We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.—
I John 5:18

You can live in a place with God where you have immunity from the devil. The evil one cannot harm him. 

Immunity legally exempts a person from any natural or usual liability. Synonyms for immunity are license, liberty, and rights. Antonyms are susceptibility, proneness, and liability.

An alien who works in the embassy has license when living in another country. If he should commit a crime, he cannot be prosecuted under our laws. He has license to do wrong. This is an area where we do not have immunity. We do not have a license to sin and expect to be protected. No way! If you continue to sin then you have lost your immunity from Satan’s attacks.

We all sin. This passage does not say that if you make a mistake and repent you are not born of God. He says that anyone born of God does not continue to sin. The word "continue" means to habitually practice as a lifestyle. If sin is your lifestyle, then you don’t have immunity.

The area we have immunity in is in the area of liberty and rights. Christ has liberated us and made us free. Because of this, we have certain inalienable rights. Inalienable comes from two main words: In meaning not and alien meaning without citizenship. Jesus said, "You are in the world, but you are not of it."

We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. (I John 5:19)

Look carefully at Jesus prayer for us:

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. (John 17:15-16)

Glory to God! You are not of this world, and are, thus, not subject to this world’s curse. You are not citizens of this world but of heaven. You don’t have to have the same problems of the world. You can be exempt from sickness, poverty, worry, fear, calamities, and anything else that is normal to this world.

Jesus prayed that God would protect them from the evil one. We are the them He prayed for! He has prayed for your protection from the evil one. This is immunity.

Jesus had Immunity

Jesus said, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of it." Jesus was not of the world. He had immunity. Look at Jesus immunity:

John 14:30 "He has no hold on me." That ought to be your confession. "Satan has no hold on me!"

John 7:44 "Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him." Say, "No one can lay a hand on me!"

John 8:20 "Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come." Make this your profession, "No one can seize me, because my time has not yet come!"

John 10:39 "They tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp." Come on, say it: "When people try to capture me, I will escape from their grasp."

John 10:18 "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." Boldly say, "I am not of this world. No one can take my life from me, but I will lay it down of my own accord!"

Most would agree that Jesus had immunity, but they balk at the notion of the believer having immunity.

"Well, Pastor, this sounds good, but experience tells us that we don’t have immunity. Satan is pretty much free to do what he wants to us."

The trouble with that statement is the person who makes it is listening to experience and not the Word. Yes, experience seems to contradict these promises, but we are not to live by experiences but by the Word.

Evangelicals are always getting upset at us charismatics for emphasizing our experiences, yet they are doing the same thing by taking sides against the Word and in favor of their experiences. I don’t care what I have experienced. I see in the Word a place I can abide in where I have immunity. I am going to live in this place, how about you?

No Automatic Immunity

All of God’s promises are conditional. There are no automatic promises. God does not make a promise, and, all of a sudden, that promise simply takes off by itself and fulfills itself in our lives. No, God’s promises are conditional, including the promise of immunity.

Notice the original passage we looked at:

We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. (1 John 5:18)

The New English Bible says, "it is the Son of God who keeps him safe," however, the King James Version says, "but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one touches him not." I believe it is our responsibility to keep ourselves in the protective arms of God.

Who is the one that keeps him safe? It is the one who was born of God. We are born of God. Yes, Christ is also born of God, but He expects us to do are part in keeping ourselves in the place of immunity. This scripture won’t work for you, simply because you want it to work. It will work when you put it to work, and you put it to work by faith. You must believe in it in order for it to work. If you don’t believe, then it won’t work.

Religion tries to make excuses for us when the devil attacks us. Instead of acknowledging the possibility that we are not in the place of immunity, it teaches that the devil’s attack against us was for our good. I don’t believe that! I believe we simply gave the devil an open door to come into our lives and wreck havoc.

It’s time we learn how to appropriate our immunity. I want to show you how.

The Believer’s Immunity

I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. (Luke 10:19)

Nothing will harm you! No thing can hurt you, not even your mother-in-law!

You have authority over Satan and his cohorts. They can’t hurt you when you walk in your authority.

