Weapons of Sin

 

Weapons of Sin: The New Testament Ranking

(How the Strong Man Is Actually Defeated) 

Identify the weapons of sin

“But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, He takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.”

(Luke 11:22 NKJV)Jesus spoke these words about Satan, the “strong man” who guards his house with weapons and armor.

The New Testament spends almost no time warning believers about demons, drunkenness, or sexual immorality compared to the two weapons Satan trusts most — the very armor Jesus came to strip away.Here is the New Testament’s own ranking of the enemy’s deadliest weapons:

The old Testament

1. The #1 Weapon: Twisted Law / Religious Self-Righteousness (the armor the strong man trusts most) 

This is the only weapon that ever succeeded in killing the Son of God. The Pharisees and chief priests used Scripture and the Law as their weapon against Jesus.

They quoted Moses while plotting murder (John 5:45–47; 8:37–59).

Jesus’ longest, harshest sermon (Matthew 23) is aimed exclusively at religious leaders who loved the Law outwardly but hated grace inwardly.

Seven times He calls them “hypocrites” and ends with, “Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?”

Paul, before conversion, was “blameless” according to the Law — and the church’s chief persecutor (Phil 3:6; Acts 26:9–11).

This weapon is the most dangerous because it lets a person feel righteous while remaining an enemy of the cross (Phil 3:18–19).

No prostitute ever crucified Jesus. Only “Bible-believing” religious men did.

Money

2. The #2 Weapon: The Love of Money(the second piece of armor the strong man trusts)Judas, one of the Twelve, sold the Son of God for silver.

Ananias and Sapphira, filled with the Holy Spirit, lied about money and dropped dead in church (Acts 5).

Jesus names only one rival master: “You cannot serve God and Mammon” (Matt 6:24; Luke 16:13).

Paul warns twice in one chapter that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil and that desiring riches plunges people into destruction and perdition (1 Timothy 6:9–10, 17–19).

The only time Jesus physically used violence in the Gospels: overturning tables and driving out those who turned God’s house into a marketplace.

Money is the only thing Jesus personifies as a rival god.

Flesh

3. Third-Tier Weapons: The Obvious Sins of the Flesh(sexual immorality, idolatry, sorcery, drunkenness, rage — Galatians 5:19–21; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10)These are real, deadly, and will keep people out of the kingdom…

but they rarely keep people proud.

The prodigal son came home because his sins made him smell like pigs.

The Pharisee never came home because his “righteousness” smelled like incense in his own nostrils.Paul lists the obvious sins quickly, then spends entire chapters warning about the subtle ones: legalism, greed, and the desire for human approval.

The Stronger Man Has Come

Jesus did not come mainly to deliver people from pornography or alcohol.

He came to strip the strong man of his two trusted weapons: Self-righteousness (the Law used as a covering for pride)

Mammon (money used as a false master and source of authority)

When those two pieces of armor are gone, the house falls.That is why the gospel is scandalously simple: We are justified by faith apart from works of the Law (Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16).

We are rich because He became poor (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Die to religious performance.

Die to the love of money.

Let Jesus be your only righteousness and your only treasure.Then the strong man is fully disarmed,

his armor is stripped away,

and the Stronger Man divides the spoils — freedom, joy, and eternal life.“He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

(2 Corinthians 5:21)The weapons are exposed.

The victory is already won.

Walk in it.