Spiritual warfare

Spiritual warfare is a hot topic in the Christian world.

Some people think they are engaged in an infernal war against satan and his demons. Others think that they have to go and conquer territories in certain cities of the world in order to chase away evil.

In short, all sorts of theories, each one more ridiculous than the other, have surfaced.

Yes, we have a battle to fight, but that battle is simply against our own thoughts, and that is the only battle we have to fight.

There is a huge difference between having to fight, and simply having to claim victory. satan is trying to make Christians believe that they still have to fight it in order to greatly affect their faith and thus their results. Anyone who thinks he has to fight the devil will always be in an inferior position, giving the opportunity for doubt to set in, generating himself the regression of faith. We must simply claim our victory, and not fight under any circumstances.

Some may say to me: "But Frank, it sometimes happens, and Jesus confirmed it to us, that we have to cast out demons from the lives of some people, but this is a fight, isn't it? ».

No, it is not a fight at all!

You don't cast out a demon by fighting, but by proclaiming our victory, which is different. When we are in the presence of a demon that must be driven out, we do not fight against it. On the contrary, we tell him that he has already lost and that he must leave. We tell him that we are invested with the person of Jesus, and that he has no other choice but to leave that person. This is how we cast out a demon, and not otherwise.

Few Christians have the right image of what happens when a demon is cast out. I usually say that when a demon is cast out of a person in the name of Jesus, it does not leave by slamming the door, so to speak, a bit like a person who leaves because he has finally decided to leave on his own.

No, a demon does not leave on its own, it is driven out!

The original word used in the Bible to "cast out" demons is EKBALLO. This word does not at all give a notion of someone who leaves “on his own, angry”. No, on the contrary, to be driven out here gives the notion of: being dragged, thrown with a notion of violence, snatching, like excrement that comes out of the body to end up in a bassin. This is the image of what happens to a demon that is chased away. We are therefore far from the notion of a battle where we do not yet know who will win.

The problem with thinking that we're in the middle of a war when we're not is that it will weaken us. The only war that is going on is against ourselves, against the way we think.

Let me explain:

We all know that this victory has already been won by Jesus on our behalf; it simply needs to be approved or validated by our faith in order to become active in our lives. However, despite this, it is already in our possession.

Some may say, "But what about the passage in 1 Peter 5:8 that warns believers against satan seeking whom he may devour? ».

This is what we have just said: this victory has already taken place, and we must simply acknowledge it and assert it with our faith. The judgment against satan has already fallen on him at the cross, we only have to believe it firmly to see it come to pass.

This process of believing without doubt is exactly the same as when sin was taken away from this world by the sacrifice of Jesus. It is something already done, but if we wish to take advantage of it, we must accept this offer Jesus makes to us on the cross, and believe in it firmly with our faith.

Otherwise, yes, all our sins have been taken care of and even suppressed, but anyone who refuses to believe this will go to hell for only one sin, namely that of not having believed and accepted this offer of Jesus for him.

So let's get back to this victory.

This victory is mine; there is no doubt about it. Like everything that comes from the spiritual world, I must firmly believe in it in order to see it accomplished.

In this passage, Peter did not deny that we have this victory, he just encouraged the believers to be sober and vigilant so that they do not fall into the trap of believing the devil's lies saying for example: "You do not have victory over me, you are only a little human being and I am going to devour you now!”.
This word of Peter shows that even if satan is defeated, he is still alive. And because he is still alive but defeated, the only weapon he has against us is lies.

In the context, Peter says in other words: "Yes, the devil still has the possibility of persecuting you like many other believers in the world. He can lie to people and make them persecute you. But you can be in a persecution and still proclaim by faith the victory you already have over him. Then submit to God, and resist the temptation to believe that you are defeated, for you are not."

So I agree, as a Christian, that there is a war, yes, but not against the devil in the sense that we should fight against him.

If we take this passage from Ephesians 6:10-17, it is important to explain what Paul is saying here:

Ephesians 6:10-17 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;”

Many Christians think at the sight of the description of this armor, that we must fight, and continue to wage battle against satan and his demons. But this is not the case at all.

Paul is talking here about staying in a good attitude of thought concerning the lies of the devil.

It is interesting to see that Paul speaks of the devil's wiles in verse 11. The wiles here are deceptions according to the original word METHODIA.

So Paul is not talking about real things coming from the devil, but about deceptions, lies that the devil is trying to use against us.
Now, it is obvious that if someone believes in a deception, he can to an extreme even kill, influenced by this deception. But it will always remain a deception, and not a real attack.

When Paul talks in this passage about the fact that we must fight against the demonic powers, he is talking about a battle that is mainly in our system of thought. Then he goes on to describe the whole image of an armor we have already received. I would be too long if I described this armour here, part by part.

But it is interesting to note one detail. The Sword of the Spirit is not here a long sword used mainly to fight against another soldier, as we would usually see.

The sword Paul describes is MACHAIRA in the original text. This word describes a long knife or a short sword.

At that time, history shows that soldiers used this sword mainly when they received an arrow in their body in order to pull it out.

It is a good picture that shows the main purpose of the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. It is used mainly in this context for our advantage, to renounce false thoughts, and not necessarily to fight a battle in the sense of fighting against an outer enemy.

The Bible shows us that we can indeed have people against us in persecution. And we must use the Word of God with our authority against such persecution. Persecution is also sometimes won by validating our victory over satan.

But what is important to understand is that we do not have to fight the devil in a battle because he is already defeated.

Yes, he can use lies against us in different ways, but if, as Christians, we take for granted the fact that we are engaged in a battle and we do not really know who will come out victorious, then we are already defeated by the lack of activation of our faith.

There is no battle because we have already won. But that victory needs our faith to be activated in order to be tangibly realised in our lives.

This is what Paul says in Colossians 2:15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

In this passage, Paul describes the victory that Jesus won, and through Him we have this victory over satan and over all the principalities.
In that ancient time, when a Roman general won a victory, he would take the leader of the defeated army, cut off his thumbs and cut off his big toes. In this way, the defeated leader could no longer hold a sword firmly in his hand, and could no longer run properly.

Then he would tie this defeated commander behind his chariot, and drag him all around the city to show everyone that this man was definitely defeated. This is what happened to the devil and all the principalities when Jesus' sacrifice took place at the cross.

So the only war is against ourselves. Our only fight will be to keep our thoughts in Jesus Christ, without allowing ourselves to be destabilized by demonic lies. If we succeed in keeping our thoughts in line with God's thoughts, if we are engaged in a transformation to become more and more like Him, being like His shadow, if we use all this armor, that we resist the devil, then we are more than victorious.

The battle is in our heart, in our thoughts, and not elsewhere.

Jesus said on this subject in John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
We have already got it all.

Bye for now...