What Does Spiritual Warfare Look Like Today?
Spiritual Life
Audio By Carbonatix
By Lisa Loraine Baker, Crosswalk.com
Spiritual warfare can be a scary subject for many—both for those who are in Christ and also for those who are outside the faith. Is it real? Does it involve physical manifestations of usually unseen entities and objects? We see incidences of spiritual warfare throughout the Old and New Testaments, and yes, it still exists. What does spiritual warfare look like today?
Satan, the chief strategist of evil, is still alive and kicking against Christ and His church, but his power is limited, and his end is coming. Until Christ consigns him to everlasting torment in the “lake of fire and sulfur” (Revelation 20:10), which is symbolic for divine judgment, he will continue to try to deceive everyone he can. If anyone needs to fear, it’s unbelievers, and their “father,” Satan, for God’s judgment on them will most certainly be terrible.
Satan’s tactics in the spiritual realm haven’t changed. They are the same today as they have been throughout history—lie, steal, cheat, accuse, and harm all who belong to Christ, and deceive all who don’t.
What Are Some Examples of Spiritual Warfare in the Bible?
Spiritual warfare is defined as our contention with spiritual opposition in our walk with Christ and in the good works He planned for all His people (Ephesians 2:10). The spiritual realm is an unseen world where we find both angels and demons. Both groups serve their master (Angels serve the Lord God as Master and demons serve Satan as master). Spiritual warfare is the real battle every Christian faces when they are confronted with the devil's schemes to twist God’s Word, align the world against them, and make unfounded accusations against them. A Christian is still a sinner in need of God’s grace every day, and we have an Advocate before the Father—the Lord Jesus Christ—whose testimony is the very Word that defeats Satan.
Spiritual warfare has been ongoing since the devil, in his appearance as a serpent (Revelation 12:9; 20:2), tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). His whisper of “you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5) was a direct attack using another of God’s creations to try to undermine God’s authority and cause rebellion in the hearts and minds of God’s first created humans. And it worked. No surprise to the Lord God, He chose to unveil His eternally ordained plan of redemption in Genesis 3:15, the first mention of the Gospel in Scripture. No matter what Satan has thrown into the hearts and minds of humans to thwart God’s plans, it has all failed. And it will forever fail because (spoiler alert) Christ has already won (John 16:33). He has already defeated the devil and the demons (Colossians 2:15).
No doubt, Satan is the purveyor and the instigator of spiritual warfare, as he and his demons have been non-stop in their efforts to win people for his kingdom and against God. He uses whatever means available (and allowed by God) in his rebellious ministrations to “be like God.”
The Bible “pulls back the curtain” a few times to reveal Satan’s corruption tactics. In addition to the Genesis 3 narrative, we read that Satan sought to bring about an epic failure for Job, who is described in Job 1:1 as a “man of complete integrity.”
In Job 1:6-22 and 2:1-10, we read how Satan stood before the throne of God to bring accusations against Job. On earth, Job’s wife told him to curse God and die (Job 2:9), and his friends sought to lay the responsibility for his sorry state on particular sins “of their choice.” But Job came through the time of testing with a deeper understanding of God and with restored blessings, “So the LORD blessed the last part of Job’s life more than the first” (Job 42:12). Throughout, Job trusted the Lord (Job 13:15; 19:25). Job had no idea what transpired in heaven (spiritual warfare), but he held to his integrity and he held to his faith in God.
The devil tried to tempt our Lord Himself in Matthew 4:1-11. Jesus answered each temptation with God’s Word.
Other occurrences of spiritual warfare throughout the Bible include the narratives in 1 Samuel 28, 2 Kings 6:11-23, Daniel 10:10-14, Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39, and Acts 19:13-16.
What Does Spiritual Warfare Look Like Today?
Spiritual warfare continues as it has since the Garden of Eden. We don’t have to read very far into Scripture to see the sinful inheritance wrought by Adam, our representative federal head. His sin was imputed to all of humanity. His insurrection against the Lord God and His holy law laid the groundwork for all humanity. But, as Pastor Jeffrey Perry tells us, “Adam’s fall prepared us for the Gospel of Christ.”
Here’s what God’s Word tells us: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
Ephesians 2:1-3 tells us who we were before Christ saved us: “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.” (italics added by author)
The devil would much rather have us in tow (or in chains) doing his will instead of loving the Lord and our neighbors. Today, Christians “suffer” from a myriad of distractions that can take our focus away from Christ and put it instead on the world, the flesh, and the devil (as highlighted in the above passage). Our daily spiritual warfare, unseen but experienced nonetheless, involves our interactions with and struggles against:
1. The World – Myriad wiles of enticement exist to take our thoughts and hearts far from the Lord. Think about the daily offerings of entertainment wooing us with visual pleasures that lead to sin—social media, movies filled with all things abhorrent to the Lord, other excessive sensory pleasures which stem from temporal “happiness” but lacking any eternal value whatsoever (the list is long).
