Spiritual Warfare

Steven R. Cook

Before anything was created there was only God, and He is good. The angels were the first created beings and were present when God created the world (Gen. 1:1; Job 38:7). Sometime after creation there was a revolt in heaven and one of the highest angels, an anointed Cherub named Lucifer, rebelled against God and led a third of all the angels into sin (Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:12-18). This angelic rebellion was the beginning of the kingdom of darkness, which would later be expanded when Adam rebelled and followed the advice of Satan rather than God (Gen. 3:1-7; Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:22). Today, every person born in the world is born into the kingdom of darkness, and it is only by faith in the gospel that a person is born-again and placed into the kingdom of light. Believers are attacked by demonic forces, and will continue to be until the time Satan is thrown into the Abyss (Rev. 20:1-6), and later into Lake of Fire (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10).

In order to fight spiritually, the believer needs to start with a biblical worldview that understands that God created the universe (Gen. 1:1), man has fallen into sin (Gen. 3:1-7; Rom. 5:12-19), and Christ is the only redeemer for a fallen mankind (Rom. 3:21-31). Also, the believer must understand that there are two kingdoms that will continue until the New Heaven and New Earth (Matt. 13:24-30; cf. Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:12-18; Acts 26:18; Eph. 2:1-2; 5:8; Rev. 21), and that it is possible for the believer to engage in spiritual infidelity (Jas. 4:4; cf. 2 Cor. 11:2). The Bible gives us examples of believers who suffered spiritual attacks (Gen. 3:1-7; Job 1-2; Matt. 4:1-11; 2 Cor. 12:7-10).

The Bible sets forth three Spiritual Dangers to the Christian (Eph. 2:1-3):

1. The world: The world refers to those philosophies and values that influence the believer to think, speak, and behave contrary to God’s word. The world is society without God. It is wholly against God, and built on satanic philosophies which are rooted in false perceptions of reality. In short, “Worldliness is a way of thinking about life that is contrary to the biblical way or divine viewpoint” (Robert Dean, Thomas Ice, What the Bible Teaches About Spiritual Warfare (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 2000), p. 64). Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer describes the world as follows:

The cosmos is a vast order or system that Satan has promoted which conforms to his ideals, aims, and methods. It is civilization now functioning apart from God-a civilization in which none of its promoters really expect God to share; who assign to God no consideration in respect to their projects, nor do they ascribe any causality to Him. This system embraces its godless governments, conflicts, armaments, jealousies; its education, culture, religions of morality, and pride. It is that sphere in which man lives. It is what he sees, what he employs. To the uncounted multitude it is all they ever know so long as they live on this earth. It is properly styled “The Satanic System” which phrase is in many instances a justified interpretation of the so-meaningful word, cosmos. It is literally Kosmos Diabolou [i.e. the Devil’s world] (Lewis S. Chafer, “The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Believer” Bibliotheca Sacra, 99 (1942): 297).

One can detect worldly governments, cultures, and philosophies because they always seek to muffle or silence the Word of God. “The world, or world-system, puts pressure on each person to try to get him to conform (Rom. 12:2). Jesus Christ was not ‘“of this world”’ and neither are His people (John 8:23; 17:14)” (Wiersbe, The Bible exposition commentary, Eph. 2:1 (Wheaton, Ill. Victor Books, 1996)).

2. The flesh: The flesh refers to the Old Sin Nature which is resident in every believer, and which is the source of internal temptation. “The flesh refers to that fallen nature that we were born with, that wants to control the body and the mind and make us disobey God” (Wiersbe, The Bible exposition commentary, Eph. 2:1, (Wheaton, Ill. Victor Books, 1996)).

3. The devil: Sometimes the devil himself attacks a person (e.g. Adam & Eve, Job, David, Jesus), but more often it’s demonic forces that seek to frustrate and keep the believer from accomplishing God’s will. Warren Wiersbe states:

The devil is “the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience.” This does not mean that Satan is personally at work in the life of each unbeliever, since Satan as a created being is limited in space. Unlike God, who is omnipresent, Satan cannot be in all places at one time. But because of his demonic associates (Eph. 6:11–12), and his power over the world system (John 12:31), Satan influences the lives of all unbelievers, and also seeks to influence believers. He wants to make people “children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2; 5:6). He himself was disobedient to God, so he wants others to disobey Him too” (Wiersbe, The Bible exposition commentary, Eph. 2:1, (Wheaton, Ill. Victor Books, 1996)).

It is important to note that by His death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33; Gal. 6:14), the flesh (Rom. 6:1–6; Gal. 2:20), and the devil (Eph. 1:19–23).

Here are a few notes on spiritual warfare:

1. The battle is spiritual-mental, not physical (2 Cor. 10:1-6; Eph. 6:12). Even though Satan may attack the body, he’s primarily trying to get the believer to stop thinking Bible doctrine (2 Cor. 10:5; cf. Rom. 10:1-2; Col. 3:1; Phil. 4:10-11). Satan can defeat the believer only when he gets him to stop trusting the Lord.

2. Like his attack on Eve, Satan will try to get us to question God’s word, then deny it, and finally substitute false doctrine in its place (Gen. 3:1-7; 1 Tim. 4:1).

3. Christians are never to take an offensive posture against Satan, but rather, only a defensive one (Eph. 6:10-17; Jas. 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8-9). That is, we do not attack Satan, but rather defend ourselves from his attacks against us.

4. Only the believer who is spirit-filled and living in obedience to God’s word can stand against the devil (Eph. 5:18; 6:10-17). To try to fight the enemy without God’s armor is like walking onto a battle field naked without protection.

5. Satan and his demons can influence the Christian to think and act according to his will (Acts 5:1-4). When the believer sins (and he will, 2 Samuel 7:12-15; 1 Kings 8:46; Prov. 20:9; Eccl. 7:20; Rom. 3:23), he can never say the devil made him do it; at best he can only say the devil tempted him.

6. Satan can be used by God to destroy the flesh of a sinning believer who has turned to a disobedient lifestyle (1 Cor. 5:1-5).

7. God may permit Satan to attack a believer (Job 1-2).

8. Satan can deceive the minds of believers, but only as they are ignorant of God’s word, or disobedient to it (2 Cor. 11:3-4; 13-15; cf. Gen. 3:1-7).

9. God will send demons to deceive and destroy arrogant believers (2 Sam. 16:14-16; Judges 9:23; 1 Kings 22:19-23).

10. God will send demons to attack believers to keep them humble (2 Cor. 12:7-10).

11. God will deliver those who turn to Him for salvation and protection (Acts 26:18; Eph. 2:1-7; 6:10-17; Col. 1:13-14).

12. Satan can deceive the minds of unbelievers (2 Cor. 4:4).

This list is by no means exhaustive, and there are many excellent books written about Satan and Demons by such authors as Lewis S. Chafer, Merrill F. Unger, Warren Wiersbe, and Dwight Pentecost. I would strongly recommend the book Spiritual Warfare by Robert Dean and Thomas Ice.