"Singing the Devil Away" (4)

Between our trip to the Gerhardt symposium and our daughter's wedding, I typed up some notes on Dr Kleinig's lecture Singing with Devotion, Dr Krispin's lecture Confession of Christ in Song and Sacrament, as well as starting to think through Dr Kleinig's lecture on Singing the Devil Away. Now that we've begun to recuperate from the hustle and bustle of the wedding, maybe I can work my way through the rest of my notes from the Canada trip.

In Genesis 3, we hear about the serpent. Dr Kleinig pointed out that serpents bite. Satan will harm us. He will bite. We will sin. Satan will accuse. He will tempt us not only to sin, but to believe that there is no forgiveness for us when we do sin.

We are also harmed when others inflict pain upon us through no fault of our own. These too are wounds (bites) from the serpent Satan.

But Satan's venom has been removed. When he bites and harms us now, there is no poison in his attacks. Christ took upon Himself all the poison that Satan had. He accepted the venom into His own flesh.

So, even though Satan bites and harms, it is not deadly. He may damage us, but the sting has been removed.


It was a strange and dreadful strife
When Life and Death contended.
The victory remained with Life;
The reign of Death was ended.
Holy Scripture plainly saith
That Death is swallowed up by Death,
His sting is lost forever. Alleluia!