Spiritual
Warfare: The Enemy
That a war is being waged has already been seen. Christians are at
war. But who is the enemy? How does the enemy seek to advance?
What can believers do to combat these forces?The Bible speaks of and
warns us of three enemies: the flesh, the world, and Satan.
The
flesh
The first enemy that believers fight against is their flesh.
Christians are new creatures in Christ, however, we are still
awaiting the redemption of our bodies. Our salvation is not yet
complete. Until Christ returns and our bodies are glorified, old
appetites, attitudes, and habits surface. This is the sin that
indwells us. We are saved and are being sanctified, but our flesh,
our old nature is still clinging to us. This flesh is at war with
the Spirit that indwells us.
Conversion does not eradicate the flesh. In fact, the battle is
intensified as we live and walk like Christ. Texts such as Romans
chapter 6 and 7 and Galatians 5 speak to the struggle between the
flesh and the Spirit and the fruit each produces.
With
that being said, we must know that sin does not have dominion over
the Christian. Through the power of the Spirit and God's word, the
flesh is slowly mortified, put to death. Believers are to consider
themselves dead to sin and alive to God (Rom. 6:11). We are
instructed to not present the members of our bodies to sin, but to
present ourselves to God (Rom. 6:12-13). Paul tells believers that
sin cannot have dominion over them because they are under grace and
not the law (Rom. 6:14). Christians are not debtors to the flesh but
are to put to death the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit (Rom.
8:12-13). Finally, believers are told to walk by the Spirit in order
to not gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).
So, that is easy enough. Who am I kidding? This is not easy. That
is why the Christian life is called a war. So, how does a believer
combat the flesh? First, recognize and acknowledge your sin (Ps.
51:3-4). Second, resolve to not sin (Ps. 51:10). Third, realize
that you do not have to sin or give in to temptations because sin no
longer has any power over you (Rom. 6:11). Fourth, rely on the
Spirit and his power to mortify sin (Rom. 8:12-13). Fifth, repent of
sin and your desires to sin (2 Cor. 7:9-11). Sixth, remember that
God is in control and can sanctify you in and through anything (Rom.
8:28-29). Seventh, respond by trusting God (Ps. 51:14-17). Eighth,
recollect the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).
Beyond these, believers are to pray. You are at war and you need to
be in constant communication with God. Pray that God will strengthen
you against assaults and temptations. Pray that God lead you and
that you will obey and follow. Pray that God sanctify you and cause
you to hate sin. Pray that God be glorified in and through you.
Pray that God will convict you of sin. Pray that God change your
heart so that you desire God above all things.
The
world
The second enemy is the world. The world is shaped by the
sinful and ungodly desires of sinful and ungodly men and aggravates
the believer by promoting and providing opportunities to indulge the
flesh. The world has a way of programming the mind, changing
convictions, restructuring priorities, conforming standards, opposing
the truth, promoting evil, applauding corruption, and confusing
values. Lines are blurred by the world. Right and wrong, godly and
ungodly, just and unjust, bitter and sweet are all confused or
redefined.
The world has the ability to tempt people to seek the approval of
man rather than the approval of God. It also magnifies and draws
attention to temporal things rather than the eternal. For instance,
the world placed great value on wealth, power, prestige, popularity,
and rank. Believers wrestle with and feel the tension of living in
the world but not being of the world. We live in this world but we
must not be influenced or molded by it.
How does the believer wage war against this enemy? How can we
combat the world? First, renew your mind (Rom. 12:2). Do not think
like the world. Second, pray for faith, which overcomes the world (1
Jn. 5:4). Third, be discerning and disciplined (Rom. 12:1-2). Do
not give in, fight against the pull of the world. Fourth, do not be
friends with the world (Jms. 4:4). Do not entertain the things the
world hold dear. Fifth, know that the world and its lusts are
passing away (1 Cor. 7:29-31; 1 Jn. 2:15-17).
Sixth, believers are united to Christ and he lives in us and through
us (Gal. 2:20). This means that you are dead to the world and its
power and hold on you. Seventh, trust that Christ our Lord has
overcome the world (Jn. 16:33). Eighth, remember that Christ has
defeated the ruler of this world (Jn. 16:11; Col. 2:15). Believers,
through the power of Christ, can overcome as well. And ninth, be
certain that Christ delivers believers out of the world (Gal. 1:4;
Heb. 2:14-15; 1 Jn. 4:4).
The
devil
The third enemy of the Christian is the devil. His position and
powers are described for us throughout the Bible. The devil is
called the ruler of this world (Jn. 12:31, 16:11), the prince of the
power of the air (Eph. 2:2), the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4), the
ruler of demons (Matt. 12:24; Lk. 11:15), Lucifer (2 Cor. 11:14), the
serpent of old (Rev. 12:9), and the great dragon (Rev. 12:3-4).
The practices of the devil are also revealed. He opposes (Zech.