You might say, "I wish I could believe that!" You can believe that, you have simply chosen not to believe it. Quit doubting. You have immunity.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. (Ephesians 6:16)

How many arrows can your faith extinguish, some, most? No! All the flaming arrows of the evil one can be quenched. You don’t have to have one of them pierce you—not one!

For this to work, you have to take up the shield of faith. God won’t take it up for you. You have to pick it up and use it.

Paul was using a vivid analogy known to the people of his day. Only until recently, have we finally understood what this means. The movie The Gladiators resplendently showed how the shields worked in Bible days. You might remember the movie.

In the beginning of the movie was the battle scene. The enemies of Rome began to light their arrows and fling them across the cold crevice. As they did, the Roman soldiers hooked their shields together, creating an impenetrable barrier. The soldiers calmly found shelter under their shields.

That’s the picture Paul gives. We don’t have to worry that there will be an opening in the shield. There is no opening. When we hook our faith together, we become an impenetrable force that Satan can’t enter. We have total protection against him. This is why Satan wants us to fight against each other. Our faith must work together. When we believe and trust God together, there is immunity from Satan. You can’t stand-alone. Immunity won’t work that way. You must join your faith with others. I call this "community faith."

I’ve seen miracles take place when people come together, believing God for miracles. Sure, you can trust God for a miracle on your own, but why not hook your shield of faith with others, so nothing can hurt you. Jesus sent out His disciples two by two. He knew the power of community faith.

The Tongue

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. (Psalm 91:7)

I really believe this. Everyone else could be having trouble, but I’m not!

"Pastor Brown, do you ever worry that your plane is going to crash?" No! It can’t crash if I’m in it, and if it does crash, everyone else may die, but not me. Now, I’m not wanting anyone to die, I am simply saying that I won’t die. I know when you began to talk like this, people will think you are crazy.

"Who do you think you are to say you aren’t going to die!"

I’m saying what the Psalmist said. He said it. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. I believe I have immunity. Even when it looks like I am about to die, I will have protection.

Jesus had this protection. I love the story when He preached in Nazareth. Everyone got angry at His message. They grabbed Him and took Him to a cliff. What did Jesus do? "He walked through the crowd" (Luke 4:30). I love it! No fighting. No Kung fu. No Karate. He simply walked through the crowd. He knew His immunity.

If you took your immunization shots for polio, would you be afraid to be near someone with polio. No, because you know you have immunity. When you know you have immunity against Satan’s attacks you don’t worry about being harmed. You know you have protection. You don’t worry about losing your house. You are not afraid of dying with an incurable disease. You are not concern that your ministry will go under. You don’t have fear, because you have immunity.

What is the key to exercising this immunity? The key is your mouth

I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." (Psalm 91:2)

He does not hope that the Lord is his refuge. He knows it. How do we know he knows it? His words reveal what he really believes. He wrote: "I will say of the LORD." He verbalized his faith.

If your faith is silent then your faith is aborted. You might have conceived God’s promise of immunity, but you were not sure to verbalize it. You did not want to sound presumptuous. You thought, Maybe it might not work, so I don’t want to give God a bad name if He fails to protect me. So you kept silent. Your faith was aborted.

Your faith must be released through words. You must say that you are immune. Your words are the shots in the arm to keep you immune.

You can have immunity from the devil

by saying...

The evil one cannot harm me, because the Lord keeps me safe.

Satan has no hold on me.

I’ve been marked with the seal of ownership by God Himself. He marked me with the Holy Spirit. I stand by faith in this.

Christ is my ark of safety. When I can pass through the waters, the river will not sweep over me. When I walk through the fire, I will not be burned, because the Lord is with me. I fear not, because he has redeemed me. He has summoned me by name. I belong to God.

The blood of Jesus is over my life, and demons must pass over me. I eat the bread of sincerity and truth. I live by the truth of the Word of God.

I have the mark of the Lord on my forehead; therefore no harm will come to me.

A thousand may fall at my side, ten thousand at my right hand, but no disaster will come near me. I make the Most High my dwelling, even my refuge, and so no harm will befall me, and no disaster will come near my dwelling. God rescues me and protects me, for I acknowledge his name and I love him. I say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, in him I trust.

I have immunity from the evil one!