and do not give the devil a foothold.
Parallel translations
- WEB and don’t give place to the devil.
- KJV Neither give place to the devil.
- NKJV nor give place to the devil.
- NASB and do not give the devil an opportunity.
- NLT for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Believers must not give the devil a foothold. Cherished sin, like lingering anger, opens the door to satanic influence.
Overview
This brief command flows from the warning about anger: nursing grievances 'gives place to the devil,' offering him an opportunity to work division and destruction. Paul takes spiritual conflict seriously (cf. 6:11-12). Guarding the heart against unresolved sin is part of resisting the enemy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Jas 4:7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
- Eph 6:16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
- 1 Pet 5:8Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
- Eph 6:11Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.
- 2 Cor 2:10–11If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven it in the presence of Christ for your sake,
- Acts 5:3Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every spiritual blessing is 'in Christ,' the head over all things for the church, in whom Jew and Gentile are made one new man by his blood.
How Ephesians 4:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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