Is Spiritual Warfare Real?

• Is spiritual warfare real?
• If so, exactly what is spiritual warfare?
• Does it impact everyone, or only selected people or groups of people?

These are all very good questions. Many books have been written on the topic. On Halloween day, 2021, a search of “spiritual warfare” on Amazon books returned more than 20,000 hits. An Internet query of “spiritual warfare” produced more than thirty pages of articles.

However, a search of dictionaries and encyclopedias on this same topic produced surprising results. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defined: mythical characters such as Zeus, Hermes, cyclops, and Medusa; spirit beings such as God, Satan, and angels; mythical animals such as centaurs, banshees, and dragons; but did not define spiritual warfare. Nor did Homan Bible Dictionary, Britannica Encyclopedia or Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible have topics entitled spiritual warfare.

Do Good and Evil Exist?

• The first question above is tied to a number of other questions as well.
• Are God Almighty and Satan real?
• Is there an eternity after this life on earth ends?
• Are heaven and hell real, eternal places?
• Do good and evil exist, even if God and Satan do not?

If there is no eternity, then your answer to the question of spiritual warfare only impacts your conduct here on earth. However, if there is an eternity, then your answer to the question has eternal implications as well. Some believe we are born, live, and then die; end of story. Others believe in an eternal heaven, but no hell. Still others believe in a different version of eternity. You have to decide for yourself what constitutes “the truth” to answer all of the questions that have been posed.

Billy Graham, the late world-renowned evangelist gives a straight-forward response to these issues. In his book Angels he wrote, “We live in a perpetual battlefield – the great War of the Ages continues to rage. The lines of battle press in ever more tightly about God’s own people. Wars among nations on earth are merely popgun affairs compared to the fierceness of battle in  the spiritual, unseen, world.

Spiritual Warfare is Raging

This invisible spiritual conflict is waged around us incessantly and unremittingly. Where the Lord works, Satan’s forces hinder; where angel beings carry out their divine directives, the devils rage. All this comes about because the powers of darkness press their counterattack to recapture the ground held for the glory of God.

Since the fall of Lucifer, that angel of light and son of the morning, there has been no respite in the bitter Battle of the Ages. Night and day Lucifer, the master craftsman of the devices of darkness, labors to thwart God’s plan of the ages. We can find inscribed on every page of human history the consequences of the evil brought to fruition by the powers of darkness with the devil in charge.

Lucifer, our archenemy, controls one of the most powerful and well-oiled war machines in the universe. He control principalities, powers and dominions. Every nation, city, village and individual has felt the hot breath of his evil power.”¹

What the Bible Says About Spiritual Warfare

I believe the Holy Bible is only authoritative book on matters of God and Satan; eternity; heaven and hell; and spiritual warfare; for two reasons. God’s Word is “the truth” for me, and its position on the aforementioned matters is crystal clear. According to Scripture:

• God and Satan are real spiritual beings.
• Heaven and hell are two real places.
• We will all spend eternity in one of those two places.
• Spiritual warfare is real; and very dangerous.
• It is multi-faceted; involving multiple “opponents.”
• Every human is impacted by it.

The Rise and Fall of Satan

• Satan is a spiritual being [an angel] (Job 1:6) created by God (Ezekiel 28:13).
• God described him as “the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” He was anointed as a guardian cherub who was on the holy mount God (Ezekiel 28:12-14).
• From the day he was created, Satan was blameless in his ways until wickedness was found in him. He became filled with violence and he sinned. His heart became proud on account of his beauty, and he corrupted his wisdom because of his splendor (Ezekiel 28:15-17).
• He [Satan] said in his heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly.. . . I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13-14).
• Because of Satan’s sinfulness of pride and violence, God cast him and his angels from heaven to earth (Ezekiel 28:17) (Isaiah 14:12) (Revelation 12:7-9) (Luke 10:18).

The Struggle Against Spiritual Powers

Because Satan’s plan to place himself above God was utterly defeated and he was cast out of heaven; the Bible tells us “He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short” (Revelation 12:12). By his defeat, Satan is assured of two things that fuel his fury continually; his time on earth is short and then he will suffer eternal torment in hell (Revelation 20:10). Remember Satan’s initial plan was to usurp God’s throne, to take for himself the glory rightly belonging to God (Isaiah 14:13-14). Therefore, until the time of Satan’s eternal imprisonment in hell, his plan is to wage war against those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus (Revelation 12:17).

• Peter warned believers, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings (1 Peter 5:8–9).
• Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).
• Jesus also addressed spiritual warfare when he asked his followers, “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law” (Luke 12:51–53).

God’s Purposes and Promises

God is a God of purposes and promises; purposes to redeem the world and promises to judge wickedness. He has purposes to grow his children into maturity and promises to unfailingly steward that process; purposes to save us and glorify his name, and promises about our lives and about his holy character. Satan and his minions oppose all of God’s purposes for salvation and redemption, as well as his every promise for accomplishing it.

Attacking Christians is one of the ways Satan intends to rob God of as much glory as possible until his final sentence is carried out. The devil will attempt to sever the connection of every Christian with God and Jesus Christ. If he cannot accomplish that, he will attempt to weaken our relationship with God by preying on our natural inclination to sin, and deceiving us into believing untruths. His goal is to convince every believer to abandon faith in God and Jesus. If he can’t achieve that, he will take every step to hinder our discipleship or cause us to lose our effectiveness for God’s kingdom. Lies (Genesis 3:1; John 8:44), deception (Re 12:9 – ESV), and temptations (Matthew 4:1-11) are primary tools utilized by Satan in this arena.

