What Is Spiritual Warfare?

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.

Three opponents — and the battle is in the mind

• The host's frame, carried from the verbatim layer: many Christians talk about spiritual warfare. The phrase may sound odd — even a little threatening — to people who aren't familiar with Christian terminology. In our churches people may hear pastors and service leaders use the phrase. Put yourself in the shoes of somebody who's not a Christian, hearing this term: it may sound really strange, really threatening. What exactly do we mean by this phrase, spiritual warfare — and how do we engage in it?
• That's an important question, because sometimes even as Christians we see people getting way off track in what it means. Start with the basics. We are human beings; we have what's called the flesh, which means human nature. It could refer to just our body, but more commonly in Scripture it also refers to our inward human nature, which has been tainted by sin — the sinful human nature. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive the spirit of God, which gives us power over the sinful human nature. So as Christians we actually have the Holy Spirit within us — but we still have our own flesh: not only the physical body, but sinful inclinations and desires, which first John chapter 2 talks about: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. So there is an internal warfare between the spirit and the flesh — our old desires and our new nature given by God. That is an inner spiritual struggle. We can also say there are external forces: we are tempted externally by the world — our culture around us that would pull us away from God — and by the devil himself, or his emissaries. So we have these three opponents: the flesh, which is internal; the world, which is external; and the devil, which is external.
• Sometimes we blame the devil — and a lot of times in spiritual warfare we're fighting against the devil, which we should. But here's the problem: if there's an external temptation, yes, we rebuke the devil; he must flee from us. But if there's an internal temptation, you can't cast out your flesh — you have to deal with it. Sometimes people think of spiritual warfare as exclusively fighting against the devil, but they fail to realize a lot of the battle is inward. Let me read you some scripture: 2 Corinthians 10 — I'll use the new King James. Verse three: for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. So we're not fighting physically. We're physical beings, but we're not fighting physically — for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, they're not physical, they're not fleshly, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. So notice: the real place of spiritual warfare is in our mind. It's really capturing thoughts that would go against God, taking control of them, and disciplining our minds — to purge ourselves of evil thoughts, or temptations, or strongholds in our life, or false ideologies that bind us.

Scriptures: 1 John 2; 2 Corinthians 10

Resist him: the devil's only power over a Christian is bluff

• Think of it this way. James says: resist the devil, he will flee from you. John says: greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. Peter also says, as he reports it, that if you resist the devil you will have power — he must flee from you. So the devil is not a foe that can overcome a Christian who's full of the Holy Spirit, unless they allow him to. I sometimes say: for a Christian, the only power the devil has is the power of bluff. If he can convince you that he has power over you, he will — he does. If he can tempt you and deceive you, as he did Eve, then he will have power. But if you understand his tactic, and resist him, and rebuke him, and call on the name of Jesus, he has no power. He can't make you do anything.
• So if you think of spiritual warfare as: I'm going to struggle with the devil — sometimes he wins, sometimes I win — and I've got to come up with all kinds of clever strategies to defeat him, and identify all of his emissaries, and have a strategy to conquer every emissary — I think you're missing the point, because God has already given us the power. I read 2 Corinthians 10 to show our spiritual warfare is primarily in our spirit, in our thoughts: knowing the truth, casting down false ideologies, false concepts, lies of the devil, tricks of the devil, deceptions, delusions, and focusing on what's true. That's the real warfare.
• Now Ephesians 6 has a detailed description of the armor of God: it compares our spiritual life to fighting a battle, and it has various elements that are spiritual, and then it emphasizes praying. So prayer is the way that we do that. How do we engage in spiritual warfare? The primary way is through praying — through studying and meditating, preaching and teaching the word of God, because that's the objective truth. If the battle is primarily in our mind, against deception and falsehood and temptation, then the primary victory is prayer — that the Lord would renew our minds and guide our thoughts — and study and proclaiming of the word, because that's where we're going to find the truth to oppose the lies. Some people will have elaborate schemes — and anything that will promote prayer or dedication, such as fasting, or preaching, or teaching, or reading or studying the word, that's good. But I don't think we should focus on techniques — like, we've got to find some technique to destroy this enemy in our city, this spiritual enemy. I don't think you have to know a lot about the devil. I think you have to go to Jesus Christ, and trust in God — because actually the Lord has already won the victory. When we talk about spiritual warfare, we're just applying the victory that Jesus has already won, through the cross, through his death, burial, and resurrection. We don't have to win the victory in our own ability.

