24; that The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Rom 3:9: What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;
All of mankind starts out in identical condition, in condemnation, as slaves of sin in the devil's world so that God can unilaterally extend his Grace to mankind as merit less creatures. Rom 11:32;
The second point of Satan's attack is on the believer where Satan establishes a base in the believer's soul and attacks their volition in order to try to cause them to reject the application of Bible doctrine in their lives.
Satan seeks to obscure the importance of doctrine through false doctrine, legalism, distractions, and false scales of values.
By neutralizing the importance of Bible doctrine, the believer is hindered from executing the PPOG that results in their glorifying God in the midst of the angelic conflict.
Satan has found that he cannot directly attack God so he must concentrate his attack on humans who are vulnerable to his offensive strategy.
His hope and plan is for mankind to give him a place in their soul where he can establish his viewpoint and from that base of operation in their thinking, get believers to attack the character and nature of God as a third party in the conflict.
This was Satan's whole purpose in attacking Job.
The Book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible, it is written in Archaic Hebrew, and was written long before Moses lived, and long before Moses wrote the first five books in the Bible.
This is important because it means that the very first information that God gave man that was recorded, starts out with a scene in the courtroom of heaven in the midst of the angelic conflict, and a man being entered into testing as a result of the judgment rendered in that courtroom.
This is why the book of Job really gives us insight into the angelic conflict, and why we are here on this earth.
Remember that we are all here for one reason only and that is to bring glory to
God. Isa 43:21; "The people whom I formed for Myself, Will declare My praise."
Isa 43:7; "Everyone who is called by My name, I have created for My glory,"
Let's look at what is recorded about Satan's attack on Job by trying to get him into mental attitude sins fear, self-pity, anger and bitterness that would lead to his rejection and repudiation of God.
Job 1:1, There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and that man was blameless, upright, respecting God, and turning away from evil. This does not mean that he was perfect; he was a sinner and had an OSN just like we all do, but here his spiritual prosperity is being described.
Job is described as being blameless, this does not mean he did not sin, it means that he was quick to acknowledge his known sins to God he was a spiritually mature believer. He was upright, he was advancing in the spiritual life of his age.
His fear, or respect of God is a reference to his personal reciprocal love for TLJC as he was revealed at that time.
The fact that he turned away from evil illustrates his grace orientation and his rejection of both moral and immoral degeneracy.
In verses 6-10, we have a discussion of Satan's offensive action against Job as the representative of believers and the angelic conflict.
Job 1:6; Now there was a day when the sons of God (the angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
One day when the angels came to report to God, and Satan, who was the Designated Accuser, came along with them into God' court.
Job 1:7, And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?" Then Satan answered the Lord and said, "From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it."
Satan started his response by making it clear that while God had put Adam in charge of the world as its ruler, Satan had taken it over after Adam sinned in the garden.
Job 1:8; And the Lord responds to Satan (since you have been roaming about on the earth), "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil."
With the statement "Have you considered my servant Job?" God has entered Job as a witness for God in the historic appeal trial of Satan and the fallen angels and as a result he becomes Satan's target and Satan will create adversity in Job's life and try to establish a base in his soul in an attempt to turn his testimony against God.
Being called a witness for God in the historic appeal trial of Satan and the fallen angels, is the greatest privilege one could ever have as a believer.
We see in Eze 14:14,20; that Job, Noah, and Daniel are described as three of the greatest believers of ancient history.