We Don't Have to "Prove" the Devil Wrong

Christ is our Advocate against "the Accuser" - 1 John 2:1

In Revelation 12, Satan (the devil) is called "the accuser of the brethren". What he does, is he searches for sin in our lives and goes and tattle tales on us to God. Kind of like in a courtroom, the devil brings charges against us before the throne of God. He presents evidence of our guilt before God. If we're honest, he doesn't have to look very hard to find evidence that we are guilty of breaking God's laws.

I once heard a sermon where this topic of Scripture was used and this man ended his sermon by telling this group of teenagers to "go out into the world and prove the devil wrong this week". Most of the sermon was focused on the devil and who he is and what he does and how bad everyone is because of the devil. I'll give the guy some credit because he did mention that Jesus is our Advocate - 1 John 2:1 - (like our Defense Attorney) before God when the devil brings his accusations to the courtroom. But then, the guy missed the application of this truth completely.

We don't have to "prove the devil wrong". Jesus proves him wrong for us. When we become Christians, then Christ's life becomes our life. His perfection becomes our perfection. His holiness becomes our holiness. So that when we stand before God, we are seen as spotless and blameless children. God doesn't just see us as forgiven sinners. He sees us as if we had never done anything wrong at all. He sees us as if we had done everything perfectly our entire lives. Because He sees us the way He sees Jesus. Jesus never did anything wrong. Jesus did everything perfectly. This is the doctrine of justification.

Not only did Jesus do everything perfectly and live a sinless life for us, He also took the penalty for our sinful lives. This is called propitiation - 1 John 2:2. Jesus absorbed the wrath of God that was directed towards us because of our sin. The devil isn't just looking to accuse us before God. The devil also wants us to be punished for our sins. Jesus took the punishment for our sins though.

So when we stumble, when we mess up, when we sin, and the devil brings the evidence before God hoping that God will pour out His wrath upon us, Jesus stands there as our Advocate saying "That one is mine. He belongs to me. I got him covered. He is not guilty. I paid for His sin."

Here is why we don't need to "prove the devil wrong". If we go out and try to perform perfectly and be good, then we are falling into the devil's trap. This is one of his schemes to get us to be trapped in sin. By getting us occupied in trying to prove ourselves, we are distracted from relying on the perfection Christ has provided. By getting us to work hard and perform the good Christian routine, we get lost in figuring out how we are doing, and miss out on walking by faith and trusting God.

Romans 14:23 - For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
By getting us to rely on ourselves for performance and walking by faith in Jesus, the devil tricks us into sinning.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
By getting us to try to do it ourselves, the devil gets us to not trust in the grace and goodness of God, leading us to say "look at what I have done" and as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil (James 4:16).

So how do we not "prove the devil wrong"???

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

The whole armor of God in Ephesians 6 describes the person that has complete trust and faith in Christ for their salvation, their righteousness, their salvation, their standing before God and that person reminds themselves through prayer, Scripture study, and quality time with other Christians that Christ is our Advocate.