How To "Do" Spiritual Warfare, Part I

There are few Biblical doctrines more vital to the Christian walk than the doctrine of spiritual warfare. Unfortunately, some preachers/teachers have--perhaps with the best of intentions--clouded this doctrine with false teachings that end up doing more harm than good--spiritually speaking.

When I speak of "spiritual warfare" I am speaking of the reality that a born-again Christian is engaged in a battle with demonic forces. In the New Testament, the Gospels are replete with accounts of Jesus openly casting demons out of people using verbal rebukes. His disciples were commissioned with the similar ability--that is, to cast demons out of people. We know that the Apostle Paul himself was harassed by some sort of Satanic force (2 Corinthians 12:7). Christians are taught--again by Paul--that our real enemies are not humans but rather Satan and his evil forces at work in the spiritual realm (Ephesians 6:12). So we know who our REAL enemy is, and we know that we are engaged in a continual battle with this enemy, and we know that we have spiritual (and practical) weapons at our disposal to fight this enemy (Ephesians 6:12-19).

As with all Biblical doctrine, there is always a possibility that Christians will misunderstand the teaching of Scripture and then--unfortunately--perpetuate such misunderstandings throughout the church. The spiritual effect of this perpetuation of false doctrine--ironically--actually ends up benefiting the work of the enemy, who works through falsehoods to achieve his perverted goals (John 8:44). A practical effect of this perpetuation of false doctrine is that (in most cases) well-meaning Christians are hamstrung by engaging in a un-Biblical practice and--at best--waste their precious time and--at worst--engage is overt superstition dressed up as "spiritual warfare."

There are 2 main questions that concern me for the purposes of this article...

1.) What "spiritual warfare" is
2.) What "spiritual warfare" is not

For my own purposes, I'm going to answer both questions in reverse order, prayerfully hoping that the Biblical directives for the Christian to "wage the good warfare" will be fresh in the mind of the reader.

1.) WHAT "SPIRITUAL WARFARE" IS NOT

I have some personal experience with some false teachings on spiritual warfare, having sat under some bad teaching on the subject and then perpetuating it in my own personal life. All doctrine eventually is practiced in the day-to-day practice of LIVING, and that includes both GOOD doctrine and BAD doctrine. So, for any who may question why I am addressing this subject, it is because--somewhere, somehow--somebody is applying false doctrine in their lives. And the results of that could definitely be problematic.

Here's the progression of the teaching that eventually leads us into un-Biblical territory. It always BEGINS with sound Biblical truth and then takes a detour into worldliness (more on that later)...

- Satan is REAL and demons are REAL (Okay...I agree 100%)

- Satan hates God and the people of God (Again, I'm totally with ya)

- Satan and his demonic angels try to destroy/sabotage the work of God (Still totally agreeing with ya)

- Christians can--in fact--be "demonized"...i.e., under the oppressing control of a demonic spirit (Wait...isn't "demonized" just a word substitute for "demon-possessed" and doesn't the Bible teach that Christians are indwelt with the Spirit? How can a demon and the Holy Spirit share the same space like that?)

- It is the responsibility of every Christian to rebuke Satan and/or his demons (Ehhhh... Huh?)

- Certain demons are assigned to certain sins...i.e., "demons of alcoholism"...."demons of lust"..."demons of pride", etc. (Whaaaaat are you talking about?)

- Demons can invade certain territories and must be driven out by the power of speaking the name of Jesus (Say again? Did we wander into a charismatic congregation?)

- Christians need to "plead the blood of Jesus" over people, buildings, sanctuaries, electronic equipment, etc. (Hmmmm....now where is that in the Bible?)

As it goes, we begin with SOUND Biblical truth, and "wander off into myths" (2 Timothy 4:4). We know that the text of Scripture is clear on the reality of Satan and demons. We know that Christians are engaged in a battle against Satan, demons, and the lies they use. From that, how did we arrive at the conclusion that ALL Christians can--and SHOULD--verbally rebuke demons out of people, buildings, properties, etc.? How did folks arrive at the conclusion that demons can indwell born-again believers of Jesus Christ?

As you will notice, these teachings have no basis in Scripture, but rather in a movement. In the next blog...we will address specifically the false teachings and how these teachers justify the perpetuation of these false teachings.

May God be glorified by it all.

- Shane