God chose Israel to receive His favor and unconditional love. He promised His blessing if they would love and obey Him in return. When rebellion occurred, God used foreign oppressors to discipline His people. They remained under domination and captivity until they were broken and purged. In similar fashion, the Lord today gives over the persistent backslider to the oppressive power of Satan, for the primary purpose of correction. The Corinthian man caught in sexual sin was turned over to Satan for the “destruction of the flesh” (1 Cor. 5: 4-5). Hymenaeus and Alexander were two backsliders that Paul turned over to Satan “to be taught not to blaspheme” (1 Tim. 1: 20). The point is this: When a sinning Christian ignores or resists the Holy Spirit’s conviction and does not confess, there is a very real danger of temporarily coming under the adversary’s power.
Here’s my best understanding of the dangers of post-conversion compromise: If we do not have the resolve to “throw off” a besetting sin, it could become a foothold for enemy influence (see Eph. 4: 18). If a foothold persists, and is rationalized, the strength of the enemy’s grip can intensify into a stronghold (see 2 Cor. 10: 4-5). A stronghold is a deeply entrenched pattern of thought or behavior that is contrary to biblical truth and exploitable by satanic forces. If a believer resists the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and the exhortations of fellow believers, to deal with a stronghold issue, Satan will look for leverage to get a stranglehold, a virtual “headlock” or “hammerlock” on the child of God. If this sounds too severe, just look at the biblical examples I shared in the prior paragraph. Walking in a genuine fear of the Lord guides our path and keeps us covered with His protection.
