Spiritual Warfare 101

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machew

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#1
#1
Spiritual Warfare 101

Before I start with Spiritual Warfare, I need to lay down some Biblical Context:

We will start in Genesis:

Genesis 1:26-30(NASB)(emphasis mine)
26Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
27God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
29Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
30and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so.
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So what is the point I want to make in this passage? God gave Adam and Eve delegated authority to rule over the Earth. We all know how this story ends, the devil comes in the form of a serpent and Adam and Eve eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and they fall because of sin. The devil had no authority over the Earth before the fall. So how did he get his authority?

When Adam and Eve came into agreement with the devil’s assessment of reality, they sinned. And because there was no atonement for sin at the time, they were separated from God and their agreement with the devil essentially handed over their delegate authority over the Earth to the devil.(John 12:31, John 14:30, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Matthew 4:8-10)

Next I will give some basic groundwork to what spiritual warfare is.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5(NASB)(emphasis mine)
3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,
4for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
5We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
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So according 2 Corinthians spiritual battles happen in our mind and thought life. Why is this the case?
In Matthew 4:8-10 Jesus is tempted by the devil, as the devil offers Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world if he bows down to him and worships him. The devil still had the authority and rulership over the Earth of Adam and Eve. But after the resurrection of Jesus, He says to His disciples in Matthew 28:18 "...All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”

If Jesus now has “all authority” over the Earth, this means that the devil now has no authority. Jesus took back Adam and Eve’s authority from Satan. He was able to do this because their sin was now completed atoned for.

So the question you probably have now is: “How then is the devil able to do so much evil on the Earth?”
The question to ask is: How did the devil gain authority in the Garden of Eden?

He hasn’t changed his strategy at all. Look at 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 again. The battle is in our mind. The weapons formed against us are thoughts and speculations that exalt themselves above the knowledge of God. Why are these weapons used? Because the devil needs your agreement in what he wants to do before he has authority to do it. Jesus gave back authority over the Earth to humans. Before Jesus dies on the cross He states the following to His disciples:

Matthew 16:19(NASB)
19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
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So the devil is able to steal, kill, and destroy when humans come into agreement with what he says(thoughts, emotions manifested from thoughts).

This is what 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 is talking about when it says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. The fortresses that it is referring to are areas in our thought life that we are in agreement with the devil. The devil builds on your current agreements with him, to bring in more deception into your life. Essentially the agreement with the devil(fortress) is a place where he can hide in your life and have authority in that area of your life. This fortress is what the enemy hides behind to assault you with more lies, to try to gain more ground in your life.

So to review: The devil is only able to operate on the Earth through human agreement.
So what does this mean?

The devil is only able to operate in your life through your agreements with his lies, and the agreement of lies that the people in authority over you believe(ie: parents, teachers, government authorities).
This is why it is so important to constantly be studying and filling your heart and mind with the Word of God. The Word of God is what reveals deceptions you are believing, that allow the enemy into your life, and the lives of those under you.

Hebrews 4:12(NASB)(emphasis mine)
12For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
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For this to work though, you need to be born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s help is a necessity in understanding the Bible and to know how it applies to everyday life.

The current situation we face is having a whole world of people where most people are not born again, and the devil is able to wreak havoc over the Earth because people are constantly in agreement with him. But God has given believers the keys to His kingdom. God’s Kingdom is superior to this kingdom(the Earth), and Jesus tells us to model our prayer like this:

Matthew 6:9-10(NASB)(emphasis mine)
9"Pray, then, in this way:
'Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10'Your kingdom come
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
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So then we are to bring the dominion of God’s Kingdom to Earth(God’s government/way of doing things), whether it be through the salvation of others, loving the unlovable, giving all of your possessions, or worshiping Him through praise. When God’s kingdom is brought to Earth it enforces what Jesus did on the cross and destroys the work of the devil in our lives, and in the lives of others. Spiritual warfare cannot be won by human strength as 2 Corinthians 10 tells us, but as indicated, only by divinely powerful weapons. And we have no divinely powerful weapons except the Word of God, whether it is from the Bible, something God has spoken to you recently, or something God told you before.

Declaring the Word of God in faith is the way to win a spiritual battle. God always backs up everything He has said and is saying with the forces of His superior Kingdom.
 
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aprilrenee1

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#2
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spiritual warefare 101? hmmm not sure how i feel about this....? isnt this simplifying spirituality...in this warfare realm?
 
