Part 2, On Spiritual warfare

Spiritual warfare

The term spiritual warfare is not used in the Bible but other forms of combat imagery are used to describe the struggle between the forces of light and the forces of darkness in creation.  In contrast to the physical battles fought in the name of God in the Old Testament or in the name of Christianity in the history of Christianity, true spiritual warfare from a Christian perspective is never a battle between flesh and blood (Eph. 6:12).  As soon as it becomes a battle between human beings it becomes a very unspiritual battle in a Christian sense. This also applies to apologetics and polemics; these should never be brought down to the level of personal attacks on people, character assassination or smearing someone’s reputation by means of insinuations, gossip or other means. Such things would be a violation of the Law of Christ and would serve the purposes of the accuser of the Brethren who seeks to harm and destroy.  Our fight is against Satan and his demons who through their lies, deceit and falsehood influence people against God, against themselves and against one-another.  Spiritual warfare is not a magical endeavour whereby superior ‘Christ-ian’ supernatural power is used against dark ‘anti-Christ-ian’ supernatural power.  Spiritual warfare must be based and focused on Christ and the truth embodied in Him and in His teaching.

In a very real sense the coming of Christ into this world, His ministry, his teaching, his death and resurrection, his commissioning and empowering of His people and His ascension are all part of the spiritual warfare waged by God on Satan and his demons.  Satan was powerless to stop the victorious Christ from coming into this world, from Him growing up in godliness and from carrying out His ministry and task given to Him by the Father.  Christ was not only victorious on the cross but He has been victorious from the beginning and will continue to be so until all His enemies are crushed under His feet, even death itself (1 Cor. 15:24-26).  Until the last enemies are subdued and destroyed we have been given the privilege to be walking with Christ in His victorious procession in the world and as we do so we are in our lifestyle, deeds and words, like an attractive perfume which attracts some to Christ and yet is repulsive to those who choose darkness rather than light (2 Cor. 2:14).   

Our very presence as the body of Christ is in this sense an act of divine judgement.  It is then not surprising that many in the world oppose and even persecute us, but even when we go through dark times and are besieged by enemies and in danger, the caring love and superior and weaponry of our Good Shepherd is our comfort.  In fact He is even able to take extremely good care of his people right in front of all the powerless enemies.  Because He is Emmanuel, He is God-with-us, ever present by His Spirit, never absent from His people.  For us who are His people His Spirit does not come and go, He is always with us and within us as He promised.  Our awareness of His presence may flutter as we allow ourselves to be distracted by the enemy to focus our eyes on circumstances, people or other things instead of focusing them on Jesus, but He is faithful, He is always with us (Mt. 28:20).

It is therefore that, with confidence in His own superior power and authority, Christ can send us as sheep among wolves since He is able to protect and take care of us. As the one having all authority in Heaven and on earth (Mt. 28:18), He sends us into all the world to make disciples of all nations, proclaiming and teaching Christ, His Gospel and obedience to His teachings.  This is our part in fighting alongside with Christ: Proclaiming Christ and His truth versus falsehood, love versus hatred, goodness versus evil, first and foremost by being witnesses in lifestyle and deeds (Acts 1:8) and secondly through proclamation, teaching and other forms of communication.  The word of God as fully revealed in Christ is the sword we yield against the enemy and his lies.  It is in Christ and His power that we stand firm as his people, in faith, in truth, from a position of salvation in Him, clothed with His righteousness and eager to live for Him and His Gospel (Eph. 6:10-18).  In this manner we shine as stars in the dark night, as the light of the world and as the salt of the earth, bringing truth, clarity, healing and opposing falsehood, decay and death as we bring every area of life under obedience to Christ.  Rooted in Christ and His truth, with humility and love, we destroy false arguments and expose every bit of pride that keeps anyone from knowing God. In gentleness and respect we help people to bring all their ideas and thoughts in agreement with obedience to Christ and His teaching (2 Cor. 10:3-5).  This includes wrongful and harmful thoughts they may have about themselves, about others, about God, about the created order or about anything else which may hinder them to enjoy the fullness of life which Christ wants us to enjoy.  

 We do not fight this battle as ‘poor lonesome cowboys a long way from home’ or as ‘religious commandos’ or ‘spiritual heroes’, no it is a battle in which we fight together side-by-side, showing solidarity if one of us succumbs to the enemy’s attacks, a battle in which together we carry each other’s burdens and serve and assist one another with the gifts God has given us.  Even in Ephesians 6 where Paul talks about us putting on the spiritual armour he uses the words ‘you’ in plural and not in singular, it is an endeavour in which the whole church is involved, in relationship with Christ and with one-another.  By being church as God intended church to be we are fulfilling our part in the spiritual battle and all the powers can do is watch in fear and amazement as Christ will be visible in us and in all we say and do (Eph. 3:10).  In this manner as together we help each other draw close to God in repentance, humility, truth and love and in so doing live Godly lives, we resist the devil and he has no other choice but to flee (James 4:7).