One of the first sermons from Jesus that was recorded in the New Testament was called “The Sermon on the Mount”. In this sermon, Jesus explained the process of salvation1 as well as our duties as a Christian2. The first sentence that was recorded was

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 5:3

Ellen white, a famous author, wrote the quote below about that verse:

“Those who know that they cannot possibly save themselves, or of themselves do any righteous action, are the ones who appreciate the help that Christ can bestow. They are the poor in spirit, whom He declares to be blessed.”

Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, page 7, paragraph 1

Salvation is being saved from sin3. No one can save themselves from sin because all of humanity fell under its power when Adam and Eve ate from the wrong tree4. However, Jesus came to break the power of sin over our lives. First, He showed that it was possible to overcome by overcoming sin in our weakened humanity and He promises to give us the strength to do it with His grace.

Tools to fight the Devil:

  1. Use the Bible. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He fought the devil with Scripture. Three temptations were recorded and all three responses Jesus gave to the devil included the words, “It is written“5.
  2. Memorize Scripture. In order for Jesus to say “It is written”, He had to memorize it. Also, the author of Psalms 119 explained that he memorized Scripture in order to avoid sinning.

“I have hidden Your Word in my heart, so that I might not sin against You.”

Psalms 119:11, MKJV
  1. Use the right Scriptures. You don’t use a hammer to eat food and you don’t use a spoon to hit a nail into the wall. It’s important to choose the right tools for the job. I will share some of the better known Scriptures to aid you in your battle against sin but you can pick some for yourself as you read the Bible.

Scriptures to fight against temptation:

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

1 Corinthians 10:13, ESV

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

James 4:7, KJV

“and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Psalms 50:15, ESV
  1. See Matthew 5:3-12 ↩︎
  2. See Matthew 5:13-20; In the final remarks (Matthew 7:21-27) He appeals to those listening and those reading to regard His teachings and obey them or there will be some consequences. ↩︎
  3. See Matthew 1:21 ↩︎
  4. See Genesis 3:1-24 ↩︎
  5. See Matthew 4:1-10 ↩︎