Spiritual Warfare

You know, some think that spiritual warfare and deliverance are the same thing, but I'll tell you this: they are not.

There is a clear difference between deliverance and spiritual warfare.

Deliverance deals with will demonic bondages and getting a person set free. It involves the breaking of the legal grounds, tearing down of the strongholds (aka: offensive spiritual warfare), and casting out of demons.

Spiritual warfare on the other hand, involves resisting, overcoming and defeating the enemy's lies and he (Satan) sends our way. Spiritual warfare comes in two ways: offensive and defensive. Offensive is tearing down the strongholds that the devil has formed in your mind through things like deception and accusations, and defensive is guarding yourself against the tactics/schemes of the devil.

As Christians we are not fighting against human beings, we are fighting against the devil, his demonic forces and the kingdom of darkness (Ephesians 6:12), and Ephesians 6:10 tells us to put on the WHOLE (not some, not most, but ALL OF IT.) armor of God that we can be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. The devil will use many things to fight against you. Three of his primary weapons are deception, temptation and accusations.

Deception: In case you don't know the meaning of it, deception means to deceive somebody, to make another person believe a lie or something that is not true. When the enemy (Satan) sends deception on your way, it is an attempt to deceive you into believing something that is not true, so that you'll fall into error. Jesus himself said in John 8:44 that Satan is "a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.". Strongholds are built via deception which are formed when deception takes hold in a person's mind. A stronghold is an incorrect thinking pattern that stems from believing something that is not true.

Having mentioned the armor of God earlier, we have two weapons to deal with deceptions: the belt of Truth (Ephesians 6:14) and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). Both of them are Truth which is found in God's Holy Word. You may be wondering "Why are they given different names (a sword and a belt)?" That's because one is meant to be defensive (the belt), while the other is meant to be offensive (the sword), which means that the Word of God is both an offensive and defensive weapon. A belt is what you wear to guard against an attack, while a sword is used to slaughter the enemy.

In Romans 12:2, we are told "Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." How do we renew our minds? By getting in God's Word! In Ephesians 5:26, this process is referred to as washing of water by the Word. But what are we seeing today? Churches allowing the world to shape them, and letting sin such as homosexuality, divorce, etc. to creep in as a norm. It shouldn't be that way.

As Christians, we should never be shaped by the world.

Temptation: Temptation often follows deception. First the enemy tells us "You won't surely die!", then he makes the forbidden fruit look good to us (when in reality, it ain't good. AT ALL.). Since Eve accepted Satan's deception (his lie for that matter), now the tree that she was not supposed to touch looked good to her. She was tempted (enticed) to sin, because she allowed herself to first be deceived. Temptation is when we are enticed/encouraged to sin in one way or the other.

In Matthew 4, Jesus was led out in the desert to be tempted by the devil. The devil tried to convince Jesus with three temptations: to command the stones to be made bread, that it would be harmless to jump off a building, and to bow down to him. In this world, people will be often so drawn to sinful activities like premarital sex with their boyfriend/girlfriend when the enemy tries to convince them that its harmless and fun, when really, it's not harmless AT ALL, rather creates an open door to the devil. Jesus saw through Satan's deception, and resisted the temptations by speaking God's Word. King David (the shepherd boy who slew Goliath) said in Psalms 119:11, "Thy Word have I hidden in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

When the enemy tempts you, he's showing you the worm...but behind that worm is a hook used to trap you. The Word of God helps you to see the hook behind the worm.

In James 4:7, we are told to resist the devil and he will flee from us. But it's not that simple; in the very same verse, we are told to draw near to God. Submitting to God is important in the life of a Christian. Dealing with temptation is a two fold process of resisting the devil and drawing near to God. The Closer you get to God and the more you are aware of His love, the less power temptation will have over you.

In the teaching Forgiven Sinner or Saint?, it shows you how the power of sin (temptation) can be broken in our lives.

Accusations: The devil is also known as the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10). He is known to take a believer who has done an embarrassing or gross sin in their past, and continue to rub it in their faces and beat them down with guilt and condemnation over their past. As Christians, we have to rebuke the enemies thoughts. It is better to focus on what God thinks than what others think. Tell the devil that you no longer belong to him. And remember, 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 says "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation."

The fiery darts of the enemy in Ephesians 6:16 are accusations sent our way. An example if this is that, when the devil tries to accuse us of our past sins, we are to have faith in the work of the cross and know that they are forgiven and not to look back. Faith is what we as Christians use to put out the fiery of the enemy (Ephesians 6:16). As children of God, we are not to meditate on our past, because they are passed away (2 Corinthians 5:17), and that our sins have been forgiven through the ultimate sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 10:17, Ephesians 6:14).

Our righteousness is as filthy as rags (Isaiah 64:6), but because of the work of the cross, we can receive the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus (Romans 3:22, Galatians 3:6). Therefore when the enemy (satan) tries to remind you f your past, tell him it's been washed away (2 Corinthians 5:17), your sins have been forgotten (Hebrews 10:17) and you have the righteousness of God (Romans 3:22).

The tearing down of strongholds: A stronghold is deception that's taken hold in a person's mind; it is an incorrect thinking pattern based on a believed lie. People can get incorrect perceptions of God by listening to Satan (who is nothing but a liar and a deceiver) as he tells them how God doesn't love them, telling them that He doesn't exist, ect. People can feel like dirty old sinners when they believe Satan's accusations as he continually reminds them of their past (which has been washed away by the blood of Jesus!). Strongholds are based on nothing but lies of the devil. They can come in the form of deception or accusations, and accusations always lead to guilt and the feeling of unworthiness, which not only weighs you down, they will also tear you apart spiritually.

Since strongholds are built upon the lies that we have been fed by the enemy, the way we tear down the strongholds is by feeding on the Truth which is in God's Word; the complete opposite of what the enemy has been feeding us. If the enemy has been feeding us a lie, we need to stop eating the lie and start feeding ourselves with the Truth. The weapon we use to tear down strongholds is found in Ephesians 6:17, "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." A sword is an offensive weapon and is meant to tear down and kill the enemy's troops. Strongholds are the devil's assets in war, and he uses them against us. So, take up the sword of the Spirit (which is the Word of God) today, and start slaughtering the enemy's assets that he's been using against you.