What is Spiritual Warfare?

As we look around our natural world we see any number of conflicts going on at any given time. There are many armies battling each other; sometimes they form alliances, only to find themselves in a few years time fighting against the very ones who were once their allies. Billions of dollars are spent every year in producing weapons, and billions more to support the troops in the battles.

What we often don't see is the war that is raging in the spirit realm. Unlike the physical wars, it does not just last for a few years: rather, it has been going on almost since creation. It does not involve guns and rockets and bombs, although the enemy may influence people to use them. It's cost is not measured in dollars, pounds or euros, but in human lives. And it does not involve many armies, but just two: the army of God, and the army of satan.

These two armies are not equal, nor are their leaders. God is the infinite, all-powerful, holy creator of the universe. Satan is a finite, powerful but limited, corrupt created being. Having lost his place in heaven because he rose up in rebellion and tried to usurp the throne of God, satan set out on a mission to "kill, steal and destroy." He deceived our first parents into joining in his rebellion, and through their obedience to him rather than God, gained defacto rule over the earth.

God was not about to allow that situation to continue. So, God the Son became man, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect, blameless life, then allowed Himself to be crucified as if He were a criminal, not paying the penalty for His own sins (He had none) but for those of all mankind, making it possible for us to come back into a relationship with God. By His obedience He also counteracted the disobedience of our first parents, reversed the handover of authority to satan, and reclaimed the earth as part of the Kingdom of God.

Christ's death defeated satan. However, satan does not yield power readily. Just as, after World War II, there were places where the enemy continued to fight and hold ground for quite a while, so the devil continues to fight and hold his ground for the present. His fate is sealed, but in the meanwhile he is determined to cause as much destruction as he possibly can.

Neither does satan limit his attacks to those who are in God's army. He has no loyalty, love or compassion, and will as readily attack those who serve him as those who serve God. Those attacks may be direct spiritual oppression, physical attack or attacks through other people (the devil's weapon of choice.)

Being on the devil's side will not keep you from being attacked. Not believing in the devil will not prevent you from being attacked. Nor will not believing in God. You are in spiritual warfare whether you like it or not, and whether you recognize it or not.

Believing in God and putting your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will not prevent you from being attacked, either - in fact, it may bring even more attack, because the devil hates Christians more than he hates anybody. However, trusting in Jesus Christ will move you out of the devil's army and into God's. That means that you will now have available to you both the armor of God, which protects you from the devil's attacks, and the weapons of spiritual warfare which you can use to attack the devil and drive him out of the territory of your life.

You don't have a choice about whether you will be in spiritual warfare. The choice you do have is whether you will stand in victory in the Lord Jesus Christ or fall in defeat before the enemy.

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