This is a final written by one of Summit Bible College's students for the class 109 Spiritual Warfare.
Ephesians
6 tells us that there is a war going on.
This war is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the
authorities, the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in
the heavenly realms.[1] This war is for the
souls of mankind.
Many Christians do not even realize that they
are immersed in spiritual warfare. It
does not matter if Christians actively participate in spiritual warfare or not;
Satan is actively seeking to find ways to lead Christians into destruction.
Satan’s
greatest weapons are his lies. He is the father of lies[2] and has had centuries to perfect his skills in deception.
The
enemy’s lies are spreading throughout the world, causing many Christians to
live in oppression. We must identify sources of strongholds and tear them down,
replacing them with the stronghold of Christlikeness.
2
Corinthians 10:4-5 tells us that: “The weapons we fight with are not the
weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish
strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up
against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it
obedient to Christ.”[3]
God has
given us power to demolish strongholds, but we need to understand what a
stronghold is and how the enemy gains access to our minds.
The
dictionary describes a stronghold as a “well-fortified place; fortress”[4] and “a place that serves as the center of a group, as of
militants or of persons holding a controversial viewpoint.”[5] As Christians, our definition of a stronghold would be “a
source of protection for the devil, where demonic or sinful activity is
actually defended within us by our sympathetic thoughts towards evil.”[6]
Stronghold
is also a thought, a pattern of thinking, or something that has a hold over you
and interferes with your relationship with Christ. It influences how we think.
Strongholds
become a resting place for unclean spirits, which prey upon our sympathetic
carnal thoughts. They are expert at disguising themselves as our own thoughts.
Mark 4:24
states: [7] “And He said to them, be careful what you are hearing. The
measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the
measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you--and more [besides]
will be given to you who hear.” We need to take every thought captive to the
obedience of Christ, crucifying our carnal nature and placing our full focus on
God.
Our
priories will be reflected in how we spend our time. Are we actively seeking to grow in the Lord
or are we dwelling on the things of the flesh? Are we trusting in God and
walking in peace or are we living in fear and anxiety?
We must
recognize the areas of our lives that we have put ahead of Christ and cast down
everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. The goal of a
believer should be complete conformity with the mind of Christ. This is
essential to achieve victory in spiritual warfare.
How do we
recognize the strongholds that we have in our minds? Francis Frangipane notes
that often the things that are oppressing us today are the things that we
planted yesterday.[8]
Strongholds
of fear, pride, failure, wrong doctrines, and unbelief are all strongholds that
can exist in the mind of a believer. Even our experiences can be a
stronghold. We must yield control to God
as the strongholds in our minds are cast down and destroyed. The strongholds of Christlikeness and
humility must be built up in our minds. Faith must replace fear.
We
must surrender ourselves completely to God. Any part of the mind that is not
surrendered is an area where Satan has access to our minds.[9]“Victory begins with the name of Jesus on our lips. It is
consummated by the nature of Jesus in our hearts[10].”
Taking
every thought captive is bringing every thought into alignment with Christ. We have
to capture wrong thoughts and replace them with what God says. The thoughts that we use to replace incorrect
thoughts have to be realistic thoughts that align with Christ.
We
must put off the old man and put on the new man[11], who has been created in the image of God.
Our
goal in spiritual warfare should not be to wage warfare, but to continue to
grow in Christlikeness. We need to be aware of the enemy but focused on God.
God has
not left us defenseless against the enemy. He has given us spiritual authority
and given us armor to protect and defend us. Ephesians 6:14-17 says: “Stand
firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the
breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the
readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up
the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of
the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God.”[12]
We
must take up the full armor of God. Too often we do not utilize the full armor.
We strike with the sword of the Spirit, forgetting that we have the shield of
faith.
To
achieve victory in spiritual warfare, we must walk in peace. Before we can
fully walk in authority we must have peace. “Peace is spirit power. Peace is an
attribute of the Holy Spirit, and when you are walking in peace, you are
walking in power.”[13]
Satan
will use fear, worry, doubt and self-pity to rob us of peace. We must discern
the areas in our lives where we do not have peace for: “Where there is not
peace, you have war. Conversely, wherever you have peace, you have victory[14].”
We must
also have rest. God calls us to sit at a foot stool at His feet. It is with rest that we can “rule in the
midst of our enemies[15].”
Victory
in spiritual warfare comes from becoming more and more like Christ. He is our
stronghold and it is with His name that we can have victory. As we yield
control to God and conform our minds to Christ, our lives will change and we
will be transformed into the ‘new man’.
Remember: “Victory begins with the name of Jesus on our lips. It is
consummated by it is consummated by the nature of Jesus in our hearts[16].”
[1]
Ephesians 6:12 NIV Bible
[2]
John 8:44 NIV Bible
[3] 2
Corinthians 10:4-5 NIV Bible
[4]
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Dictionary
[5]
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Dictionary
[6] The Three Battlegrounds by
Francis Frangipane, pg. 28
[7]
Mark 4:24 AMP Bible
[8] IBD, pg. 23
[9]
IBD, pg. 30
[10]
IBD, pg. 48
[11]
Ephesians 4:22-24 KJV Public Domain
[12]
Ephesians 6:14-17, NIV
[13] IBD, pg.57
[14] IBD,
pg.56
[15]
Psalm 110:2, NIV Bible.
[16] IBD, pg.56
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