Scriptures: James 4:7; 1 John 4:4; Ephesians 6

The victory already won: nailed to the cross, a public spectacle

• I want to read from Colossians chapter 2, because it highlights this: it gives this vivid description of the devil as a defeated foe. It uses the Roman custom of the triumph. When the Roman armies would win victory over the enemy, they would capture the enemy king or general, and parade him down the streets of Rome in a triumphal procession — all the captives, all their captured arms, all the spoils of war — and the victorious soldiers march. In the climactic moment, the Roman general who had won the battle would force the enemy general or king to kneel, or fall down on his face, and the Roman general would put his foot on the head of the defeated foe — to show, in a very real way: this man is bound. He was so powerful, he fought against us, but he's defeated; he's powerless. We stripped all of his arms from him, and now we are standing on his head. Absolute authority.
• And so here's the picture: what Jesus did for us is exactly that, through the cross and the resurrection. In Colossians 2:13: and you, being dead in your trespasses — the uncircumcision of your flesh — he has made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. And there's the Roman triumph. Jesus nailed our sins to the cross; he paid the price — the debt is paid. If you think of it like this: here's the bill that's due; Jesus paid for it with his blood, and he nailed it to the cross, saying: it's done. And then he takes the enemy king, which is the devil, and he openly shows he's won. Jesus Christ has already won the victory.
• Hebrews 2 talks about the same concept. When Jesus died for our sins, he paid the price. When he rose from the dead, he won victory: he turned death into life; he turned defeat into victory. And we simply share in that. In Hebrews 2, verse 14: inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death — that is, the devil — and release those who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage. And then he goes on to say that's why we can pray and get answers to our prayers: we have a high priest who intercedes for us.

Scriptures: Colossians 2:13-15; Hebrews 2; Hebrews 2:14

Not fighting people — and no secret techniques

• So let's be very careful when we talk about spiritual warfare. There's a real foe. We're not fighting against people — let's make sure of that. If we try to attack people — whether it's social media, or attacking them in person — that's a mistake. People are deceived, but they're not the enemy. They can be used by the enemy, but ultimately our foes are not human, and it's foolish to try to fight people in a carnal way. Our warfare is a spiritual battle, against evil influences — the devil, the world, and the flesh. But these are spiritual battles, and this is not a co-equal battle, where we're fighting an equal foe: we actually have a defeated foe. What we need to understand: we've already won the victory. It's not: well, if I pray so many hours, I can win; if I fast so many days, I can win; if I go through all these spiritual disciplines, I can win; if I know that technique of binding this strong man and that strong man, and this guy and that guy, and if I know what to do here, there, and yonder, then I can win. It's not about us.
• You don't see a detailed scheme when the apostles went to all these different cities in the book of Acts. We don't find a detailed strategy of step one, two, three, four, five. What we find is: they prayed, they preached, they cast out demons, they prayed for the sick, they prayed for people to receive the Holy Ghost. You don't have to be an expert in techniques of warfare — and if you try to do that, I think you're getting the focus wrong, because victory is in Jesus Christ. The real pathway to victory is to preach Jesus — to preach he's already won the victory — that you need to apply his sacrifice to your life, you need to receive his spirit, and then through his spirit you'll have the power. And as you study the word — that's the technique, so to speak: learning to obey the word, learning to follow the word, learning to trust in Jesus, and learning to have a relationship with Jesus. So it's not about so many hours or days of fasting and prayer; it's about developing a relationship with Jesus — which does involve prayer, and fasting is beneficial in that, but the purpose is relationship with Jesus, because the victory is in Jesus.
• Jesus has already won the victory. It's a matter of us applying the victory to our lives: rebuking the devil and telling him to leave us alone. Although he can tempt us, and although he can attack us, ultimately he has to leave us alone, because Jesus Christ has already won the victory. So I do believe there's a real spiritual warfare — but I don't think we need to make it spooky, or super spiritual, or techniques, or secret strategies. I think it goes back to: let's have faith in Jesus Christ, let's trust in him, let's pray, let's follow the word, let's be full of the Holy Ghost — and we're going to win. We already have won, in God's plan. We've already won. We just need to claim it, in Jesus' name.

Scripture index: 1 John 2; 2 Corinthians 10; James 4:7; 1 John 4:4; Ephesians 6; Colossians 2:13-15; Hebrews 2; Hebrews 2:14.