Yes he does, but before we consider the power that God allows him to have, it is important to know that it is TEMPORARY and he will soon be stripped of all power when Jesus Christ comes to reign. The crushing of Satan’s power by Jesus Christ was promised in Genesis 3:15: “And I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He (Christ) shall bruise your (Satan’s) head, and you shall bruise His heel” (NKJV). This was actually accomplished at the cross, for we read in John 12:31-33: “Now is the judgment of this world, now THE RULER OF THIS WORLD WILL BE CAST OUT. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. This He said, signifying by what death He would die.” When Christ was lifted up on the cross, Satan was judged and on this basis he will one day be shorn of all his power. Until then, he is still “the ruler of this world” and is allowed, by God’s sovereign will, to exert his power over men. We will now list examples of his power.

  1. He has POWER TO INFLICT PAIN ON MEN. In Job 2:1-8 we see Satan approaching God about Job and in verse 5 he tells him, “Stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” In verse 6 God replies, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.” Then we read in verse 7 that he “struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” The apostle Paul is another example of this, for in 2nd Corinthians 12:7 we read, “A thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me.”
  2. He has POWER TO DECEIVE BELIEVERS. 2nd Corinthians 11:3 says, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” Because of this, we are told in Ephesians 6:10-11, “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against THE WILES OF THE DEVIL.” He usually uses unsaved men with Bibles in their hands to accomplish this, as we see in 2nd Corinthians 11:13-15: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
  3. He has POWER TO BLIND PEOPLE TO THE GOSPEL. 2nd Corinthians 4:3-4 declares, “If our gospel be veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine upon them.” He uses FALSE TEACHERS who preach a FALSE GOSPEL to accomplish this (see Galatians 1:6-9).
  4. He has POWER TO POSSESS UNBELIEVERS. In Acts 16:16 we see that the apostle Paul met “a certain girl possessed with a spirit of divination.” Yet Paul was given the power to deliver her, so we read in verse18, “But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her’.”

We could list other examples, but this should suffice to show us that Satan still has power. We need to acknowledge this and realize that we have no power, in ourselves, to defeat him. In Jude 9 we read, “Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you’.” It is comforting to know that the Holy Spirit Who indwells believers will give us the power to resist him, 1st John 4:4 informs us, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” And James 4:7 assures us, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (243.5) (DO)