SATAN-LIMITATIONS

It’s a simple matter of logic: Satan is an angel. All angels were created (Colossians 1:16; John 1:1-3). Therefore, Satan was created. He is, therefore, God’s Devil. Satan is not the equal and opposite power of God (contra dualism). He is not eternal. His power is not infinite. He does not possess divine attributes. In sum, he is no match for God! If anything, Satan is the equal and opposite power of the archangel Michael, but not God.

Sam Storms

The evil Satan causes is only by the permission of God… It would be unbiblical and irrelevant to attribute to Satan (or sinful man) the power to frustrate the designs of God.

John Piper

Desiring God, Bethlehem Baptist Church, 1996, p. 36, used by permission, www.desiringGOD.org.

Lest we be “terrified by our adversaries,” it is well to remember that Satan’s power is not inherent but permitted (Rom. 13:1). It is not unlimited, but controlled (Job 1:12; 2:6). It is not invincible, but broken (Luke 11:21-11). It is not assured of success, but is surely doomed (Rev. 20:2-3). Satan knows well that there is no ultimate victory for him. The pronounced sentence has only been postponed. But he works to hinder and postpone Christ’s final triumph. We can rejoice in the certainty of John’s assurance: “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

J. Oswald Sanders

Cultivation of Christian Character, Moody Press, 1965, p. 86.

God indeed has the Devil in a chain, but has horribly lengthened out the chain.

Cotton Mather

“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” I’m not afraid of the devil. The devil can handle me – he’s got judo I never heard of. But he can’t handle the One to whom I’m joined; he can’t handle the One to whom I’m united; he can’t handle the One whose nature dwells in my nature.

A.W. Tozer

Satan’s limitations: The first limit is his nature, for he is not able to do anything than that which his natural disposition will permit and suffer. The second limit is the Will of God, for he can do nothing against the Will of God.

Arthur Dent

A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 77.

Certain it is, and we are to believe it by faith, that the power of Satan is not equal to the power of God. It is not so strong, so large, and so wide. It is every way infinitely less. There is no comparison between that which is finite. If we compare it with good angels, it will be less than some and greater than other some… But if we compare it with the power of man, it is far greater every way, but yet, we must know, that is a finite and natural power, not supernatural, for then none could be saved. It is mighty, but yet not almighty.

Arthur Dent

A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 77-78.

When a man has judged himself, Satan is put out of office. When he lays anything to a saint’s charge, he is able to retort and say, “It is true, Satan, I am guilty of these sins, but I have judged myself already for them; and having condemned myself in the lower court of conscience, God will acquit me in the upper court of heaven.”

Thomas Watson

A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 280.