Satan’s Purpose

The first successful instance we see in Scripture where the devil convinced someone to sin was in the garden of Eden when Eve and then Adam at the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:1-6). Later, Satan attacked Job in every way God would allow, trying to get Job to sin. The devil was even bold enough to try to convince Jesus to worship him (Matthew 4:1-11)

However, Satan’s attacks are not reserved solely for those who believe in Jesus Christ. He also attempts to keep God’s Word from anyone who shows an interested in the gospel message. The devil and his forces will make every attempt to thwart salvation for non-Christians (Luke 8:11-12) and encourage them to continue in their life of sin (Ephesians 2:1-3). The Bible tells us:

• When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path (Matthew 13:19).
• The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4).

The Struggle Against Self

Our struggle with Satan isn’t the only aspect of spiritual warfare which, as stated earlier, is multi-faceted. We must also struggle with our own fallen nature, our propensity to sin. There have been two significant “falls” in the history of our universe that have caused and increased the pain and suffering in our world. One, as already discussed, was the fall of Satan from heaven.

The other is the willful decision of humans to sin. When Adam and Eve were placed in the garden of Eden, they had continual access to trees that were good for food, the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:9). That meant they did not have to till the soil or labor for food. The garden provided what they needed to eat. They also had access to the tree of life which meant that as long as they lived in the garden, they would never die. God would come to walk in the garden (Genesis 3:8) and talk with Adam (Genesis 2:16; 3:9). It was a glorious beginning.

The Fall of Man

After a critical naval victory against the British on Lake Erie in 1813, Commodore Oliver Perry sent a dispatch stating, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”² Some say this dispatch is the origin for a well-known quote, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” I believe here are times when we are our own worst enemy.

When Eve and then Adam sinned in the garden by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:6); life on earth for man was altered radically. They ushered sin into the world by which death was also introduced (Romans 5:12). As a result, they were banished from the garden (Genesis 3:23). They would have to work the land for their food and were denied access to the tree of life; meaning they would die (Genesis 3:19, 22). But far worse, they were separated from God by their sin.

There are multiple reasons why sinful humans struggle with submitting to God. However, the basic problem in my human nature is, I want to be the lord of my life in every respect. In my natural state I am self-centered, self-serving, self-promoting. I want to decide when, where, and how I do everything. Particularly, I want to decide what is right and wrong. I want to set the rules.  Me . . . Me . . . Me . . . I want . . . I want . . . I want!

Jesus’s words express the exact opposite. “Jesus called them [the apostles] together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25–28).

Saul of Tarsus, whom we would later come to know as Paul, was a persecutor of the early church (Acts 8:3). After he was struck down on the road to Damascus by Jesus, he subsequently came to know and love Jesus; becoming as ardent a preacher of the gospel as he was once a persecutor of believers. Yet he openly described his ongoing struggle with his sinful nature. Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome:

• We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me (Romans 7:14–23).

James wrote, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures (James 4:1–3).

The Israelites, God’s chosen people, established a continual pattern of proclaiming faith in God, becoming complacent, turning away from God, being subjected to suffering, repenting of their sins, crying out to God for deliverance, and being delivered. They were described as “stiff-necked” more than a dozen times in Scripture and exhibited that stubbornness repeatedly. Today, those who love God and Jesus are no different in this respect; because we have the same human nature as the Israelites. Accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior doesn’t mean our sinful nature will immediately roll over and die. It doesn’t; and we have to fight it every day as we walk with the Lord.

Struggle Against Some Other Humans

A third aspect of spiritual warfare is the struggle with humans who are opposed to the gospel message. This opposition exists for a variety of reasons and presents itself in different ways. In its most blatant form, some people murder others whose faith is different. In the first century, Jesus was hated and crucified because of his message (John 11:48-50) (Acts 7:52). Stephen was stoned to death because of his faith (Ac 7:57-60). Others were murdered by various means, tortured, mocked, flogged, imprisoned, and mistreated (Hebrews 11:35–38). That pattern continues to this day.

Jewish families would be fractured because some would decide to accept Jesus as the Messiah while others in the same family would reject this notion. Not only would Jewish families be broken, but the entire community would be forced to “choose a side.” Those who chose Jesus would be ostracized by their family and friends. Clearly, the ruling religious leaders had made their decision. A person who acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue (John 9:22). Jesus said because of him, his followers would face death, persecution (Matthew 24:9); insult, false accusations (Matthew 5:11); and hatred (Matthew 10:22).

Some, past and present, preach a different gospel (2 Corinthians 11:4) (Galatians 1:6) (Matthew 7:15); other than faith in Jesus Christ. Such people are motivated by profit, fame, or other self-seeking purposes.

However, I believe the most insidious human opposition to Christianity in America is peer and societal pressure. Many members in Congress, the administration of many colleges and universities, atheists, agnostics, and a variety of other groups with a single agenda want religion, or any public expression thereof, removed from the public square. They don’t want anyone to be able to take any position, publicly, that runs contrary to the goals they want to achieve. Additionally, some Christians may not want to speak publicly about demons and spiritual warfare, either publicly or in meetings with other believers, because they may be ridiculed or considered fanatical or a charismatic for taking such things seriously. Satan loves the silence of believers, by whatever means he can achieve it.

So, is spiritual warfare real? As always, each of us will decide what is true.

Notes

¹ Billy Graham, Angels, (Dallas, London, Vancouver, Melbourne: Word Publishing; 1973, 1986, 1994) 73-75, 182.

² National Park Service, “We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Ours,” May 24, 2016, https://www.nps.gov/articles/met-the-enemy-4.htm.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.