How to “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand,…”

Under Grace, there is only the obedience of Faith - believing that we are made righteous in the sight of God through the blood of Jesus alone and that there is nothing we can do to be righteous by our own human effort aka arm of flesh. 

This is how to "humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God" – by putting no confidence whatsoever in the flesh (human effort at obedience or living a godly life) and trusting/depending utterly on Christ as our Source of Righteousness, Strength and Fruitfulness. See 1 Peter 5-

7“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist Him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

These verses have been given a lot of false interpretations, including- “Do your best to live a godly life and be sinless by your own power so that the devil won’t catch you napping in sins and devour you.” 

But Peter was writing from experience! 

Remember he denied Christ thrice after boasting in the flesh (human effort) that he would not? no humility here. Only pride in the arm of flesh (human effort) that will fail, even though he meant well. He thought he could keep the Law that says one shall not bear false witness. Never rely on your own ability to obey the law in order to be righteous before God. This is the height of pride and foolishness! There is no humility here.

Notice verse 10 ^{– “}And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

Restoration is for those who have sinned or those who have lost something. Peter went through this. He suffered remorse because of his denial of Christ. Satan the devourer hounded him with guilt for his sin but he did not try to undertake restitution aka defend, restore or right himself with God by human effort (law-keeping) like Judas did. Recall Judas too was full of remorse for his similar sin of betraying Jesus. Satan the devourer also hounded Judas with accusations for his sin (this is how he goes about seeking whom to devour) but Judas depended on (human effort at keeping) the law to right/restore himself with God and was devoured. He died.

Believer, Peter humbled himself before God by putting no confidence in what he could do by his own human effort in order to get back into God’s good books. He saw the futility of dependence on will-power to do the right thing by will-power and didn’t worsen his case by trying to make things right with the same will-power that had failed him. He depended on God's saving grace for His righteousness and restoration. Peter humbled himself and was exalted. Christ restored and exalted him – giving him charge of His sheep. Filled with the Holy Spirit and transformed to boldness, he went on to preach a sermon where three thousand people got saved, in full glare of the religious Pharisees who were still out to get Christ's disciples! Peter was strong (in Christ) and did exploits, including raising the dead and healing the sick. 1 Peter 5 above happened to him. Remember Christ told him as He predicted his action of denying Him-

"31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” 33 But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.”"

Point to note here: Satan goes about seeking those who pridefully boast in their own human strength to obey the law and be godly (be like God) so he can sift them like wheat. No one can stand here because the arm of flesh will fail. The reason why many churchgoers think they can obey the law is because God did not allow them to get tempted beyond what they can bear. The potential to commit heinous crimes is in everybody. God sees this potential and how favourable circumstances can make some churchgoers think that some sins are beneath them, just as Peter did before Satan sifted him like wheat. Proverbs 16:18 counsels us- 

"Your boast becomes a prophecy of a future failure. The higher you lift up yourself in pride, the harder you’ll fall in disgrace."

Peter fell three times eventually because he boasted in his own strength, but his faith did not fail. Unlike Judas, he was humbled by his experience. He resisted the Accuser's accusation of guilt for his sin and the temptation to right himself with God by doing what the law commands; as we who are in Christ also get to do by grace. This is what it means to be steadfast in the faith: believing that God still sees us as righteous through Christ's blood even when Satan comes at us with all kinds of accusations because of our sins. See Romans 5:9-

“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God is, by His Grace, seeing the futility of dependence on human effort/will-power at leading a godly life and trusting utterly in Christ as our sole Source of Righteousness and Strength. We see by Grace that of ourselves, our will-power to live right is utterly useless and that there is no good whatsoever in us as was Paul's experience in Romans 7:18-

“For I know that nothing good lives within the flesh of my fallen humanity. The longings to do what is right are within me, but will-power is not enough to accomplish it."

God's word says human effort (the arm of flesh) will fail, is powerless and cannot. But Pride in the arm of flesh (human effort at obedience) that will fail says:

"No, I can. God must be wrong. I still have some good in me. I can keep the law and resist temptation to commit sin by my will-power. I can and I must do works to be godly and to prove to God that I am truly sorry for my sins.”

Judas is an example of someone who did not humble himself before God. He also committed a similar sin of betraying Christ and was full of remorse afterwards, as are many churchgoers today after they commit acts of sin. But feeling remorse and trying to be godly by doing what the Law commands cannot resist the devil. This is where the devil can devour! The law is not of faith. We need to be steadfast in faith in order to resist the devil. Trying to obey the law in order to be righteous and escape wrath/judgment is being faithless. This is smack where Satan wants everyone to be because the law condemns all who try to obey it in order to deserve God's forgiveness, blessing and protection that Christ died for us to freely have. But somehow, "Resist him, steadfast in the faith," is being interpreted as "do your best to obey the law so that you will not be devoured"!

