The Meaning of James 4:7: Submit to God and Resist the Devil

Actually, you’ve probably already made dozens, if not hundreds of choices since waking up this morning. You’ll also make many more by the time you go to sleep tonight. Most of these choices were small—what to eat for breakfast, what clothes to wear, what route to drive to school or work, etc. 

However, we also make other daily choices that are much more significant than these. Would you believe that you choose between life and death every single day of your life?

Every day, we engage in this struggle.  

James addressed this in his epistle. He offers a simple solution, which we read in James 4:7: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

These words summarize the ongoing daily struggle of a Christian. It may be easier said than done, but if we dig deeper, we will find that this verse gives us an important tool to help us choose rightly.

“Submit to God”

The Greek word for “submit” is hypotasso, and it involves subjecting oneself to the control of another. The same word is used to describe submission to government authorities (Romans 13:1), a servant’s obedience toward his or her master (1 Peter 2:18) and a wife’s deference to her husband (Ephesians 5:22).

The interesting thing is that hypotasso focuses on the one actively and willingly submitting. The word does not mean “to subjugate another by force.” Rather, it describes a conscious decision to submit oneself to an authority greater than oneself. 

Submitting to God involves placing ourselves under His authority by our own free will. By doing this, we demonstrate our conviction that His will is more important to us than our own. This attitude can only be achieved through a mindset of humility. 

Humility is key in submitting to God. 

When we are humble and submissive toward God, we obey His commandments. We strive to become more like Him every day. A proud heart is a hardened heart that resists God. God cannot work with someone who is prideful.

Quoting from Proverbs 3:34, James writes in verse 6, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” At times, in order to work with a person, God allows circumstances in his or her life that help break pride. 

Pride must be overcome and replaced with genuine humility.

This is why God warns against pride so strongly in the Bible. A proud heart will resist God, convincing us we know better than Him. It is the definition of the “carnal mind” that cannot be “subject [hypotasso] to the law of God” (Romans 8:7).

When we are humble and submissive toward God, we obey His commandments. We strive to become more like Him every day. We listen and look for His guidance in our lives. As a result, He can work through us.

Moses, the most humble man of his time (Numbers 12:3), led Israel out of bondage in Egypt and to the Promised Land, not because of his own greatness, but because he submitted himself to God.

Think what wonderful things God might do through you when you lay aside pride and self-seeking and submit to His will in your life!

Unfortunately, there is another force at work in the world that strives to block humanity from submitting to God. That force encourages pride and disdains humility. Thankfully, there is a way to fight back.

“Resist the devil and he will flee from you”

Satan is described as a “roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). If we aren’t careful, we can fall into the lion’s jaws.

It isn’t hypothetical. The devil will come after each of us. His ultimate goal is to spiritually and morally corrupt all humanity. He wants to prevent as many as possible from entering God’s family and receiving eternal life. When he comes for us, what are we to do?

Resist.

Our frail and fragile human bodies are far weaker than Satan, a spirit being who far exceeds us in power. Yet we are still instructed to actively resist him.

Yet God makes us a promise—-if we resist Satan with all our might, we will overcome him. The words we read in James 4:7 are a statement of fact that we can put our trust in: if we resist Satan, then he will flee from us.

God promises us victory over Satan if we prove ourselves willing to resist him. In the hour of temptation, remember this promise: God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to endure (1 Corinthians 10:13).

This is a striking truth: if you are facing a temptation, you have the ability to overcome it. No matter how difficult a trial may be, nothing you have ever faced, are facing or will ever face is beyond your ability to overcome. God promises to be with you and help! 

If Satan is a lion, then we as his prey must be sure to avoid his hunting grounds. He knows our weaknesses, but we know them too. What places must you avoid so as not to wander into temptation? What people might lead you into bad situations? What seemingly innocent pleasures might lead you down a dangerous road?

Avoiding tempting and dangerous places and situations is a major way we resist Satan. By doing so, we limit and weaken the tools of temptation he can use against us. 

“Draw near to God”

James continues his thought in verse 8 with another powerful statement: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

Our greatest asset in our fight against Satan is a strong relationship with God. Therefore, we must be submitting ourselves to His will, humbling ourselves before Him and drawing near in our relationship with Him.

If we are close to God, and He is close to us, then we will be ready and strengthened to resist when Satan comes knocking.

Our fight, then, comes down to the sum of our choices.

A choice you must make

Either we submit to the devil and resist God, or we submit to God and resist the devil. 

There is no third option. 

Paul tells us that we are slaves to whomever we obey (Romans 6:16). If we sin, we resist God and are therefore slaves to Satan. If we obey God, we submit ourselves to His authority and resist Satan.

So, how do we practically do this? 

The key is to make a deliberate, lifelong commitment to follow God.

When we are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit, we symbolically bury our old self driven by self-will and commit to living God’s way for the remainder of our lives (Romans 6:3-4). Then, when we encounter temptation, it is not a decision we have to make again. It becomes only a matter of resisting.

Yes, we will still have weak moments. As long as we are human, we will fall short and make mistakes. However, our lives should reflect continual growth as we strive to submit more fully to God.

When our lives are grounded in a firm commitment to submit to God, resisting the devil becomes not a question of choice, but of resolve. God promises that when we resist the devil, he will flee.

Date Posted: November 14, 2025