Disciples wage spiritual warfare through right conduct, acts of love, and by proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“Spiritual
warfare” is a common topic in popular preaching and Christian books. The idea
is derived from a passage in which Paul writes to the church in Ephesus - “Our wrestling is not against flesh
and blood but against the principalities and powers… against the spiritual hosts of wickedness
in the heavenly places.”
But what exactly does he mean by “wrestling
against the
spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”? More importantly, how do we war against these spiritual
forces?
Unfortunately, we tend to read the passage without
paying sufficient attention to its literary context, and that can lead to assumptions
that are read into Paul’s words. But the Apostle’s statement is NOT
disconnected from what has preceded it.
PREACHING THE WORD
By “wrestling against
the principalities and powers,” Paul is not introducing
new mystical experiences that Christians must practice so they may resist the
Devil more effectively.
Instead, he is summing up what he has written in
the letter to this point before launching into his final salutations and
instructions to the church - “FINALLY… put on the whole armor of God...”
And in his summary, he provides us with a list of
the “weapons” at our disposal for resisting Satan, including truth,
righteousness, the “preparation of
the gospel of peace,” faith,
salvation, prayer, and the “word of God.” Moreover, the final, and
arguably most important item in the list, is the “sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God.”
The structure of the Greek sentence makes it clear
that here the term “word of God” refers to the term “sword” rather than “spirit”;
that is, the sword wielded by the Spirit is the “word of God.” And in
the list of weapons, the “sword” is the only one that can be used
offensively when confronting an enemy soldier.
But the clause is more accurately translated as
the “utterance of God”; it is the spoken word of God or rhéma
rather than the written word or logos. While either Greek noun can be
used synonymously to refer to the “word of God,” in this passage, the
distinction is important.
Paul has already listed the “preparation of the
gospel of peace.” And by “utterance,” he does not mean words spoken
by God Himself or words spoken through the gift of prophecy, but the preaching of the gospel.
The proclamation of the gospel is how the Spirit wields the “sword” - preaching the gospel is the Spirit in action and on the offensive against the works of the Devil.
This understanding is borne out by Paul’s request
for prayer that he be given utterance and “boldness” to preach the “mystery
of the gospel.” And the Greek term rendered “boldness” or parrésia
more fully means “freedom of speech.”
IN THE CHURCH
Before our inclusion in the church, we were walking
“according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the powers of the air, the spirit that is working in the
sons of disobedience.”
Our former miserable state was made evident by how
we “lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath.” Our sinful lifestyles demonstrated that we were
under the dominion of the Devil. One did not need supernatural powers to
perceive our fallen state!
But in the church, God has drawn us “nigh,”
although previously we were “alienated from the
commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of the promise, and without
God in the world.” And He has made both Jews and Gentiles “one new
man,” having “dismantled the
middle wall of partition between them.”
And through Jesus, both groups now “have access in one Spirit to the Father,” and
all are “fellow citizens with the saints, and members of
the household of God… built together for a habitation of the Spirit of God.”
That is the “mystery of Christ” that was
unknown in previous generations but has now been revealed through the “apostles and prophets” - that
the “Gentiles are fellow-heirs and
fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus
through the gospel.”
Considering all the gracious blessings God has bestowed
on His people, Paul gives a series of exhortations summoning believers to right
conduct, interspersed with real-life examples of how to do so.
His description of “warfare” with spiritual powers
concludes this lengthy section by informing us about the true nature of our
struggles in everyday life. In other words, his instructions on how we should “walk”
demonstrate how “spiritual warfare” is waged; that is to say, how one resists
the Devil.
Thus, we ought to “walk worthily of the calling wherewith we were called in all
lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.” No longer must we be “blown about by every wind of doctrine,” but
instead, speaking truth in love, we ought to “grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ.”
WALK WORTHILY
And to walk worthily of this calling, we must “no longer walk as the Gentiles walk in
the vanity of their mind.” Truth
is “in Jesus,” and if we are taught by him, we must discard the “old
man” and be “renewed in the spirit of our
minds.”
And that “new man” is created “in righteousness and holiness” for
good works. Therefore, we must eschew falsehood and only speak the truth one with another. We ought to be angry but not sin or “give place to the devil.”
And in this is a clear statement on how we oppose and prevail over satanic forces, the “powers and principalities,” by NOT sinning against one another.
And we succeed at not “giving place to the
Devil” by doing positive acts for others. Rather than steal, we ought to “work
with our hands that we may have whereof to give to him
that is needy.”
Satan works to impoverish our brothers and sisters.
Resist him by feeding and clothing those who are hungry and naked. Rather than
profane speech, speak to one another that which is “good for edifying.”
Put away all wrath and bitterness by being “kind
to one to another, forgiving each other, even as God also forgave us
in Christ.” It is our backbiting and expressions of anger
towards our brethren that “grieves the Holy Spirit.”
We
are called to become “imitators of God,” therefore, we must walk in love just as Jesus
did, the one who loved us and “gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice
to God for a sweet odor.” It was by his self-sacrificial death that he
defeated Satan and all the “powers and principalities”!
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Sexual impropriety, uncleanness, and covetousness
should not even be named among the saints. Instead, let us be “giving thanks”
to God for all His graciousness. It is our positive acts for others that defeat
the spiritual powers that are arrayed against us. But when we surrender to
lust, anger, and greed, those same powers gain ground over us.
We now “live in the light” and must “walk”
accordingly by having no fellowship with the “unfruitful works
of darkness.” And proper Christian
conduct and “spiritual warfare” extend even to the more mundane areas of our
lives.
Wives, for example, must show reverence to their
husbands. Husbands are called to love their wives, “just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for it.”
Children should obey their parents, “for this
is right” in the Lord. And fathers must not
provoke their children, but instead, nurture them “in
the chastening and admonition of the Lord.”
Rather than get “drunk
with wine” as the Gentiles do, Christians are called to be
“filled with the Spirit,” and this is achieved
by “speaking one to another in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, singing and making melody o the Lord.”
It is by “walking worthily of the Lord”
that we apply “the whole armor of God,” and in the process recognize that
the source behind the temptations in our daily lives is Satan and his forces.
We “resist the Devil” by performing
concrete acts of love and mercy for others. As Paul wrote elsewhere, “Be not
overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.” And it is the Spirit of God
that enables the believer to “walk” in this manner.
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