We resist the devil by being "steadfast in the faith" - by confessing our righteousness in Christ that we believe in our heart whenever Satan the Accuser tries to accuse us with the law or attempts to make us take up the guilt and punishment for sins that Christ died to free us from. This is how we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. We see that of ourselves, we have no power to be righteous.

Satan is a lawyer. "Ha Satan" is literally "prosecutor at law" in Hebrew. Satan the Accuser can't go about slapping curses, sickness and poverty on people, devouring in an ad hoc, reckless fashion. Like any prosecutor in any earthly court of law, he has no power to rule or pass judgment on anybody. He can only accuse people who don't know or who reject their birthright in Christ (God's gift of righteousness) in order to get a guilty plea from the accused and then recommend the harshest sentence: Death.

Judgment comes from the Law and the wages of sin is death, a death that Christ died for all. All earthly ills are "death begun." Remember Adam did not drop dead physically on the day his death sentence came into effect. Death is a process and a consequence of disobedience. All have sinned.

Satan the Accuser works as a prosecuting attorney. Using the Law of Moses which condemns everyone who is trying to obey it in order to get right With God or get God to bless, he goes about throwing fiery darts of accusation at people for sins that Christ died to save us from in a bid to get a guilty plea from the accused. Here, all who are guilty will pay the wages of sin. But all have sinned. All who are under law and not under grace aka trying to obey the law in order to be righteous are already condemned. Only those whose righteousness is from the Lord can resist his weapon of fiery darts of accusation based on the Law and tongues that rise against mankind to condemn as we see in Isaiah 54:17-

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.”

See the HCSB version: "No weapon formed against you will succeed, and you will refute any accusation raised against you in court. This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants, and their righteousness is from Me.” This is the Lord’s declaration."

This is spiritual warfare - Satan accusing man of sins and shortcomings in his thoughts as well as through words spoken by his agents, many of whom are pastors, in order to get a guilty verdict so that judgment can follow. 

The battle ground for this warfare is the mind where we pull down strongholds (human reasoning,) cast down imaginations and bring every thought into captivity "to the obedience of Christ." See 2 Corinthians 10-

4 "For the weapons of our warfare are not [a]carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,"

A "guilty" or "not guilty" verdict is reached based on what the accused believes about Jesus Christ - whether the accused believes that he has been made righteous by the obedience of Christ, or not. See Romans 5:19-

"By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous."

David prayed to the Lord in Psalm 143:2-

"Don’t bring your servant to trial,
since in your sight no one alive
would be considered righteous."

No one can stand by himself or what he can do by his own power in this trial. Only the rightousness that proceeds from Christ's sacrifice suffices for God the Righteous Judge. We all need God's saving Grace to stand. It is sad to see churhgoers fasting and doing all sorts of human effort-driven works in order to break generational and other curses such as poverty and sickness as they stand trial. Beloved of God, let's not be found trusting in the flesh (human effort) or what we think we can do to escape the snare of the accuser. Christ saves freely, even from sins.

Stand before God the Righteous Judge in your own righteousness or ability to obey the law and be condemned: "For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. "Romans 3:20. The wages of sin is death. As it is in any earthly court of law, those who take up the guilt of their sins are condemned to die. Such spend time on death-row before they are executed – oppressed and then devoured by Satan the accuser.

Many churchgoers are on "death-row," suffering symptoms of the curse of the law that Christ died to redeem us from. This is the devil devouring. This is akin to a cast sheep (fallen on its back with all fours up in the air) that has been cut off from its Shepherd. It can never right itself. Wolves and other devourers devour it alive. It’s no coincidence that Christ calls us His sheep and He is our Shepherd. And how does a believer get cut off from Christ? See Galatians 5:4—

“For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace.”

No humility or steadfast faith here so the devil can devour. The law is not of faith. Satan sought to devour Judas and hounded him with guilt for his sins, but Judas was not steadfast in the faith. He did not humble himself under the mighty hand of God. He trusted in what he could do to right himself with God by his own human effort (arm of flesh) and (self)-righteously turned to the Law (human effort at obedience) to restore himself before God. The Law is not of Faith. The letter kills. Judas hung himself, devoured by Satan.

Remember we resist the devil by “standing firmly in the faith”; For many of us, "Resist him, steadfast in the faith," has been interpreted as: “do your best to not sin and obey the law in order to be right with God so that the devil won't catch you napping in sin and thus devour you."