3:1; Lk. 22:3; 1 Pet. 5:8), slanders (Lk. 4:2; 1 Pet. 5:8), is evil
(Jn. 17:15; 1 Jn. 5:18), destroys (Rev. 9:11), tempts (Matt. 4:3; 1
Thess. 3:5), and accuses (Rev. 2:10). The devil also deceives,
murders and lies (Rev. 12:9, 20:3; Jn. 8:44).
One of the devil's primary goals is to work against believers. He
seeks to destroy reputations and ministries (Lk. 22:31; 1 Tim. 3:7).
The devil will incite persecution in an effort to hurt Christians or
to silence the gospel (Rev. 2:10). He may try to hinder plans (1
Thess. 2:18). Another tool of the devil is to encourage doubt of the
love of God and his goodness toward the believer (Gen. 3:1-5). The
devil accuses believers of sin; cries out against the sins of God's
children (Rev. 2:10). He may even promote impenitence (Eph.
4:26-27). And the devil tempts. His favorites are lying (Acts 5:3),
sexual sins (1 Cor. 7:5), unforgiveness (2 Cor. 2:10-11), pride (1
Tim. 3:6), discouragement (1 Pet. 5:6-10), and worldliness (1 Jn.
2:15-17).
The devil is highly skilled in his ability to tempt. He is
spiritually and intellectually superior to us. The devil is very
experienced. He has learned and perfected his art for thousands of
years. Not only this, but he is tireless and relentless in his
temptations and hatred for believers and everything that his holy,
right, and good. And if this was not enough, he has an untold number
of demons at his disposal to do his bidding. Wow! Believers, did
you realize this about your enemy? This should be enough to drive us
to Christ and to stop depending on ourselves and our own devises in
this battle.
The devil has several strategies that he utilizes to work against
Christians. First, he entices to sin. He offers pleasure but hides
the sin or the consequences. The devil often makes sin appear
virtuous (pride becomes self-esteem, covetousness becomes ambition,
etc.). He minimizes the seriousness of sin and depicts repentance as
easy and that can be done at any time which encourages further sinful
behavior. The devil also encourages friendship with the world.
Beware of these traps.
Second, the devil seeks to hinder spiritual disciplines. The focus
is placed on the difficulty of the disciplines instead of the rewards
and benefits. Distractions and opposition may be used by him to
hinder focus. The intellect over the heart may be magnified. This
means that believers may be tempted to only fill their heads and not
meditate on the truths of God's word or allow them to saturate and
penetrate their hearts. Another temptation may be to make
disciplines seem impractical or unnecessary.
Third, the devil misrepresents God. He tries to make God out to be
a cruel taskmaster. Or, he may try to temp believers by stressing
the love and mercy of God over against his holiness and justice.
This makes it easier for us as believers to do what we want and ask
for forgiveness later. After all, God has to forgive us, right?
This is a dangerous game to play. Do not fall into this trap.
Fourth, the devil persecutes. This has been a favorite of the devil
for thousands of years. It never works, however. It is during times
of persecution that the church has grown and spread the most. Fifth,
the devil attacks through doctrinal confusion, lies, and falsehoods.
Sixth, he may tempt believers and hinder them from serving. Seventh,
the devil may instigate and cause division among believers or in
churches. Eighth, the devil may attempt to persuade believers to
trust in themselves, their abilities, and their resources. And
ninth, he tries to lead believers into hypocrisy, temptations,
worldliness, and disobedience.
All of this is very daunting. But, this does not close the book on
the devil. We know that he is limited. We also know that he can
only do what our sovereign God allows him to do. The devil is
limited. He is limited in his knowledge and in his power and
abilities. Christ has limited the devil. He is not free to do
whatever he wills. He is on a leash. The devil is also limited in
what he can do to Christians. It does not appear from Scripture that
the devil can read the minds or thoughts of believers. He cannot
posses a believer. All that he can do is try to influence us from
the outside. But, beware because he is good at that. Another
limitation of the devil is that he can only be at one place at a
time. And he was defeated by Christ. I'd say he is very limited.
We must not give too much credit to the devil. We are never tempted
by the devil himself (who are we). I would venture to guess that
most temptations come from ourselves (the flesh) and occasionally
from demonic forces. Granted, there are powers at work and we must
not drop our guard. They would be powerless however, if we were not
already corrupt and so easily perceptible to sin.
So, what can we do? How are we to respond to the tricks of the
devil and demons? We must walk in Scripture. We must not grieve the
Spirit. Christians would do well to seek godly wisdom. Resist the
devil quickly. Pray to be filled with the Spirit. Be humble.
Watch. Be alert. Commune with the Lord. Do not attempt to battle
sin and temptations in your own strength. Pray. Pray some more.
Remember that your identity is in Christ. Trust God. Learn from
mistakes. Grow. Repent. Seek to glorify God in all things. And
put on the armor of God.
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