Living by Faith - Romans

Crushing Satan’s Power

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Living by Faith

Lesson: 63-64

Genre: Talk

Track: 063

Dictation Name: RR311ZG63

Location/Venue:

Year: ?

Let us worship God. Let us go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known to us. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Let us pray.

All glory be to Thee, oh God the Father almighty, who has given us Thine only begotten Son, that we might live through Him. All glory be to Thee oh Lord Jesus Christ, who became man that we might become the Sons of God. Glory be to Thee oh Holy Spirit, who dost direct and rule our hearts. We praise Thee, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. We rejoice in all thy blessings and mercies, Thy providential care and guidance; and we rejoice in this blessed season, in the gift of salvation, the gift of Thy grace and love, and the certainty of thy overruling providence and government. Our God we praise Thee, in His name, amen.

Our Scripture is from Romans 16:17-20, and our subject: Crushing Satan’s Power. Romans 16:17-20. After next Sunday when we shall conclude our studies in Romans, we will begin with Galatians.

“17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

19 For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.”

The climax in this passage is the first sentence in verse 20: “And the God of peace shall bruise” (or crush,) “Satan under your feet shortly.” The marginal notes give the meaning of ‘bruise’ as ‘tread,’ more accurately it is crushed. Language has a habit of getting cheap over a period of time, as popular usage blurs the meaning of words; so that bruise, which once meant crush, now means only to injure slightly.

In this sentence, “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly,” we have a clear reference to Genesis 3:15, where God declares to Satan: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

This has been recognized over the centuries as the very first prophecy of the incarnation of the birth of our Lord; of His victory in the temptation, of His death and resurrection, and of His coming again. It is one of the great prophecies of scripture. Our Lord says concerning Satan in John 8:44 that he was a murderer from the beginning, and also that there is no truth in him, for he is a liar, and the father of it. The apostle John in 1st John 3:8 declares concerning Satan: “He that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

In Genesis 3:15 we are told that the seed of the woman shall crush Satan’s head, that is his power, his life. The word ‘seed’ is in the singular, it has reference to Christ. Hengstenberg said and I quote: “It is certainly however, not a matter of chance that the posterity of the woman is not broken up into a plurality. It is in Christ, the Redeemer, who comprehends within Himself the whole human race, that the victory is made possible.” Hengstenberg says further: “and it is no less significant, and has certainly a deeper ground, that the victory over the serpent is assigned to the seed of the woman, not to the posterity of Adam; and though indeed the circumstance of the woman was first deceived may have been the proximate cause of it, yet it cannot be exclusively referred to and derived from it.”

The seed of the woman refers to the virgin birth indirectly. It also sets forth the fact that salvation entered the world through a woman, Mary, not through a man, for men would then be even more proud then they already are. Paul refers to Genesis 3:15 after praising the Roman Christians for their faith. In verses 17-18 as well as in verse 1 following, he speaks most glowingly of the church, and appreciatively. He warns them against heretics, and tells them to mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which we have learned, and avoid them. He knows that they will avoid heretics, and he says: “You’re obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf.” Then he predicts that the God of peace shall bruise or crush Satan under their feet shortly. Because they are men of obedience they are men of victory; hence God will give them a victory.

Now there are several things to be noted about this prediction. First, Paul praises them for their obedience. This makes them blessed of God. But it is not their obedience which crushes Satan, but God because of their obedience; he blesses their obedience. Thus, second, it is the God of peace who crushes Satan under His peace. It is His blessing to the obedient. This is a reference not only to Genesis 3:15, but also to Leviticus 26, and Deuteronomy 28, where God declares that all who obey Him shall be pursued and overtaken by His blessings, irresistible blessings, and those who disobey Him shall be pursued and overtaken by His curses. Irresistible blessings, and irresistible curses.

Then third, Paul makes clear that with the coming of Christ the way to blessings, of victory, is greatly opened up. The Redeemer has come, He indwells in the church and in all His saints, and He gives them the victory.

Now this prophecy of Paul is a specific global prophecy to the church in Rome. They were not without problems, the Jewish believers had for a time been banned from Rome, when all Jews were expelled from the capital. Now they were back again, but there was hostility towards these people who made up easily 50% of the Roman Christian community on the part of both the Jews and the pagans. Thus they faced a double prejudice and hostility. But Paul tells them victory will soon come, shortly, and the word in Greek means swift or in swiftness, very quickly. Thus Paul is forecasting a local victory in Rome. You have problems, but you are also going to experience a victory, very soon.

Then fourth, Genesis 3:15 as well as Paul’s repetition of it have a long ranged historical scope. Wherever men walk by faith and in obedience, God declares through Paul they shall have victory. Victory is promised throughout history, it culminates in the grand triumph, the victory of the kingdom of God before the end. Christ’s people, Christ’s kingdom, shall crush Satan’s head and destroy his power before the end, and then there is not only the local and the progressive historical fulfillment, but the culminating fulfillment that is coming again.