2. The Flesh – Anything and everything that screams, “It’s all about me!” It’s not. We continue in the sin wrought by Adam—a grasp toward autonomy from God and from our neighbor. Yes, we are to love others as ourselves, but God and then others are to come first in our love. After all, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
3. The Devil – He is “the ruler of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). He is also the “father of lies” (John 8:44). If there is any way he can sway a Christian through temptations, he will. Count on it.
Preponderance of occult games and practices, and all its leaders spew the same lie Satan did in the garden, “You will be like God.”
The devil can use all three of the above as tactics by false teachers. We need to be especially aware of them. They play on people’s desire for health, wealth, and success, causing well-intentioned people to fall to their tactics.
How Can We Win the Battles of Spiritual Warfare?
Satan doesn’t get as much “air time” in Scripture as many are led to believe. Yes, he has a presence, but not once does he win anything or anyone permanently. He can only mimic Christ, but each attempt is a poor copy—a lion with no teeth (1 Peter 5:8). Satan is not “like God” at all and has none of God’s incommunicable attributes, much as he’d desire them or make people believe he does. He and/or his demons can possess unbelievers, but Christians are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13), who is God (Acts 5:3-4), and God’s presence will not abide evil (Habakkuk 1:13).
Satan can blind unbelievers to Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4), but even that falls under God’s sovereignty. Everything in the Bible points to Christ and to His glory, including the glory He gets when Satan is defeated.
In essence, the idea that we can “win” is a “trick” question when we consider our standing before the Lord. We are in Christ. Therefore, His victory is ours, too. “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place” (2 Corinthians 2:14). Christ atoned for all our sins at the cross—He fulfilled Genesis 3:15. He defeated death and holds its keys (Revelation 1:18).
All that being said, we still need to take a stand for the truth. But Christ hasn’t left us bereft of the resources necessary to wage war. Truly, it’s just a chance for Christians to take our stand against the evil ones. But we stand arrayed in the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20)—and we stand in victory already won by Christ.
1. The ultimate defense against Satan, his demons, and their wiles is the Gospel. Romans 1:16 assures us, “because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.” The Gospel is the power of God as proclaimed by our pastor, as we speak it to ourselves, and as we speak it to others! Satan cannot overcome the Gospel.
2. Stand firm in your faith. Christ has done it all to secure our salvation. He sent the Holy Spirit to give us life (be born again) so we could believe. And once we are in Christ, we will never be apart from Him. We need to believe when the Lord God calls us to Himself through Christ.
Therefore, Satan may temporarily “win” souls for his kingdom through tactics such as demonic possession of unbelievers, but in the end God is sovereign, and He will save those He has chosen (Romans 8:28-30; Colossians 3:12-17), even if Satan thinks he holds sway over them. Christians should not worry about demonic possession. Professor Stephen Wellum tells us, “We wrestle against the demonic, but the church overcomes Satan by the blood of Christ.”
3. Immerse yourself in God’s Word for the ultimate truth. Here’s a list of verses and passages that speak to Christ’s sovereign reign in the midst of spiritual warfare. Always remember, “This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:2-4). For more encouragement, read and study the following passages/verses from Scripture:
Galatians 1:1-5, esp. v. 4
John 16:11, 33
Romans 8:18, 37
4. Pray—this four-letter word held by Christians is a powerful “agent” against the evil ones as we present our petitions to the Lord. Alone, with one other, or in the fellowship of the church on the Lord’s day, for “The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect” (James 5:16). Again, it’s not our righteousness, it’s Christ’s within us. And “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus” (from Romans 8:38-39).
5. Gather with the Church: Pastor Tom Hicks tells us, “[The] doctrine of church membership runs contrary to the autonomous spirit of our age, but it is nothing less than biblical Christianity.” When the church is gathered as one, the saints—true Christians—encourage, edify, support, and love one another through all the trials of life on earth, including spiritual warfare!
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Alexey_M
Lisa Loraine Baker is the multiple award-winning author of Someplace to be Somebody, which is being adapted and brought to the stage by the Karamu House Theater in Cleveland, Ohio (Winter, 2027). Lisa writes fiction (Christmas stories) and is currently writing a novel titled “Refuge.” She also writes non-fiction, including articles for BibleStudyTools.com and Christianity.com. She and her husband, Stephen, live in Lexington, Kentucky with their Kentucky wild cat, Lewis.
