# Question for Amillennialists: Has the binding of Satan and his demons been realized



## mjohnson7 (Feb 10, 2013)

I ask as a reformed (and still reforming, seeking to learn) Baptist with paedobaptist sympathies. Also, if Satan has in fact, been bound, how does this (or does it) change the application of the "whole armor of God" in Ephesians 6 for us? Again, I ask because I sincerely want to learn. I'm not trying to sow discord. Thank you, for replies!


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## RamistThomist (Feb 10, 2013)

Or the actions of the Beast in Revelation 13


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## MarieP (Feb 10, 2013)

mjohnson7 said:


> if Satan has in fact, been bound, how does this (or does it) change the application of the "whole armor of God" in Ephesians 6 for us? Again, I ask because I sincerely want to learn. I'm not trying to sow discord. Thank you, for replies!



Rev 20:3 reads, "and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, *so that he should deceive the nations no more* till the thousand years were finished."

Good question- this was my largest hurdle as well to embracing the amil position.

Note the part of the verse that's highlighted. The Gospel is going forth into the nations. There is no longer the darkness upon them that was present before the cross and resurrection.

I actually think the amil view gives us fuller assurance in our spiritual battle. Christ has "disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it" (Col 2:15). It also gives us a better understanding of missions, and confidence in the success of the Gospel. "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house" (Matt 12:28-29)


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## PuritanCovenanter (Feb 10, 2013)

I guess you will have to determine the extent of his binding and what level of deception he will be bound to. That is a good study.


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## SeanPatrickCornell (Feb 10, 2013)

As I look around the world today, and see evil in every corner, as I see the Word of God become a source of _shame_ in front of the "mainstream world", I find it incredibly hard to believe that Satan is in any way bound at the present time.

This is my biggest hurdle as I consider the amillenialist position.


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## mjohnson7 (Feb 10, 2013)

Sean,

I understand what you're saying, however the "evil in every corner" is completely plausible when one considers the utter depravity of man. The humbling truth is that if Satan were completely absent (and again I don't know, that's why I posed the question), human depravity is more than enough to explain the evil around us. To deny that, is to deny the truth about how desperately we needed a Redeemer in Christ Jesus.


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## Goodcheer68 (Feb 11, 2013)

I would ask yourself how many nations had God's truth prior to the resurrection and then compare that to post resurrection. You will see that the binding is relating to Satan's ability to keep the Gospel from the nations. Satan has no power over the Gospel, all those that God has elected will come to Him through the power of the Gospel.


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## Scott1 (Feb 11, 2013)

mjohnson7 said:


> I ask as a reformed (and still reforming, seeking to learn) Baptist with paedobaptist sympathies. Also, if Satan has in fact, been bound, how does this (or does it) change the application of the "whole armor of God" in Ephesians 6 for us? Again, I ask because I sincerely want to learn. I'm not trying to sow discord. Thank you, for replies!



Marie's post quotes Revelation 20:3, and that is probably the best way to understand it.

Remember, special revelation was mostly restricted to Israel in the Old Testament. With the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord, the Gospel and Word went out in fulness to the world. (Judea, Samaria, the uttermost bounds of the earth...).

So, the "binding" of Satan was in the sense of his ability to (broadly) deceive the nations as had been the general condition before the first century going out of the Gospel and the completed canon of Scripture.


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## Scott1 (Feb 11, 2013)

SeanPatrickCornell said:


> As I look around the world today, and see evil in every corner, as I see the Word of God become a source of _shame_ in front of the "mainstream world", I find it incredibly hard to believe that Satan is in any way bound at the present time.
> 
> This is my biggest hurdle as I consider the amillenialist position.



The whole area of this aspect of eschatology is not an easy one, for sure. We have to accept some things are not clear, and that's why we ought not be dogmatic in this area particularly.

And there are variations within "amillennialism" (which really means only a realized millennium, that the millennium period spoken of is between the first and second coming of our Lord).

The general idea is that good and evil will grow side-by-side together until our Lord returns. At times it will be more and less clear that is what is happening. At times, it may appear as though evil has eclipsed the church or that the church is broadly overcoming the evil. Perhaps, its hard to say, but the former appeared to be the case in the early Roman Empire, the latter during the Reformation.

Yet, we know that God has always, and will always have a people and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). And we know that the church has grown tremendously, in number, scope and influence since the first century. Look how it went from a few in Israel almost all over the world and is now the largest religion in the world, at least nominally.

It's hard to underestimate that, discouraging though our times, any times, might seem.


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## Jackie Kaulitz (Feb 11, 2013)

mjohnson7 said:


> I ask as a reformed (and still reforming, seeking to learn) Baptist with paedobaptist sympathies. Also, if Satan has in fact, been bound, how does this (or does it) change the application of the "whole armor of God" in Ephesians 6 for us? Again, I ask because I sincerely want to learn. I'm not trying to sow discord. Thank you, for replies!



Because you have "paedobaptist sympathies", I'll try to answer the question.  heehee... just kidding!  Love you for seeking the truth, Brother 

Question: Is Satan bound? 
My Best Answer: Yes. It was at the cross that Christ defeated Satan. But in an "already/not yet" sense. Christ saved us at the cross, yet we won't received the fullness of our salvation until the end. Likewise, Satan is defeated but not destroyed completely. Christ rules over the believers, Satan still is prince of the unbelieving world. Christ is ruling from heaven and is given authority, yet not everything is fully under his feet. Death is destroyed, yet it still reigns. In Reformed Theology, there is always this "already done/yet not completed" view.

Verses to consider (I'm no expert! Check them yourself and correct me if I'm wrong):
John 12:31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.”
John 14:29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
John 16:8 When [HS] comes, he will convict the world of guilt[a] in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
So which is it? Is Satan condemned? Yes, at the cross. Is Satan driven out? Yes, at the cross. Is Satan coming? Yes, for his time is short and he wishes to lead the nations astray and to torment the people of God.

Satan Defeated:
Col 2:15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
1 Jn 3:8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
Heb 2:14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—
Is Satan defeated? Yes, at the cross. But is Satan destroyed/punished in hell? No, not yet.

Christ Ruling/Yet Not Everything Is Subdued/Under His Feet:
‎‎Re 1:4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, ‎‎5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 
Eph 1:22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,
‎‎1 Co 15:25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ‎‎26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 
‎‎Heb 10:12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ‎‎13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 
Is Jesus the ruler over the kings of the earth? Yes! Did God place all things under his feet and make him head/king? Yes! Yet Christ must reign from heaven UNTIL all his enemies are made his footstool/put under his feet.
The last enemy to be put under his feet is death. Did Christ defeat death? Yes! At the cross. Yet people are still dying. So there is a "yet to come" aspect.

The Last Enemy Is Death. Death is Destroyed By Jesus On The Cross. Yet Not Yet According To Some Verses:
Ho 13:14 “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction? “I will have no compassion,
‎‎Is 25:7 On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; ‎‎8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. 
‎‎1 Co 15:25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ‎‎26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 
1 Co 15:54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
2 Ti 1:10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
1 Co 15:24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
‎‎Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ‎‎8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, ‎‎9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ‎‎10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.


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