04 Aug Badge (discovering that authority is the channel through which God’s power flows): Part 1

Christians love to say, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  The only problem with that is the Bible doesn’t say that!  “Now wait a minute Pastor Jim, you are supposed to be a diligent student of the Bible.  The Bible does say that!”  No, the Bible tells us in James 4:7, “Submit yourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  Over the years this has been one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible!  

Please allow me to break these verses down from the Greek.  The Greek word translated “submit” is hupostasis.  This is a Greek compound word “hupo” which means “under” and “tasso” which means “arrange.”  Put them together and “submit” literally means to “arrange yourself under.”  The second word I want to highlight is the word “resist.”  This is the Greek word “antihistemi” where we get our English word “antihistamine” from.  It too is a compound Greek word… “anti” which means “against,” and “stemi” which means “to stand.”  Put those words together and it literally means “to stand against.”  

Lastly, let’s bring out the word “flee.”  This is the Greek word “pheugi” which means “to run away, escape or vanish.”  When we put all these powerful Greek words together this verse could be translated like this:   “Arrange yourself under God and stand against the devil, and he will run away, escape and vanish from you!”

Join us this month as we begin to share “6 Submit Standards” of Badge (Discovering that authority is the channel through which God’s power flows)…