Warfare - Who or what are we exactly fighting

[JohnD]

Ephesians 6:10-18 (KJV)

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

The Highlighted is the source of all we war against even in the flesh... which is more often than not, our very own flesh.

[PortiaSamantha]

Finally to the crux of the subject;

"principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places"

So this is who we are fighting but exactly what is it that we mean by principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness and spiritual wickedness? Does these clearly identify the enemy for us and allow us to appropriately use our offensive weapon {the word of God} because unless we know for sure who we are fighting then the hope to win the battle has already been lost. And could it be that until we identify what is meant by this scripture we will continue to "fight against flesh and blood"; the condemnation in the body of Christ, the quarrellings and general divisions?

I agree with most of you who say "The battle is the Lord's" but at the same time I understand there's God's part and Our Part in everything. The Israelites had to fight some cities before they could possess Canaan so from there we can clearly agree that in our battles God is with us [as the ark of covenant was with them] but there's to an extent a need for some art of warfare

[Willa]

Finally to the crux of the subject;

"principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places"

So this is who we are fighting but exactly what is it that we mean by principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness and spiritual wickedness? Does these clearly identify the enemy for us and allow us to appropriately use our offensive weapon {the word of God} because unless we know for sure who we are fighting then the hope to win the battle has already been lost. And could it be that until we identify what is meant by this scripture we will continue to "fight against flesh and blood"; the condemnation in the body of Christ, the quarrellings and general divisions?

I agree with most of you who say "The battle is the Lord's" but at the same time I understand there's God's part and Our Part in everything. The Israelites had to fight some cities before they could possess Canaan so from there we can clearly agree that in our battles God is with us [as the ark of covenant was with them] but there's to an extent a need for some art of warfare

You make a good point. Satan came to divide and conquer. He divides families and he divides churches. I am sure he played a role in the dividing of denominations, too. Certainly the reformers did not wish to split from the Catholic church but wanted to correct terrible abuses and perversion of the Gospel. They were excommunicated for it. So the forming of denomination has often been to correct and renounce heretical doctrine such as the sale of indulgences or being able to buy your way out of purgatory, which is in itself another unbiblical doctrine.

But I most often see denominations as needed in our personal growth in the universal body of Christ. A certain denomination may have the very doctrine that a person needs to hear due to his experiences tipping his beliefs too far one way or another.

Some people may need to hear that they are in danger of losing their salvation to keep them from abusing God's grace. Others who are fearful may need to have eternal security reinforced in their lives. And God may move us from one to another to hear the message we most need at the time. This is just one example. I know a backslider who said this very thing to me, and that he needed to hear hellfire and brimstone. God won me by His loving forgiveness.

However, bitterness between denominations needs to end. We can agree to disagree. I have usually found that God's love bridges that gap among true believers. I have deep love for Aian Jade and ncn, for instance, even though I disagree with each on certain issues such as the time of the rapture and Calvinism. And, shame on me, I even like to poke them in the ribs about it occasionally. They are both gracious and put up with me. They and so many others on this forum are so beautiful in the Lord, and yet we are all very different.

There will always be differences of opinion and interpretation until we get to heaven and Christ explains it more perfectly. Meanwhile we depend on the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth, and that can be very personal in nature.

[*Zion*]

Spiritual warfare is fought in the spiritual realm, which I think it is best to avoid for a believer unless you have no choice. The battle is satan and his minions versus the angels of heaven led by Michael. They intercede on our behalf according to the Lords will. As for us, the Word of God is our only weapon, through prayer we can ask for Gods protection.

Sorry to disagree, not that spiritual warfare is fought in the spiritual realm - it is - but I believe we are in constant combat with the enemy. Every time we choose not to give into temptation or the flesh; every time we refuse an evil thought/word/action; every time we choose to lift up the Name of the Lord Jesus and acknowledge Him as God; every time we praise our God! In fact, the very day we accepted God into our lives and we became His, we declared war on the enemy - because we were no longer slaves to sin, but Jesus set us free - and if the Son has set you free, you are free indeed!!!

It's not about being craftier than the devil, and outsmarting him with our logic:

Ephesians 6:13-18

¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, God's Word, prayer, watchfulness, perseverance... These are the things that we win the battle with. If you are in God then do not be afraid. God tells us not to, for we are hid in Him. We just need to know where we are standing. The easiest thing to do is take a look at your feet - are they in the world, or are they in God? Even if we have one foot in the world, and one foot in God it doesn't work - we'll end up having to do the splits and will be split apart ourselves. With God it's all or nothing - we can't just be a little bit saved, or a little bit in eternal life.

Matthew 5:37

But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

James 4:7

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

When we walk in God's truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, God's Word, prayer, watchfulness, perseverance; we have every right/authority to cast out the enemy from our midst, because we know we have no part in him, and that we do not partake of what he want to give us. How do we gain these spiritual riches/this armour? By seeking out God's holiness in prayer through faith, given to us by His grace, which He did so by placing Himself upon the cross and dying in our place, so that we would not have to receive due punishment instead.

