Should Christians Rebuke Satan

2 Corinthians 2:11 (ESV)

so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

If you were to tour Martin Luther’s house in Wittenberg today, you would see a dark spot on the wall of his study. The docents of the property attribute this spot to a famous incident in which Luther, awakened in the night by Satan, grabbed an inkwell and threw it at the Tempter. Whether or not the story is true, it made it into a collection of stories by the Brothers Grimm, and has become a kind of historical footnote to the modern practice of Satan rebuke.

The question was posed to me recently, “Should believers directly address the devil or demons in fighting against sin?” In other words, should Christians rebuke Satan?

Maybe you’ve heard Christians talk about rebuking the devil, or have even done some version of it yourself. I remember a decade ago seeing the movie War Room, in which the main character walks around her house “binding Satan” and “casting” him out of her marriage, with the effect that in a nearby hotel her husband abruptly stops his attempts at adultery and returns to his family. Statements like “you have no place here,” or “I command you in Jesus’ name, be gone, Satan,” have worked their way into popular evangelical sermons and media, and down into the homes of Christians.

Should we be giving orders to fallen angels? Should Christians rebuke Satan to fight their sin?

In short, no, Christians should not rebuke Satan. We do not have authority over Satan, and there are no biblical examples of Christians directly addressing Satan or demons in the lives of believers.

Now, let me delve into some relevant texts to explain this a little further.

Acts 16:18 is the only instance in Scripture where a believer directly addresses a demon; it’s Paul exorcising a demon from the fortune-telling girl in Philippi. Jesus, of course, rebukes and commands demons on several occasions in the context of exorcism. He also gave power to the twelve and the seventy-two to cast out demons. However, Christians today have not been given that power, like we have not been given the gift of healing, miracles, tongues, prophecy, or apostleship (for a broader case for the cessation of these apostolic sign gifts, see this article). But even if we were to grant the argument that exorcism is a gift for the church today, the Bible still never gives any example of believers rebuking devils in the lives of other believers.

We do get a handful of instructions in the New Testament about how we should respond to the spiritual attacks of Satan through temptation or through the agency of false teachers. Ephesians 4:27 teaches us to put to death sinful anger in order to “give no opportunity to the devil.” 1 Timothy 3:7 says that an elder must be well thought of by outsiders to avoid “the snare of the devil.” 1 Peter 5:8 exhorts us to watchfulness over our own hearts because “your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” So, believers should not ignore the spiritual threat that Satan and his hordes pose to believers. He is a real enemy who seeks to undermine the work of God in this world, and we dare not be ignorant of his designs.

Two New Testament passages go a step further and command believers to withstand Satan. James tells us to “resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). The word for “resist” means “to stand against” or “to oppose.” It does not imply direct address, but battle readiness, which the context fleshes out as submission to God, repentance from sin, and humbling ourselves before the Lord. One other New Testament passage uses this same word with respect to Satan, and it’s Ephesians 6:13, “Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and have done all, to stand firm.” Both passages enjoin us to be vigilantly aware of the schemes of the devil (2 Corinthians 2:11) and to respond with holy, watchful obedience in God’s strength. Neither passage encourages believers to talk to Satan or bind him.

One other relevant text to note is Jude 8-9, in which Jude writes concerning false teachers,

Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you.’

Apparently, some early false teachers were going around rebuking “the glorious ones,” meaning angelic beings, by asserting their own authority over angels. Jude roundly condemns that presumption by using the illustration of an actual chief angel who, in the realm of an unseen spiritual battle, would not rebuke Satan himself but would utter a kind of imprecation against the devil, leaving the wrath to God. I understand this to mean, in application to us, that we ought not presume to tell Satan to do anything, but rather pray that God would defend us by overruling the devil’s aims.

So, if Scripture doesn’t enjoin us to rebuke Satan in our fight against sin, how do we fight sin? We start by humbly acknowledging our own sinful desires, aware of the spiritual threat of temptation from the world, the flesh, and the devil, and we run to Christ for the strength to put to death the deeds of the body. We should be careful of the temptation to assuage our guilt by seeking explanations for sin outside of ourselves; to blame the people around us, or the culture, and or Satan himself.

The truth is, God holds each of us responsible for what we think, say, and do, even knowing the challenge of Satan’s spiritual assault (Romans 2:6-10). He commands each of us to “abstain from sexual immorality” by giving us the truth of Scripture, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the loving accountability of the body of Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8). It is by the Spirit, not by rebuking Satan, that we can put to death the deeds of the body and live (Romans 8:13). Even if all hell is against us, our God who reigns over every power is for us. And if God is for us, who can be against us?

by Dan Crabtree / The Cripplegate

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