This is a subject that seems to become more popular all the time. The “why and how to” do it most effectively is the subject of many books.
But when all is said and done, is it really all that spiritual, or is it just an other exercise of the flesh?
And that is what we wish to explore in this article.
The basis for this spiritual warfare is in various forms the premise that God and Satan are engaged in a battle for supremacy in this world and in the life of believers.
We Christians know that this battle was already won at Calvary where Jesus suffered and died for our salvation.
But as long as Satan is alive and well the battle rages on.
It has also been said that Satan didn’t “get” the message (of Calvary) yet.
And since we Christians are on God’s side, it would be expected of us that we do everything in our power to oppose Satan’s designs and purposes and help to bring the message of his defeat home to him.
How this warfare is properly and effectively conducted is still subject to various discussions.
However, it is safe to say that these efforts are solely directed at Satan, the god of this world and his helpers, called evil spirits or demons.
All of which begs the question: Can all this be Scripturally substantiated?
And that is where I have serious doubts.
Therefore let us explore that aspect of this very contemporary subject.
First we see in Hebr.2:14 these words: “….so that by His (Jesus’) death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil”.
Then in I John 3:8 “….The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work”.
It would be very rash to say that the devil no longer exists, but generally speaking, Christians ascribe far to much power and authority to him.
When the Lord Jesus was hanging on the cross, He uttered these words: “It is finished”.
Far be it from us to even think that when Jesus said these words, he had only won a battle in the cosmic struggle between good and evil in this world and that the “war” is still to be won.
When Jesus cried out “It is finished”, it was FINISHED!
When Jas.4:7 tells believers to : “Submit yourselves then to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you”, we take that as our marching orders for battle, for binding Satan when we do not want him to attend our meetings, rebuking him, etc.
And then, when we enjoyed a really good meeting, we claim credit for keeping the devil out of it.
And all the while we have overlooked the first part of this verse: “Submit yourselves then to God….” and fail to grasp that our submission to God is equal to resisting the devil.
And, who is able to tell that Satan would respect our orders of binding and rebuking?
Col.3:1 and 2 : “Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Jesus says in Matt. 28:18 “All power and authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth”.
He has promised to be always with us, even to the end of the age.
We may also always trust him to exercise that authority to protect our meetings if we will only submit to Him.
And that certainly does not just apply to meetings.
II Peter 5:8 says this: “Be self-controlled and alert, your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”.
So…? It is certainly not that he sneaks up on us! He is a corralled lion to us and when you come to close to that corral you might get hurt!
When we submit ourselves to God, set our minds on heavenly things, then when we hear the roar of the old lion in the coral, we won’t even need to pay attention to it.
Eph.6:10-12.
This is really the place where we derive the term “spiritual warfare” from.
This aspect of spiritual warfare is a subject that we will discus in a following article.
When Jesus in Matt. 16:19 says: “I give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and what you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven”, Jesus did not at all specify that this pertained to the devil or evil spirits.
The same principle applies to the subject of binding and loosing spoken of in Matt.18:18.
It gets even worse when leaders display the audacity to “loosen” the Holy Spirit to allow Him to do His work in a given situation.
Matt.12:29 speaks of binding the strongman before one could enter his house.
Let not any one of us make ourselves any illusions about being able to do such a thing, at any time it would be a serious underestimation of our own spiritual weakness.
Jesus was at the time referring to Satan and Jesus was the One who bound that strongman, entered his “house” and spoiled it, I John 3:8.
It is with good reason that Jesus taught us to pray in Matt.6:13 ….And deliver us from the evil one….
Our aggressive binding, rebuking, resisting, shouting and the likes of that can be likened to a little boy on his father’s hand screaming at an intruder to get out of their house.
When Jesus teaches us to pray like this, it also implies that the Father is to deliver us from the evil one and that our assistance is not required.
Is there a place for believers to rebuke evil spirits?
Yes, but it will be the exception, rather than the rule.
I Kings chapter 18 gives us a good picture of spiritual warfare.
450 priests did all kinds of things for a whole day to get the attention of the god of their world, Baal. All to no avail.
Then the prophet Elijah prayed one short prayer to the God of Heaven, he did not rebuke Satan or bound him or any such thing, Elijah’s focus was solely on his God. And God’s response was swift and dramatic.
Two Scripture verses are emphatic about not using the name of Satan or addressing him.
One is in Exodus 23:13 “….Do not invoke the name of other gods, do not let them be heard on your lips”.
The other is in Jude 9. : “But even the archangel Michael…..did not dare bring a slanderous accusation against him, (Satan), but said: The Lord rebuke you”.
These verses should be sufficient to make us understand to leave Satan alone. Believers are not in his jurisdiction and the Bible is quite clear as to where the focus of believers ought to be, on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is there a place for spiritual warfare in a believer’s life?
The answer is yes, but the nature of this warfare may be a surprise to some.
That will be the subject of the next Reflection issue.
St. Thomas, Dec. 2007.
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