If Satan Is Defeated, Why Do We Still Have to Do Spiritual Warfare?

14 Feb 2014-

 

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds in our minds. But the weapons of Satan are carnal, mighty in our flesh for the erecting of strongholds in our minds—and we’re the ones arming him.

Jesus “disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them” (Col. 2:15). Many who oppose spiritual warfare practices point to that Scripture and say we don’t have to fight because the devil is already defeated. Yes, the devil is already defeated, but Paul nevertheless told Timothy to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12) and told the Ephesians we “wrestle against … principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of the age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).

the-word-of-god

If Jesus disarmed principalities and powers, why are we still wrestling them? We still wrestle, in part, because we are arming the enemy with the words of our mouth, handing him our God-given authority to use against us. Satan has no authority over us unless we give it to him, just like the serpent had no authority in the garden until Adam gave it to him.

Speaking Supernatural Words

the-sword-of-the-spirit_n

As I was meditating on 2 Corinthians 10:4, I got a revelation about our words as weapons. This is not a positive confession revelation, although I believe in confessing what the Word of God says rather than confessing negative thoughts and feelings—and that’s totally scriptural. No, this is not a new twist on a good confession. This is aspiritual warfare strategy that will send the devil fleeing as we submit our words to God and resist the temptation to allow our mouths to issue weapons Satan uses against us.

When discussing the whole armor of God, Paul instructs us to take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17). When we speak the Word of God out of our mouths, it serves as a weapon that cuts through every evil plot of the enemy. No devil in hell can come against the Word of God because it’s not carnal but mighty—supernatural—in God.

spiritual_warfare_sword

When we find ourselves in the midst of the battle, though, we too often make one of these three common mistakes: (1) We fail to wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; (2) we speak the enemy’s fearful lies out of our mouths; or (3) we are double-minded, speaking the Word of God one moment and the enemy’s fear-laced lies the next. The only sure way enforce Jesus’ victory in our lives is to consistently wield the sword of the Spirit.

Read more

References for pictures

http://drpegonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/spiritual_warfare_sword.jpg

http://mudpreacher.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/the-word-of-god.jpg

http://gospelbondservant.com.s127328.gridserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/the-sword-of-the-spirit_n.jpg

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*