On Spiritual Warfare

Many of us have heard sermons and teaching about spiritual warfare. I’ve been in churches where a significant amount of time was spent looking for the activity of the enemy or his minions in the lives of believers. Some believers even think that they live under demonic oppression.

I’d like to provide some biblical perspective, and hopefully some clarity, on this subject.

We’ll start with Ephesians 6:12 (KJV) “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” All by itself, this sounds a lot like serious warfare. Now, let’s read it in context.

CONTEXT:
Ephesians 6:10–18 (KJV 1900)
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Recently I was asked why, in verse 12, we are given instructions for spiritual warfare since the enemy was defeated at the cross? We have read this in context, so now let’s unpack the passage a bit.

To begin with, I want us to notice that the instructions are as follows:

Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (verse 10)
Put on the armor of God (verse 11)
Stand (verses 11, 13, and 14)
Shield yourself (verse 16)
Protect your mind (verse 17)
Pray (verse 18)
Be alert (verse 18)

There is no aggressive fighting in view here. No attacking. Instead, we are told to resist and to stand. We are told that God’s armor is provided so that we can resist and stand firm against the devil’s schemes. The enemy is the one shooting flaming arrows. Our only role in so-called “spiritual warfare” is to resist and stand firm.

Our strength does not come from us. We are not told to be strong or even to work to become stronger. Instead, we are charged to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might.

Jesus is our source, as He points out in John 15:5 (KJV 1900) “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

We know that the Lord has plenty of power to deal with anything the enemy (or simply life in this fallen world) can throw at us. In Revelation 1:8 (KJV 1900) we read, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” In Matthew 3:9 we find this amazing statement, “God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”

This is the strength that is brought to bear when we depend upon God and the power of His might.

Verse 11 tells us to, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Some say that this is required of us daily. That to protect ourselves we need to be purposeful about putting on these pieces of armor each day.

The components of this armor are:

Truth
Righteousness
The Good News of Peace
Faith
Assurance of salvation
The word of God (Greek: rhema, not logos)

TRUTH
Truth is the belt upon which everything hangs. It holds clothing up and holds it together. It carries the weight of articles being carried. Truth is the infrastructure upon which we can depend for security. As Jesus said in John 14:6, He is the truth. Moreover, in John 17:17 (KJV 1900) we read, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

Truth is a strong defense against the enemy. Jesus used it, when tempted by the enemy. When the evil one used scripture passages to tempt Jesus to test God, Jesus used scripture in its proper context to expose and mitigate the enemy’s lies.

So it is with us. When we face accusation and temptation from the enemy, truth is our strong defense. John 8:44 tells us, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” The enemy is a liar and truth is his Kryptonite.

RIGHTEOUSNESS
It is difficult for many to believe that they are righteous. They look at their attitudes and behavior and know that these are often far from righteous. For many, teaching that indicates that righteousness is part of the future inheritance laid up in heaven for the saints has fostered this idea. Paul himself said in Philippians 3:12 that he had not attained perfection, so it is easy to think that we are unrighteous. Yet it is Paul, who just two verses later says that he is talking to those who are perfect. In Colossians 1:21–22 (KJV 1900) he wrote, “21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:”

More than this, you are in Christ, your life is hid with Christ in God, Holy Spirit lives in you and you are one spirit with the Lord. None of this would be true if you were anything other than perfectly righteous at the core. You are righteous. That’s your identity in Christ. How you act and think may not always reflect your true identity, but neither do they change it.

Righteousness is the truth about you, and it protects your vital organs like a breastplate. It protects your core. Working together with the truth, righteousness allows you to stand strong in the power of the Lord.

THE GOOD NEWS OF PEACE
When this passage talks about the Gospel of peace, it may at first seem out of place. It says that we wear shoes of the Gospel (or good news) of peace. In Romans 5:1–2 (KJV 1900) we see that this ties in with our ability to stand. It says, “1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Because we have been justified and made righteous, we have peace with God. We no longer need to fear His wrath. The enemy will try to tell us that we should. As he did with Jesus in the wilderness, he might even use scripture. Maybe he will select a passage such as Hebrews 10:30–31 (KJV 1900) “30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

The truth is that we are not to worry or be anxious. We are told in Philippians 4:6–7 (KJV 1900) to, “6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. This keeping is the same as that found in John 17. It means to guard, to protect.

Knowing the good news that we have peace with God allows us to stand, and not only to stand, but to move forward with confidence. We can live our lives without fear of punishment. We can endure hardships without doubting Father’s favor. We can grow at the pace that is best for us without concern that we are not enough.

FAITH
In 2 Peter 3:18 (KJV 1900) Peter counsels us to, “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” This is the way our faith comes into play.

