Be angry, and do not sin; let not the sun set upon your wrath,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
neither give room for the devil.
Paul has just told believers that anger itself is not always sin, but that it must not be carried into the night. This next line closes the door that anger leaves open, because the devil takes any room the flesh gives him.
One writer traces this command back to the first murder, then widens it far past temper:
This instruction follows naturally from the one before. An angry man is only a tool of Satan. Cain, who killed his brother in his anger, belonged to that wicked one. But in a far wider sense the devil is behind all that stirs up the evil feelings and passions of the old nature.
The devil asks for little at first. One writer shows where that small yielding ends:
Many have agreed to go a mile with Satan who never intended to go two. So Satan leads poor creatures down into the depths of sin by a winding staircase. They never see the bottom they are heading for. First he presents something that stirs a few thoughts. These thoughts set the affections on fire. The heated affections cloud the understanding. Now Satan dares to show himself a little more, and boldly urges the person to do what he would once have refused outright. Give no place to Satan! Not an inch, not in his first suggestions. A beggar who is modest outside the door will command the house once he is let in.
So what opens the door? One writer answers by naming what Satan can reach in us and what he cannot:
This verse shows us that we ought not to open the door to Satan. If it is the flesh that is acting, then the wicked one can touch us; but he cannot touch the new man, he cannot entice it (1 John 5:18). If I give way to a thought which is not of God, then I give place to Satan; if I give way to anger, the enemy is there. We are then hindered in service, troubled in prayer; and that is no surprise.
Anger is the example here, but it is not the only door. One writer points to a disciple who fell through another one:
We are warned that by acting in the flesh, whether in anger or in any other way, we open the door for the devil. Peter, by his self-confidence, made room for the devil to lead him into a denial of the Lord.
There is no neutral option. Either we hand the matter over to God and stay quiet, or the enemy takes what we keep holding:
The Lord says, "Vengeance is mine." Rather leave room for the wrath of God (Romans 12), and "give no opportunity to the devil" (Ephesians 4). But if you do not leave room for God's wrath, you will give room to the devil. Shall we lose anything by being quiet and taking things patiently?
(Older translations use one phrase, "give place," in both verses. That is the wordplay here.)
Resistance has a named means. The same writer points to where the victory comes from:
The Christian should keep this truth always in mind, and here he is encouraged to resist the devil. We overcome him by standing firm in the faith (1 Peter 5:9). He works most powerfully as the accuser of God's people, after first leading them into sin. But by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony they will certainly prevail (Revelation 12:10-11).
The guard is to let nothing carry over to the next day. One writer tells of a long life lived under attack:
The Christian ends his day with a mind free from irritation. I once asked an aged Christian how he had been able to live so long, having been so often unjustly attacked. He replied that for forty-five years he had been able to leave everything with the Lord each day, in deep rest of mind. He did this despite the indignation often stirred in him by so much wickedness. This takes the opportunity away from the enemy, who has often taken advantage of an irritated spirit.
- The door. Anger held past sunset is the opening. The devil is behind all that stirs the passions of the old nature, and an angry man becomes his tool.
- The inch. He asks small and takes large. Let the beggar in and he commands the house, then leads you down a stair whose bottom you never see.
- The room. He cannot touch the new man. He works only where the flesh acts — through anger, or through self-confidence, as with Peter.
- The cost. Give him room and he hinders your service and troubles your prayer. The loss shows at once in daily Christian life.
- The remedy. Stand firm in the faith, and leave the matter with God each day. A mind at rest before nightfall takes the enemy's opportunity away.