Beloved of God, this is the crux of the gospel of Christ: Righteousness by faith. Romans 5:9 says of God:

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Stand humbled before God the Righteous Judge and in the blood-bought righteousness of Jesus Christ our Saviour and Advocate (Jesus is also a Lawyer) with no confidence whatsoever in your own ability to stand and God sees you as righteous through and through. His word says in Romans 8:33-

"Who then would dare to accuse those whom God has chosen in love to be His? God Himself is the judge who has issued His final verdict over them—“Not guilty!”"

With Christ as your righteousness, Satan cannot devour you and you will never experience the wrath of God. See Romans 5:9-

“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Satan has to seek out people who are not steadfast in the faith to devour- those who show their lack of humility by pridefully trying to obey the law in order to get right with God. Such sheep are cut off from Christ the Good Shepherd and so become prey for devourers when they get cast aka fall into sin. Believers, let's not be found here. The weapon of Satan is accusations for sins committed so that the judgment/curse of the law can follow. All sheep that are without Christ as their Shepherd/righteousness to right them when they fall can be devoured.

Peter fell three times eventually because he boasted in his own strength, but his faith did not fail. Unlike Judas, he resisted the Accuser's accusation of guilt for his sin and the temptation to right himself with God by doing what the law commands; he humbled himself under the mighty hand of God, as we who are in Christ also get to do by grace. This is what it means to be steadfast in the faith: believing that God still sees us as righteous by Christ's blood even when Satan comes at us with all kinds of accusations because of our sins. This is how we resist the devil.

Believer, for we who are in Christ, Satan the Accuser has been disarmed of the weapon that he uses to devour- the Law. See Colossians 2:

"13 At one time you were dead in your sins. Your desires controlled by sin were not circumcised. But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave us all our sins. 14 He wiped out what the law said that we owed. The law stood against us. It judged us. But He has taken it away and nailed it to the cross. 15 He took away the weapons of the powers and authorities. He made a public show of them. He won the battle over them by dying on the cross."

Whenever you sin or mess things up and Satan launches his accusations at you, by grace, let’s not follow the path of Judas who was doing the seemingly good thing of trying to right himself with God by human effort at obedience. Rather, by Grace, confess with your mouth your righteousness in Christ that you believe in your heart and salvation will follow. Don't go running around trying to do restitution with your arm of flesh that will fail in a bid to get right with God, promise to obey the law better or tell God how you will not do it again. This is where Satan can devour – when you pridefully depend on your human effort to right yourself with God. No amount of begging for forgiveness or promises to “not do it again” could have saved the woman that was caught in adultery from the judgment of the Law that she deserved. She would have died had Christ not saved her, freely and without terms and conditions. He never changes.

When Satan comes with his accusations and makes you feel that you are the only one in that kind of situation that Peter was in after he denied Jesus, by grace, resist him. How? It's all got to do with putting no confidence in the flesh aka our ability to be godly by human effort. Instead, we look to Christ for salvation in faith as Peter did and confess our righteousness through faith in Christ:

"9 Take a decisive stand against him and resist his every attack with strong, vigorous faith. For you know that your believing brothers and sisters around the world are experiencing the same kinds of troubles you endure. 10 And then, after your brief suffering, the God of all loving grace, who has called you to share in His eternal glory in Christ, will personally and powerfully restore you and make you stronger than ever. Yes, He will set you firmly in place and build you up. 11 And He has all the power needed to do this—forever! Amen."

Confess with your mouth your righteousness in Christ that you believe in your heart and salvation (sótéria in the original Greek) will follow. Romans 10:9-10:

“9 Say with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord.” Believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. Then you will be saved. 10 With your heart you believe and are made right with God. With your mouth you say what you believe. And so you are saved.”

Salvation here is not limited to being saved to go to heaven. It encompasses salvation from fear, lack, sins, depression, oppression, poverty, sickness, silly mistakes and all earthly ills.

Believer, in the event that you fail like Peter and Satan the accuser/prosecutor attempts to put you on trial for your sins, by God’s Grace, don’t turn to the Law (what you think you can do to restore yourself before God or get Him to bless) to get you out of your mess as Judas did. The Law is the only weapon in Satan's arsenal and it condemns everybody. Turn to Grace. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and by Grace, stand firm in the faith, and “the God of all loving grace, who has called you to share in His eternal glory in Christ, will personally and powerfully restore you and make you stronger than ever. Yes, He will set you firmly in place and build you up.”

Believe Right and you will Live Right