This therefore is one of the great Christmas prophecies. The joy of the incarnation, of the Christmas season, is in the assurance of this fact. And this is why the carols ring out with the sound of victory. Joy to the world, the Lord has come. God rest ye merry gentlemen. Why? Because when we walk by faith and in obedience, we shall experience a victory wherever we are, and a culminating victory in history.

There is a reference to this prediction also in Revelation 12:4-9.

Then fifth, immediately prior to these verses, as we have seen, Paul warns against heresy. But this is not the only time. In 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, Paul has something more to say about heretics, so that the church might know, Christians might know, what to expect. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

“13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

Now Paul here presupposes the whole train of Satan’s history; the temptation, the fall, the temptation of Christ, and Satan’s failure; the birth of the New Adam in Bethlehem and a new humanity with Christ’s resurrection, the existence of Christ’s body the church, a new humanity, a new creation begun. What Satan accomplished in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 he seeks now to accomplish in the church. He tempted Adam and Eve, and succeeded; he sought to tempt Christ and failed; and now he seeks to tempt and make his own the church. He again appears as man’s liberator with God as the oppressor, as an angel of light. And those who are ministers of Satan within the church claim to be the true ministers of Christ and of His righteousness or justice, but what they proclaim is instead social justice, a humanistic concept of justice; they are false, deceitful workers, Paul says; and their end shall be according to their works. We see an abundance of false ministers who are agents of Satan in all the churches of our time.

The church in Rome which Paul felt sure would avoid and have nothing to do with heretics, would thus in the immediate future crush Satan’s head in their particular battle. Calvin in his comment on this sentence said and I quote: “What follows, God shall bruise Satan, etc., is a promise to confirm them, rather than a prayer. He indeed exhorts them to fight manfully against Satan, and promises that they should shortly be victorious. He was indeed once conquered by Christ, but not in such a way but that he renews the war continually. He then promises ultimate defeat, which does not appear in the midst of the contest. At the same time he does not speak only of the last day, when Satan shall be completely bruised; but as Satan was then confounding all things, raging, as it were, with loose or broken reins, he promises that the Lord would shortly subdue him, and cause him to be trodden, as it were, under foot. Immediately a prayer follows, -- that the grace of Christ would be with them, that is, that they might enjoy all the blessings which had been procured for them by Christ.”

Calvin is right of course. Paul in the first sentence gives the Roman church a promise, not a prayer; a prediction, a statement, that this is going to come to pass.

Then in the benediction we have a prayer. The benediction, any benediction, can include and nowadays usually if not always does include a prayer; but a benediction is essentially a prophecy, it tells us that if we hear and obey the word of God, these are the things that are going to follow. So that after a church service for example, where the word of God is read and expanded, the service ends with the benediction because it is a prediction that if we hear and obey the word of God, God’s blessing shall ensue, Satan shall be crushed under our feet.

Paul’s prophecy here thus applies to the Romans, and also to all who will receive it. If they avoid heretics, if they live in obedience, and are wise unto that which is good, they shall crush Satan’s power.

“Wise unto that which is good.” The word ‘good’, ‘Agathon’ which we have in the name Agatha. We have in scripture in Matthew 19:7, Mark 10:18, and Luke 18:19, where our Lord says: “No one is good, except one, God.” Or literally, “No one is the good, except one, God.” God is the good, and to be wise unto that which is good is to be wise unto the Triune God and His law word. And when we are wise unto that and obedient, then the God of peace shall bruise Satan under our feet shortly.

And the benediction of Paul then is pronounced upon us all: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” Let us pray.

Oh Lord our God, we give thanks unto Thee for Thy word and Thy promises which cannot fail. We thank Thee our Father that there is victory not only at the end of history, but here and now when we are faithful to Thy word, obedient to Thee. Satan shall be crushed under our feet. Oh Lord our God, Thou seest how the heathen rage and take counsel together against Thine anointed and against His kingdom, His people. Thou knowest oh Lord the suffering of Thy church behind the iron curtain, and under tyrants the world over. The persecution of Thy people in this country and the courts, and the hostility of the imminence against the very name of Thy Son, so that from Christian declarations in cities across the country, the very word Christmas has been removed. Oh Lord our God, give to Thy congregation, Thy assembly, Thy church the world over, the spirit of faith and obedience, of serving Thee and loving Thee with all their heart mind and being, that Satan may be crushed under our feet shortly. Grant us this we beseech Thee in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? Yes?

