What is Spiritual Warfare - Part II

Part II

Note: this series of articles shows our THREE KEY ENEMIES in Spiritual Warfare - the World the Flesh, and Satan and his demons

What is Spiritual Warfare?

Part II

1. What Is Spiritual Warfare and the World?

The man who calls himself a Christian but loves the world is called in 1 John 2:15-16, a man who makes a false profession. We will call him a Professing Worldly Man. A professing worldly man, is a man who declares one thing but does not walk his talk or sincerly follow Christ; in short, the hypocrite.

Satan and his demons use the world for enticing and tempting the professing Christian to compromise with the world. The professing worldly man is loosing the spiritual warfare battle. Who You Are When No One's Looking: Choosing Consistency, Resisting Compromise

Also in 1 John 2: 15-16 the obedient man is the man who does exactly what God says.

The professing man loves the world. He loves and is attached more to this world than he is to God. Scripture pronounces the terrible truth: "the love of the Father is not in [them]." Any person who loves the world does not love the Father.

Three things happen to believers that cause them to return to the world and to love the world while still calling themselves Christians – to turn from an obedient man to a professing man.

1. Some begin to enjoy nature and the beauty of the earth so much that they no longer worship regularly. They forsake the worship of God and the study of His Word in order to be out in nature (cp. fishing, golfing, hiking, camping, and other forms of recreation out in nature).

2. Some become so involved in man's government and social organizations that they become more attached and faithful to them than they do to God and His church and its mission of salvation.
3. Some become so hungry for the world and its things that they begin to return to its pleasures and possessions.  Apostasy: The Deceived Generation

NOTE that the professing worldly man is not of God; he is of the world and he is not doing well in the spiritual warfare fight.

To be of God means:   The Fruit of the Spirit: Becoming the Person God Wants You to Be

1. to be spiritually born of God.
2. to be born again;
3. to be made into a new creature;
4. to be recreated into a new man;
5. to have the divine seed and nature of God implanted into one's heart and life.

But note: the professing worldly man is of the world, not of God. The Fading of the Flesh and the Flourishing of Faith

1. He has been born of the flesh, not of God (John 3:3, 5).
2. He is still the old creature of the earth, not the new creature of God (2 Cor. 5:17).
3. He is still the old man of the earth, not the new man of God (Ephes. 4:24; Col. 3:10).
4. He has only the corruptible and dying nature of man, not the incorruptible and eternal nature of God (1 Peter 1:23; 2 Peter 1:4).

NOTE also there is the obedient man. The man who does the will of God abides forever. He knows something: the world shall pass away. It is important to know this, for it means that the lusts of the world will pass away as well.

The obedient man resists Satan and his demons, he controls the urges of his flesh, he refuses to compromise his beliefs and faith with the world and he is vigilant of the spiritual warfare he is called for in resisting Satan and his demons.

The obedient man has learned that the important spiritual warfare for his relationship to, and obedience of, Jesus Christ takes place in his mind.  Battlefield of the Mind, Winning the Battle in Your Mind

1. The world and its lusts pass away when he dies. Every man leaves behind the world and all he has secured. He loses all of the world he has accumulated and enjoyed. He will not be able to take a single pleasure or possession with him when he leaves the world. Imagine! He cannot take a single thing. The world will have passed away from him; time will be no more—not for him, not for his pleasures or possessions.

2. The world and its lusts will pass away at the end of the world. The world is to be destroyed by fire and a new heaven and a new earth will be created by God where only righteousness will dwell.

3. Knowing all this is the reason the wise man turns away from the world and turns to God. He wants God and the life God offers, the life that is both abundant and eternal. Therefore, he seeks after the will of God, to do what God commands so that he may live with God forever.

Whether it is with the professing worldly man or with the obedient man there will always be spiritual warfare with the world.