M

machew

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#3
#3
aprilrenee1 said:
spiritual warefare 101? hmmm not sure how i feel about this....? isnt this simplifying spirituality...in this warfare realm?
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This is by no means an exhaustive writing on the spiritual realm. My intention was to write about the basics of how we affect it.
 
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greatkraw

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#4
#4
OK

It is a basic principle.

Spiritual power is appropriated by FAITH.

If you want to tap into Satan's power then have faith in any of a bunch of things; astrology, buddha, humanism - it is all about believing something(a lie) just as Eve believed the snake.

Appropriate God's power by having faith in the fact thet he sent Jesus to die on the cross for you personally and now makes his power available for you.(no not for selfish reasons)

Really, we are either on God's side or on that of the enemy.
There is no real neutral.

Dunno if this helped.
 
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charisenexcelcis

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#5
#5
I appreciate the importance of spiritual warfare. Let us not forget the importance of spiritual building. There are many more scriptures that talk about building than fighting. When Nehemiah sent the workers out it was with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other, but the main reason was to rebuild the walls, not to fight. Even the "full armour of God" is so that we might stand. I think that one of the reasons the church in America has lost two generations is because we spent alot of time fighting the devil and not enough time building the body.
 
MahogonySnail

MahogonySnail

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#6
Jan 8, 2009
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I believe spiritual warfare teachings keep us too focussed on spiritual warfare - demons, satan etc. The scriptures never go into such depths regarding spiritual warfare and if the apostles never taught it as it is taught today, it is probably not necessary. Spiritual warfare is as simple as "resist the devil, and he will flee". Much of the spiritual warfare teachings around today are steeped in superstition, unprovable claims, and general sense of fear, not to mention making a few bucks for whoever writes and publishes this sort of material. The bible no where describes a "spiritual warfare expert", in a modern age when you can go to a bible school and get a degree in it. But this post by Machew I liked it was to the point and scriptural. The problem is when spiritual warfare becomes the sole focus of faith. Then evangelism is not about reaching the lost through preaching the gospel but becomes about destroying or casting out demons that prevent people being saved and so misses the point. And yes there are christians and whole movements in fact (kingdom domination theology or similar?) who think their sole purpose in life is to cast out supposed demons from any sort of objects or regions or people which are supposed to accomodate them.
 
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greatkraw

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#7
#7
Yes it is embarrassing when people get into exorcising and start belting people around. That is SO not scriptural.
 
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giantone

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#8
#8
MahogonySnail said:
I believe spiritual warfare teachings keep us too focussed on spiritual warfare - demons, satan etc. The scriptures never go into such depths regarding spiritual warfare and if the apostles never taught it as it is taught today, it is probably not necessary. Spiritual warfare is as simple as "resist the devil, and he will flee". Much of the spiritual warfare teachings around today are steeped in superstition, unprovable claims, and general sense of fear, not to mention making a few bucks for whoever writes and publishes this sort of material. The bible no where describes a "spiritual warfare expert", in a modern age when you can go to a bible school and get a degree in it. But this post by Machew I liked it was to the point and scriptural. The problem is when spiritual warfare becomes the sole focus of faith. Then evangelism is not about reaching the lost through preaching the gospel but becomes about destroying or casting out demons that prevent people being saved and so misses the point. And yes there are christians and whole movements in fact (kingdom domination theology or similar?) who think their sole purpose in life is to cast out supposed demons from any sort of objects or regions or people which are supposed to accomodate them.
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I agree, Jesus kept it simple and direct, we don't need all this extra stuff, just a knowledge of who we are in Christ and direction from God Himself.
 
K

kiwi_OT

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#9
#9
Spiritual warfare I think is an important topic - I was doing my own personal bible study over this (in relation to myself) and have been studying Ephesians 6:10-18 on the Armor of God
I recommend you read it then write each verse out like a bullet point and then slow go over each one again to measure its full meaning.
Im a bit of an aggressive and passionate person and I got really fired up reading this endorsement on fighting Satan.

Good stuff!
 
C

charisenexcelcis

Guest
#10
#10
kiwi_OT said:
Spiritual warfare I think is an important topic - I was doing my own personal bible study over this (in relation to myself) and have been studying Ephesians 6:10-18 on the Armor of God
I recommend you read it then write each verse out like a bullet point and then slow go over each one again to measure its full meaning.
Im a bit of an aggressive and passionate person and I got really fired up reading this endorsement on fighting Satan.

Good stuff!
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Understandable. Alot of good things in your study.
 
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