Some think of faith as a thing. Something they can grow or work up on their own. Faith is simply belief in something, or for our purposes, Someone. Faith and trust go hand in hand. In the passage we just read at the end of Second Peter, we are urged to grow in the knowledge of the Lord. At the very beginning of the same letter, he says this, 2 Peter 1:2–3 (KJV 1900) “2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:”

Knowing God better, growing in our knowledge of Him, brings about trust. As with any relationship, our trust of the other person grows as we come to know them more intimately. We come to trust them with knowledge about ourselves. We grow to trust them with our weaknesses. As our trust grows, we confide in them in times of stress and anguish.

Trust gives legs to faith. We may believe that Jesus is all He claims to be and has done all He claims to have done in, to, and through us. Even so, if we do not trust Him, we hold back from Him. We walk in an earthy way; by our senses, by sight, according to the flesh. If we trust Him, we find that we can walk by faith, trusting that He is working for good on our behalf.

I have experienced this myself. For decades I knew that God loved me, but I did not trust that He liked me. I was afraid that He would punish me when I did not live up to His standard. This caused me to have a poor and weak relationship to Him. I could not pray for His will to be done because I was afraid of what that might mean.

Over the years I have come to know Father much better. These days I know that He is working for good and that His love for me is real. I know that He likes my company and that He cares about what happens in and to me. I know that His correction is done in a way that fits me perfectly and not in a way that humiliates or degrades me.

What I had before was faith well enough, but what I have come to have now is trust. Trust makes all the difference.

The shield of faith defends us by extinguishing, mitigating, or making of no concern the lies, accusations, and doubts sent our way by the enemy of our souls. As we come to know Father better and more intimately, we find that we are more dependent on Him and less upon ourselves. This is faith that works, and it makes the flaming arrows of the enemy ineffective.

ASSURANCE OF SALVATION
The helmet of salvation protects our head—our mind. While the enemy will do all he can to remind us of our past, Father says we are safe and secure—hidden even—in Him. Because we know that we are children of God we can safely ignore any thoughts that indicate that we are in jeopardy of hell.

Knowing who we are provides great protection against false accusations. In John 5:24 (KJV 1900) Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” It doesn’t get much clearer than that.

THE WORD OF GOD (Greek: rhema, not logos)
As we have progressed through this passage in Ephesians, we have seen the power of truth. We read in John that God’s word is truth. We know that Jesus is referred to as the Word who was with God in the beginning and who is God, and who was made flesh and lived among us. (see John 1)

For this reason we might say that Jesus is our armor. Jesus allows us to stand against the schemes of the enemy. We would certainly not be in error to say that. But in those passages from John’s gospel, he uses a different Greek word for “word” than the one we find here. John uses “logos” and the word we find here is “rhema.” These words both mean “word,” but their usage is broad and varied.

While it would take many hours to fully study these two words, I think it’s reasonable to view it this way. Jesus is both the messenger of God and the message of God. Jesus is the living Word—logos. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word (rhema) of God can be properly understood to mean God’s will—His purpose.

There is a clarity of mind that comes from having a clear understanding of what Father is doing. Father’s purpose is to be glorified. We are instruments to this end. Our role as we participate in the divine nature (see 2 Peter 1:4) is to make Him tangible to the world. In us, people see Father.

We remember that He has given us everything we need for life and godliness (see 2 Peter 1:3).
We remember that it is He who is at work in us to desire and do godly things (see Philippians 2:13).
We remember that as Titus 2:11–12 (KJV 1900) tell us, “11 …the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
We remember that Ephesians 2:10 (KJV 1900) tells us that, “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Remembering these things allows us to cease trying to act like God in our own strength and simply trust that He is acting like Himself in and through us. The fruit of His Spirit is going to be apparent. We do not have to work up the willpower. We do not have to select virtues to work on improving. We simply have to live the dependent life of “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” as we read in Philippians 1:6 (KJV 1900)

The enemy has been defeated. Colossians 2:15 (KJV) tells us, “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”

The enemy cannot touch those who are in Christ. 1 John 5:18 “We know that no one who has been born of God sins [Greek: goes on sinning continually]; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. (NASB 2020)

Now let’s look again at Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Our struggle is not against other people. Father loves every single person, and we are called to do the same. Rather, we struggle against unseen powers, rulers of the darkness—the valley of the shadow of death—the world and its earthy (fleshly) systems and ways of operating. We struggle against spiritual forces of wickedness that are not of this world—the devil and his minions.

The enemy has been declawed and defanged. He cannot touch us or harm us directly. Nevertheless, he is still able to affect those in the world. He can influence the world systems. Perhaps most importantly to each of us individually, he can plant lies in our minds that sound like they are coming from us. He does this by orchestrating things that we read, see, and hear and by influencing the unsaved with whom we come in contact, and so on.

His lies seem very real, and they often seem true. He loves to wrap big lies in a little truth to cloak it so that we do not notice what it is until it has had its effect on our thinking. The armor of God consists of truth. Each element of the armor is a truth about who we are in Christ or the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ that brings us peace.

Spiritual warfare then consists of remembering that we are saved, righteous, justified, children of God Himself and that we cannot be harmed by the enemy.

The enemy is a liar, and truth is his Kryptonite.