| Spiritual warfare Lesson #2 In order to pull down the strongholds of the devil, we must make sure that we have no unrepented sin in our lives. We cannot afford to leave an open door for satan to come through. He looks for ways to get in. We must live a crucified life. In other words we must be dead to sin. We must go to God and ask him to reveal any unknown sin, and we must repent of all known sin. Repenting means more than just saying I'm sorry. The word repent means to turn from our sins. You can scream and holler at the devil all day, But if you have some areas in your life that has gone without repentance, this will leave a door open for satan. When you try to do spiritual warfare without repenting, then you open the door for satan to come in. It's like putting out the welcome matt. Once you have taken care of this area then you are ready to proceed. This is a very vital step in learning to do spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare is very real and this area cannot be ignored. Now that we've gotten that part taken care of let's go on to the good part. Colossians 2:15 15. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Lets read Colossians 2:15 out of the Living Bible to make things a little clearer. In this way God took away Satan's power to accuse you of sin, and God openly displayed to the whole world Christ's triumph at the cross where your sins were all taken away. At the Cross, Jesus put satan to open shame. Let's look at the word spoiled. The word spoiled is taken from the Greek word apekdusamenos. This word refers to stripping one to complete nakedness. The Word tells us when Jesus arose from the grave, He literally plundered the enemy. Jesus took all of satans weapons and left him naked with nothing to retaliate with. Colossians 2:15 continues. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. The word shew is taken from the word deig-matidzo. It means to display or to expose something. Back in the old days when a war was won, The reigning emperor would return home and display their tropheys, Weaponry and captives that were seized during the battle. This was a grand moment for the victor. This is what happened when Jesus arose from the grave. He put satan to open shame and he did it with complete boldness. He took all of the weapons from the enemy of our souls. And he did it openly. The word openly is taken from the word parresia, which is used in the New Testament to denote boldness or confidence. Paul lets us know that this was no quiet affair. Make no mistake about it. All of Heaven was rejoicing!!!! |