[Audience Member] Could you clarify what you are saying here in regard to the statement: “Be crushed at your feet.” Now, wasn’t that prophecy concerning what Christ went to the cross, He crushed Satan?

[Rushdoony] In Genesis it is specifically directed at the incarnation, but as Paul uses it he says: ‘Now there is a further meaning, Satan was crushed by the coming of Christ, the way of victory was opened up. But now you by your faith and obedience can further crush him.’ In other words, Satan first tempted Adam and Eve. They fell. Then when the new Adam came, Christ, he tempted Him and failed; so now with the new humanity, the new creation in Christ, all those who are born again he is trying to repeat the temptation with them. But if we resist and we are obedient, then he is crushed under our feet.

[Audience Member] In other words becomes powerless over us, is that what you are saying?

[Rushdoony] Yes, and also the work of the kingdom is advanced. Since the new creation began with Jesus Christ, he is described by Paul as the first fruits of the new creation, of them that slept and so on. Then everyone who is born again is a citizen of the new creation. Now of such Satan directs his attack against them, but if we crush him under our feet by our faith and obedience, then we extend the sway of the kingdom.

[Audience Member] This question comes quite a few times, and I try to answer it when I see… what would you say, does Satan… doesn’t have attributes of God, he is a spirit, but he cannot be everywhere at one time can he?

[Rushdoony] That’s right.

[Audience Member] Now, how would you say that Satan does this, is it through the demons, or through what, how does he operate this way, is it possibly through individuals or groups, or what?

[Rushdoony] First of all, the point is correct as you stated it, Satan is a creature, he has only a local appearance; he cannot be everywhere at once as God does. As a result, Satan is not directly, presently, tempting us. And yet he is. How? Well, in Adam mankind submitted to the Satanic temptation to be as God. Now, that old man in us while crucified in Christ and dead before the law, having had the penalty of death paid in Christ, is not entirely dead, we are not perfectly sanctified in this life; so Satan has his witness in the old Adam everywhere, that the principle of their existence to use that word, which is so commonly used, but the basic premise, every man as his own God, my will be done, is there in all of us, which gives an ally in every man’s heart to Satan; so that Satan has a foot in every man’s camp, through our connection with the old humanity, and as we grow in Christ we weaken the old man in us. Now that is Satan’s toehold in all of us, he doesn’t need to be there, his basic premise is there. It is like someone I knew once who was brought up under a very, very strict father who laid down the law to him, and his mother too, and told him: “If I ever find out you have done so and so I will haunt you to your dying day!” And a lot of parents have said that. And he was about to do something, with some friends, and suddenly he heard his mother and father almost audibly speaking; he said he knew it was in his head, but it just jarred him like that. Now, that is how it is done.

[Audience Member] In other words, what I have been saying, I get a clear picture now, that you are saying that really I cannot blame Satan for when I do wrong, because my old nature which was fallen because of Satan’s influence indirectly, I am following Satan as Adam followed Satan, when I disobey God. Is that what you are saying?

[Rushdoony] Yes, and one of the great preachers of England in the 17th century, as well as a great poet John Dunn, has a line which sums this up; he spoke of us when we are so inclined as “Tempting Satan to tempt us.” Any other questions or comments?

Yes?

[Otto Scott] I think somewhere along the line it might be good to try to define the differences between the social gospel which is working out badly, and struggle against principalities and powers.

[Rushdoony] Yes, the social gospel is the program to convert justice into a humanistic rather than a God-centered, God-given perspective. Principalities and powers represent the persons, human and demonic, who are concerned with promoting an anti-God plan, in reorganizing the world and all creation in terms of an anti-God premise. So the heart of the problem of course is the powers and principalities, of this world and the other world.

Any other questions or comments?

[Audience Member] Did you say that principalities and powers where it is referred to in scripture, do you say that is human also?

[Rushdoony] Yes, all the opposition to God, human and supernatural.

[Audience Member] I always thought it referred to the unseen, of principalities and powers.

[Rushdoony] Well, I know, many people so interpret it, but it makes it very convenient, you put it off into the other world, but it is all around you and facing you very often, and you have got to recognize it for what it is.

[Audience Member] I was just wondering if it was like the other one, that has influence on the people to bring that about, just like my disobeying God or Satan tempting me is in my own nature, it is original, is that in a similar sense, or is…?

[Rushdoony] Yes, we have all around us these forces. They beat in upon us through the news and television, through the culture around us, to try and imbue in us the Satanic premise. Well, our time is nearly up, let us bow our heads now in prayer.

Our Lord and our God, we thank Thee that Thou art the Lord, and that the government is upon Thy shoulders, and that in Jesus Christ we are a new creation. Make us bold therefore in Him, to the end that all things may be brought into captivity to Christ our Lord, and that we might in him be more than conquerors. And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, amen.