1. The world tempts you to seek its approval.
2. The world tempts you to conform to its standards of ethics.
3. The world tempts you to accept its philosophy.
4. The world tempts you to gain its wealth.
5. The world tempts you to seek its power.
6. The world tempts you to question God's Word.
7. The world tempts you to be intellectually ashamed of Christ.
8. The world tempts you to regard trusting God as foolishness.

2. Spiritual Warfare with Satan and/or his DEMONS

This is the easiest kind or Spiritual Warfare you can have. Jesus Christ defeated Satan with His death at the Cross and in His resurrection. If you are a true believer Satan can no longer violate your will.

According to James 4:7 we, as true believers, are told to submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. This was not necessarily the case before Satan’s defeat at the Cross, before Christ took all authority from Satan.

Since the Cross the obedient man is able to defeat Satan and his demons in the spiritual warfare of the mind by faith and simply knowing he does not have to shout and threaten with his sword; all he has to do is resist and tell Satan and his demons to leave.

3. Spiritual Warfare and the Position of Satan Since the Cross

Before their defeat by Jesus at the cross Satan and his demons had all authority on earth. Satan is called the ruler of the demons; the demons are fallen angels that fell with Satan. How Can I Resist Evil?

Before their defeat at the cross, demons were said to enter into the body of a person to irritate and torment him with diseases.

Also, a person was believed to be possessed by a demon when he suffered from some exceptionally severe disease or acted and spoke as though mad.

Today, the unfortunate thing is that most people still attribute that same kind of power to Satan and his demons.

People do not understand that something very special happened at the cross – all rule and authority that Satan took from Adam when Adam sinned was taken back by Jesus Christ.

Now Satan can not violate the free will of the true believer as long as the believer knows and believes that.

The spiritual warfare is Satan and his demons attempting to entice and deceive. Lack of knowledge is the cause of many obedient Christians slipping and becoming "professing worldly Christians" living the way the world lives.

Their spiritual warfare battle is being lost to Satan and his demons and most do not even know it.

My prayer for you is that this information will help you recognize the schemes of Satan and his demons so you can simply say to them "I don't want you here and if you don't leave now I am going to tell Jesus you are violating my free will that he died on the cross for."

The Bible has a lot to say about Satan and his demons both before the cross and in the lives of people who were alive both before and after the cross. Victory over the Darkness

Because we read so much about the impact of Satan on the lives of people before the cross many people today misunderstand the authority received from Jesus, authority that allows us to withstand the wiles of the devil, and to not tolerate Satan or his demons violating our will.

Too many people, including pastors, still believe Satan has the same authority today as he did before the Cross. They believe Satan can still torment them today. The Incredible Power of Kingdom Authority

When they believe that Satan still has this power they, in fact, have unwittingly given Satan and his demons permission to violate their will. Satan himself is the author of this great deception in the lives of people today.

To do effective spiritual warfare with Satan and his demons all we have to do is know, understand and walk in God’s truth.

Jesus Christ truly did defeat Satan at the Cross, but we must truly know that in our heart and not just logically in our head. When we walk in faith knowing that truth, Satan can have no part of us.

I hope to impart that truth to you today. That truth will make it possible for you to be empowered by Christ and by what He has done for us.

Satan and his demons are still active in this world and impact non-believers and baby Christians who do not know their authority in Christ.

The fact that we see evidence of the work of Satan and his demons in our experience and we know that Satan is alive and well, which he is, many believe his deceptions and lies and become defeated.

However, his lies and deceptions have no impact on the mature believer in Christ because they know and believe the truth and their spiritual warfare is strong.

Satan is relentless and will continually try to deceive us and cause us to fall so we must never let our guard down in the spiritual warfare of being alert to his tactics.

When pondering the question “What is Spiritual Warfare”, we must keep in mind that all we need to do is submit to God and resist the devil in the full power and authority of Jesus Christ.  Transformation: The Missing Piece (Book by the author of this site, D. Vincent (Bud) Ford)

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God at War with Satan

Christian are at War

How to Overcome Satan

How Christians Ought to Fight

Protection Provided by the Lord

Victory is Certain

Myths About Deliverance