For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12
There is a very basic principle to combat that even if you have never even been in a physical or verbal confrontation before you could probably figure it out. That is, you need to know who your enemy is. Duh, that is so basic that it doesn’t even need to be mentioned right? Wrong. For the past 20 years in America, we have rarely fought a uniformed army, but rather insurgents who dress like to populace, so you NEED to know who the enemy is before you start shooting. A good clue as to who it is is he is usually the guy that is shooting at you.
This same concept applies in our spiritual warfare. We face an enemy on two fronts in our battle here on earth. The first is the power of the evil one, Satan. He is the tempter, the adversary to God. He runs the world and all the sin that goes along with it. He influences our cultural systems along with his demons so that he may tempt us into denying God and living for ourselves.
The second front of our battle is within. As Christians, we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, yet we still have our sinful nature to deal with. We want to follow Christ and his righteous and holy commands, but the wickedness from within makes this a struggle. Through the process of sanctification, we become more like Christ and conform to His image. Yet we will not accomplish this until our death. This is a lifelong struggle.
The weapons of our warfare are the same for both fronts though we employ different tactics. As Christians, we go out into the world and proclaim the truth of the Gospel no matter where we go. This is a command from Christ that we must fulfill. The weapon here is the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.
At the same point, we are fighting the temptations of the flesh that arise from within the filth of our hearts. We crush this temptation with the same weapon, God’s word. We memorize and study the scriptures so that when we face trial and temptation, we lean upon Him and His truth. We can resist that temptation because we have the Word “hidden in our hearts” (Ps. 119:11).
When in war you must fight. Whether that be the enemy within, or the enemy “out there” you must fight with all your might if you want to survive. There is no half @** ing it. You must be a man or woman who puts their full attention into the fight when engaged. You know your enemy, zero in, and kill.
Written By,
John Cooper Jr.
Godly Grunt 6
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