As we live our lives here on earth--completing daily tasks, working for temporal things, even laying up treasures in heaven--an ongoing battle rages around us, directly influencing our actions and thoughts while also being influenced by the things we say and do. We can’t see this spiritual battle; we can’t look our enemy in the eye or watch our commander’s every move. Yet, the war is very real, and ignoring it or pretending it doesn’t exist is one of the deadliest mistakes we can make as soldiers in the army of the Lord...
How do we know there is a spiritual battle taking place?
The Bible tells us that our “enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8), which means that the devil is not bound in the lake of fire yet and, until then, he’s fighting for our souls. He knows his fate, and he wants to deceive and drag along as many people as he can before he’s locked up for good. And even if he can’t take us down, he’ll settle for rendering us useless to the Kingdom of God and powerless against his own kingdom if he can. With every trick and illusion at his disposal, the devil actively wages war in the spiritual realm by setting up problems designed to take our attention away from God, whispering lies in our ears, appealing to our fleshly desires, and appearing to us as “an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).
The devil doesn’t just sit back, waiting for us to mess up; he constantly gives us reason to fail. He approached Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). He looked the world over and found Job righteous and enjoying God’s blessings, so he asked God’s permission to test Job’s devotion to God (Job 1:7-12). The devil sifted Peter as wheat when Jesus was crucified (Luke 22:31). These examples, specifically mentioned in Scripture, show the devil as aggressive and on the move.
What does this mean for us?
The above examples show the devil oppressing and tempting people who served God, which goes against the idea that the devil fights for the undecided souls but leaves the Christians alone. Christians are dangerous to the devil’s work, so active Christians are one of his main targets.
What can we do?
As powerful and determined as the devil is, he doesn’t come close to matching our God in strength or resolve. He’s fighting a losing battle, and he knows it, so he’s grasping at straws before the final blow comes. Because we are children of God and the Holy Ghost lives inside each person who accepts Christ as Savior, we play an important role in this spiritual battle. We’re not just targets of the enemy; we’re soldiers, and we’ve been given both armor to protect us and weapons to fight with. There is no reason to fear the enemy, as long as we’re aware of his presence and the strategies he’s using, and as long as we are clothed and prepared for the battle.
What kinds of weapons do we have to fight this battle?
2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” It only makes sense that we’d fight a spiritual battle with spiritual weapons, right? This means we can’t see these weapons anymore than we can see the devil or his demons or the angels. Ephesians 6 lists the armor of God as: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Though it isn’t listed as a specific piece of armor, praying in the spirit is also mentioned with the armor of God. We will learn more about each of these pieces of armor in upcoming issues of 212 Degrees—Boiling Point, but for now I just want to give you an overview of how our armor and our weapons in general have power in the spirit realm.
Picture this scenario...
A sixteen year old guy is sitting on the couch with the television on. He reaches for the remote, flips through channels, and comes upon one of those channels showing pornography. Does he keep flipping, or does he linger for a minute or maybe longer? At that moment, a demon whispers in his ear something along the lines of, “It’s OK, no one will know. It’s only for a minute.” The demon isn’t alone though. An angel is present too, and the demon and angel are fighting. As it turns out, the guy’s mom prayed for him that morning when she was doing her daily devotions, and that prayer gave the angel strength to slash the demon with his sword. After a brief struggle in his mind and between the angel and demon in the spirit realm, the guy turns off the television and goes to find something else to do.
This is a simplified idea of what may go on in the spirit realm, but it shows a few very important points. 1) The spiritual realm, though we can’t see it, is intertwined with our physical world. It’s not far removed from us. 2) Both demons and angels fight as we make important decisions. We make the decision of what to do, but they fight for our attention so they can encourage us in either direction. 3) Our prayers (and quoting the Word of God at the enemy, which is what the sword of the Spirit is) enter the spirit realm and give aid to the angels fighting for Christians to be strong and resist the devil and his tricks. So we have an affect on the spirit realm just as much as it affects us. This is both an offensive and defensive weapon, and it’s very powerful. 4) The devil doesn’t have to set up a lot of the temptations we face. The guy turned on the television on his own, and his own natural desires would have made him look at the pornography. The demon just had to encourage him to follow his flesh.
An important note needs to be made...
The devil cannot make us do anything. People often use the excuse, “the devil made me do it,” which gives the devil far more credit than he deserves. When we mess up, we do so because we give in to temptation when we are drawn away and enticed by our "own evil desires" (James 1:14). Just because there is a spiritual realm does not mean that we aren’t responsible to follow God’s commands. The Bible says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
Remember, as you fight in this spiritual battle, that you are a victor in Christ. You’re on the winning team, so don’t give up and don’t give in. And if you do slip up, get back up and stand again with the rest of God’s army. You’re a soldier in the army of the Lord, fighting in the realm of the unseen, and living as a witness/recruiter on the battlefield called earth. The battle rages every moment of every day, so don’t turn your back on the enemy, and don’t take off your armor, and be sure to get to know your sword (God’s Word) because you’re definitely going to need to use it!
Some final instructions from the Commander...
“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:11-13).
Next month we will begin a six part series with an article each month about one of the pieces of armor. You don’t want to miss it! Until then, you can get a sneak peek by reading Ephesians 6:10-18. God bless, my fellow soldiers!
Written by: Hannah Kelmis
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