My Take On Spiritual Warfare

I have been getting slammed by the enemy lately, so I wanted to share what I think spiritual warfare is.  Have you ever been bombarded with lies? Or bombarded with accusation? Or bombarded with temptation?  I believe deception, accusation, and temptation are the three main tools of Satan. Often when we are being attacked we tend to believe we are in the room with Satan alone. Have you ever wondered where God is when you are under the attack? I believe God is right there!  I wonder at times, if we are more enamored by the power of the enemy than the power of the cross.

In Colossians 2:12-15, of which verse 15 says, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” Also, Jesus says He has “given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” (Luke 10:17-20)

Humans have always been attracted to the absolute self-sufficiency of God, desiring to be autonomous themselves. Satan uses that very desire to entice man away from God. As we see in Genesis 3:1-7, the first words to man from Satan are “Did God actually say to you, you shall not eat from any tree in the garden?” This says two things: it accuses God of withholding the truth and it tempts the man and woman by appealing to their desires to be entirely self-sufficient. They desired to be their own gods. Satan then uses deceit to promise gain to Eve in her desires of autonomy.

In Genesis 3:6 it says, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” Satan did nothing to Eve as he spoke with her. He merely used Eve’s own desires, “good for food,” “delight to the eyes,” and “to make one wise” to seduce her through his temptation, deceit, and accusation. In the same way, Satan uses these three devices against us. We are not victims under the attack of Satan, but rather participants, as our own evil desires entice us to sin (James 1:14).

Throughout the New Testament, we are repeatedly told that we are in Christ; we are of Christ; we have union with Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30, John 17:20-26). Therefore, we can see that Satan’s attack is on Christ and not on us. In other words, Satan’s lies, accusation and temptations will always be what God didn’t complete in you, or what God hasn’t accomplished through the cross in your life.  That is why the attack is on the character of God and not you and we know Jesus won the battle defeating Satan, sin and death.  We have baptized into His victory, so we are no longer victims of attack. I believe Satan tempts us by appealing to our desire to be god-like and fight a battle that only Jesus could have won.

You can clearly see that, though Satan attacks, you are not subject to the intent of the attack; Satan cannot undo what God has done through the Cross. Therefore, when you as a believer experience the attack of the enemy, it is no longer what the enemy does to you that determines the outcome in your life, but how you respond to the attack. The enemy has no “real” power over you. It is vital to see that there really is a difference between what Satan does to you verses your response to his three main devices of temptation, deception, and accusation.

So for me personally, when I am attacked and I believe Christ is the real victor, now when the  the lies, accusations and temptations come, I am reminded how good God is not how bad I am.   

There is so much more to say about this so I will talk more about it in my next blog and unpack the armor of God in Ephesians 6.  I would love to hear your thoughts of this as well.