If you’ve ever heard it said that God’s people are constantly engaged in spiritual warfare, you may wonder what that really means. The term “spiritual warfare” may spark a wide variety of mental images, most of them terrifying. As a child of God, it’s important that you understand what spiritual warfare is and how it impacts your daily life. If you’ve never been sure about your role in the spiritual battle that constantly roars around you, discover more about it today.
In the spiritual realm, there is an unseen world that human eyes cannot see. Within this spiritual realm, there is a battle that constantly rages between Satan, the enemy of God and all His people, and God’s angelic hosts who stand in defense of God’s children, His Word, and His plan for the world.
The Bible identifies Satan as the “father of lies” (John 8:44), which means that every attack that he launches begins with a lie. However, even though Satan is a master manipulator, there are certain things that we need to understand about the enemy. Of utmost importance, Satan is no omnipresent and omniscient like God is. Those terms speak to the fact that God is able to be everywhere at all times, and knows everything going on, even in the hearts and minds of people. Those are not traits that Satan possesses. Instead, he is limited by time and space unlike our God.
The minute that you made the decision to follow Christ, you signed up for battle. In the same way that millions of brave men and women volunteer to serve in the armed forces, your decision to follow Christ came with an enlistment. Your enemy is not visible with the naked eye, but his impact on the world cannot be denied.
As a member of God’s army, what is expected of you? How are you supposed to fight an enemy that you can’t see? Even if you could see the enemy, is there anything that you could do about him? These are just some of the questions that people have about spiritual warfare.
Spiritual warfare is one of the most discussed yet misunderstood concepts in the Church today. That’s unfortunate, because it’s vital that you understand what it means to be engaged in a life and death battle for your own soul, and the souls of the people you love.
Satan wants us to be ignorant about the warfare that we are actively engaged in. He wants us to be unaware of his plans, plots, and devices, but God’s Word is clear about the fact that He wants us to know exactly what’s going on. No, you’ll never be able to physically see the warfare around you, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t be informed about what’s happening and how to win.
You Are Already Victorious
Luke 22:31-32 (TPT)
“Peter, my dear friend, listen to what I’m about to tell you. Satan has obtained permission to come and sift you all like wheat and test your faith. But I have prayed for you, Peter, that you would stay faithful to me no matter what comes. Remember this: after you have turned back to me and have been restored, make it your life mission to strengthen the faith of your brothers.”
The goal of any battle is to win. No army lines up its forces against an opposing group and plans to lose. Even if they’re outnumbered, outmanned, and out gunned, every army wants to win every battle. In the same vein, it’s important to understand that we want to win in our spiritual warfare.
Perhaps the most important aspect of understanding spiritual warfare is to understand that the war has already been won. Do you remember how we discussed that God is not limited to time and space like Satan is? God’s omnipresence means that He has already gone into our futures and secured the victory.
When we read the Book of Revelation (as complicated as it can be to understand), we get a lot of insight about what’s going to happen in the spiritual realm in the future. Satan is defeated while God and His people enjoy the victory.
In the passage that we just read from Saint Luke’s Gospel, Jesus told Peter that Satan had received permission to try to “sift him like wheat.” While that may sound scary, it’s important that we focus more on the first part of the conversation than the part that discusses sifting. Satan had to obtain permission to try anything with Peter. He doesn’t have control over God’s people, because God has already won the battle.
In this spiritual warfare that you are engaged in, you are not fighting for victory. Instead, you are fighting from a place of victory. Satan can’t do anything to you without permission from your God, and He won’t let anything touch you that will destroy you.
Knowing the Enemy
2 Corinthians 2:10-11 (TPT)
If you freely forgive anyone for anything, then I also forgive him. And if I have forgiven anything, I did so for you before the face of Christ, so that we would not be exploited by the adversary, Satan, for we know his clever schemes.
One of the most important aspects of any warfare is knowing the enemy. Generals who lead armies make decisions based on what they know the enemy likes to do. For instance, if an Army general knows that an opposing army likes to hide in jungles and rely on guerilla warfare, he or she would tell his or her troops to avoid jungles, instead choosing to lure the enemy out of the jungle into a place where his or her troops can succeed.
Satan has certain battle strategies that he has employed since the dawn of time. With that in mind, it’s important that we know those strategies. That’s why Paul told the Corinthian Church that “we know his clever schemes.”
As we’ve already established, Satan’s primary device is deception. In the Garden of Eden, he deceived Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. Before creation, Satan deceived 1/3 of the angels into leaving Heaven with him after his attempt to overthrow God’s kingdom failed. Satan has always been a liar and a deceiver.
His strategy hasn’t changed. That means that we can assume that he will try to deceive and manipulate us. The only way to combat his lies is to know God’s truth. Spend time in Scripture, filling your heart and mind with the truth of God’s word.
The Struggle is Real
Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rules, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Finally, we need to understand that we will be engaged in the struggle of spiritual warfare as long as we are living in this world. We are fighting against the “powers of this dark world” while living in it. That puts us in a direct conflict that cannot be escaped until Christ returns to take his Church into Heaven, His eternal place of rest.
We know who our enemy is, and we know that he has already been defeated. However, we need to understand that we will struggle, and things will get difficult. The battle is for souls. Satan wants to separate as many souls from God as possible while God wants to take as many souls as possible to Heaven. Your role in the battle starts with the defense of your own soul, but that’s not all that’s at stake.
When you take part in spiritual warfare, you are not only fighting for yourself, but you are also fighting for the Kingdom of God. That means that you are battling for the souls of your friends, family, neighbors, and others. There will be a struggle, but as we know, the battle has been won.
A Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I know that You have called me to service in Your army, and I am proud to serve. Remind me constantly that while there is a struggle, the battle has been won. I will not fall for the lies of the enemy, but I will stand on Your Truth. In Christ’s name, Amen.