“Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house<\/em>” (Matthew 12:29).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Before Jesus came into this world, all people of accountable age were under the condemnation of sin, not because of Adam’s sin, but because they (each one) had sinned and therefore had been separated from God. Every soul had come under the power of Satan by virtue of the effectiveness of his deceptive work. Satan could rightly claim that every soul belonged to him. Man was utterly helpless, in and of himself, to redeem himself. Satan reigned supreme in this world.<\/p>\n
This is where the grace of God came in. God, in his love and mercy, sent forth Jesus Christ as His beloved Son for the very purpose of suffering the pangs of spiritual death as a sacrifice for all mankind. He suffered the penalty of spiritual death, which was due to all of us. Jesus had no sin Himself, but He took our sins upon His spotless soul and died as a sinner in our place.<\/p>\n
When Jesus came into the world, He entered the “strong man’s house<\/em>” (Satan’s realm). Satan was the ruler of this world (John 12:31). He had everyone under his control because all had bowed to his rule. When Jesus came to redeem man, He had to challenge and defeat Satan (the strong man) to accomplish His purpose. Jesus would have to defeat him in open conflict before He could “carry off his property<\/em>” (free those who were his captives). This is precisely what Jesus did.<\/p>\n
Satan tried on several occasions to defeat the purpose of Jesus by putting Him to death. He finally succeeded when the Jewish rulers prevailed upon the Roman authorities to have Him crucified. By putting Jesus to death, Satan had delivered his “Sunday punch,” his most devastating blow. He must have been celebrating and congratulating himself on what he thought was the final and ultimate victory. But on the third day (after his burial), Jesus came forth from the tomb, alive, never to experience death again. In His resurrection, He triumphed over all the power of Satan. “He had disarmed the rulers and authorities and He made a public display of them<\/em>” (Colossians 2:15). He destroyed Satan’s power over death and provided everyone a means of victory (Hebrews 2:14). It is now Jesus who has the power over death (Revelation 1:18).<\/p>\n
While it is true that Satan succeeded in putting Jesus to death, in reality Jesus gave His life willingly for you and for me, for all mankind (Hebrews 2:9). While Satan thought he had gained the complete victory in putting Jesus to death, it was by the means of that death and His resurrection that Jesus destroyed the power of Satan and gained the freedom of those held captive.<\/p>\n
It is clear that Jesus came, entered the “strong man’s house,” and attacked the strong man. Since Jesus was stronger than the strong man, He wholly and decisively defeated him. He bound the strong man, and then He was able to “plunder his house<\/em>.” As a result of Jesus’ surpassing victory, we can be assured of the complete and final victory in Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. Thanks be unto God!<\/p>\n
Don’t you want to be on the winning side?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Howard Reagan via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 2, June 1993 “Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house” (Matthew 12:29). Before Jesus came into this world, all people of accountable age were under the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[73,47,235],"class_list":["post-92837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-jesus","tag-salvation","tag-satan"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25411,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-was-satan-bound-before-jesus-came-to-this-world-or-later\/","url_meta":{"origin":92837,"position":0},"title":"When was Satan bound, before Jesus came to this world or later?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: \"No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house\" (Mark 3:27). From this verse, we learn that Satan is currently bound by Christ and that his power is limited. My\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84689,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-jesus-pay-a-ransom-to-satan-to-free-us-from-his-domain\/","url_meta":{"origin":92837,"position":1},"title":"Did Jesus pay a ransom to Satan to free us from his domain?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Did Jesus pay a ransom to Satan to free us from his domain? Answer: \"No man can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him-- for the redemption of his soul is costly, and he should cease trying forever-- ... But God will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3691,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/satan\/","url_meta":{"origin":92837,"position":2},"title":"Satan (Hamilton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ezekiel 28:12-19 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For a being who has plagued mankind since the beginning, it is surprising how little people know about Satan \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some declare he really doesn\u2019t exist. To these people, he is just the personification of evil in mankind. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Others imagine a character with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35671,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-must-rule-over-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":92837,"position":3},"title":"You Must Rule Over It","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Genesis 4:1-12 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ask a person why they gave into a particular sin and the most common rely is: \u201cI don\u2019t know. I couldn\u2019t help myself.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Losing control in the face of temptation has been around since the beginning. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God even warned Cain that he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3687,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-rules-the-world-god-or-satan\/","url_meta":{"origin":92837,"position":4},"title":"Who rules the world, God or Satan?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 11, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was just reading from your web site.\u00a0 I do that from time to time.\u00a0 It's a great site.\u00a0 Thanks for doing it. Anyway, I was reading your sermon on Satan.\u00a0 You wrote: C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Meanwhile, Satan continues to rule this world 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0All sinners are under his dominion -\u00a0Ephesians 2:1-2;\u00a0Colossians 1:13\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9300,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-overcome-the-fear-of-being-possessed-by-a-demon\/","url_meta":{"origin":92837,"position":5},"title":"How can I overcome the fear of being possessed by a demon?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: One thing that's distressing me is, well kind of, a big problem ever since childhood. I have been scared of demonic stuff ever since I can remember and movies like \"The Omen\" just freak me out. There was a period of time when I was convinced that the devil\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92837\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}