Notice that we didn't have to do a thing to have this - except accept it.

God bless you so much!!!

[wingnut-]

Sorry to disagree, not that spiritual warfare is fought in the spiritual realm - it is - but I believe we are in constant combat with the enemy. Every time we choose not to give into temptation or the flesh; every time we refuse an evil thought/word/action; every time we choose to lift up the Name of the Lord Jesus and acknowledge Him as God; every time we praise our God! In fact, the very day we accepted God into our lives and we became His, we declared war on the enemy - because we were no longer slaves to sin, but Jesus set us free - and if the Son has set you free, you are free indeed!!!

It's not about being craftier than the devil, and outsmarting him with our logic:

Ephesians 6:13-18

¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, God's Word, prayer, watchfulness, perseverance... These are the things that we win the battle with. If you are in God then do not be afraid. God tells us not to, for we are hid in Him. We just need to know where we are standing. The easiest thing to do is take a look at your feet - are they in the world, or are they in God? Even if we have one foot in the world, and one foot in God it doesn't work - we'll end up having to do the splits and will be split apart ourselves. With God it's all or nothing - we can't just be a little bit saved, or a little bit in eternal life.

Matthew 5:37

But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

James 4:7

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

When we walk in God's truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, God's Word, prayer, watchfulness, perseverance; we have every right/authority to cast out the enemy from our midst, because we know we have no part in him, and that we do not partake of what he want to give us. How do we gain these spiritual riches/this armour? By seeking out God's holiness in prayer through faith, given to us by His grace, which He did so by placing Himself upon the cross and dying in our place, so that we would not have to receive due punishment instead.

Notice that we didn't have to do a thing to have this - except accept it.

God bless you so much!!!

I'm not following you here, nor am I seeing where we disagree, this is what I posted above.

The only offensive weapon Paul mentioned is the Word of God, the other pieces of armor are for defensive purposes. Belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, feet with the gospel of peace, shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation. All of these are rooted in knowledge of scripture as well, and the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

The purpose of any vigil is prayer, and through prayer God intercedes on our behalf, which is why Paul concludes the Ephesians passage regarding the armor with this.

Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

[gdemoss]

We only see the head by watching the body as it moves upon the earth. Our Father said that his people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because they refuse knowledge. Most Christians I know have no idea what it means to have a god or how gods communicate with their servants much less how to actually do battle against the gods of others through serving our God by obeying his commands.

[PortiaSamantha]

I like the direction the topic is taking and thanks Willamina for the wise outlook on the denominations subject.

I hear the mention of "THE ENEMY" several times and scriptures is being quoted which is good but do you all feel we have identified who the enemy is; Is it Satan perhaps and if So who on earth is He?

imagine an army going to war and when asked "Who are you fighting against" and their reply says "Against a country", to fight a good fight of faith we must first identify who exactly are we fighting against, what are the characters of our enemy, what is our enemy's strength and weakness and lastly; what is our strategy.

I love Deuteronomy 20 when it comes to Spiritual warfare

[gdemoss]

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

The enemy is the prince of the power of the air and his body can be identified by acts of disobedience as he overcomes them and brings them into bondage unto himself.

[PortiaSamantha]

As an African, the manifestation of him that we call "Enemy" I have seen in different forms; to most people is witchcraft and to others is being possessed by evil spirits and so forth so having grown up under such beliefs I have had at some stage had to scrutinize it all and I have come to greater conviction that the greatest enemy/enemies we have as believers are as follows;

Fear

Pride

Lack of vision

Carnality

Belittling others and ourselves

Lack of faith

There may be more but these are the ones I could link to the spirits of the cities found in Deuteronomy 20 - Of which our forefathers of faith (the Israelites) had to conquer before they could enter into the promised land

I have also come to view the Christian walk as being about that purpose; Entering into the land that God has promised us - Returning to Eden. The spiritual mapping is thus similar to their deliverance from Egypt and their entire journey until they finally entered Canaan. The warfare is no so much about some external enemy that exists outside ourselves, its about traits and attributes that govern our daily decision making which ends up deviating us from the will of God

[*Zion*]

Sorry to disagree, not that spiritual warfare is fought in the spiritual realm - it is - but I believe we are in constant combat with the enemy. Every time we choose not to give into temptation or the flesh; every time we refuse an evil thought/word/action; every time we choose to lift up the Name of the Lord Jesus and acknowledge Him as God; every time we praise our God! In fact, the very day we accepted God into our lives and we became His, we declared war on the enemy - because we were no longer slaves to sin, but Jesus set us free - and if the Son has set you free, you are free indeed!!!

It's not about being craftier than the devil, and outsmarting him with our logic:

I'm not following you here, nor am I seeing where we disagree, this is what I posted above.

The only offensive weapon Paul mentioned is the Word of God, the other pieces of armor are for defensive purposes. Belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, feet with the gospel of peace, shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation. All of these are rooted in knowledge of scripture as well, and the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

The purpose of any vigil is prayer, and through prayer God intercedes on our behalf, which is why Paul concludes the Ephesians passage regarding the armor with this.

Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Spiritual warfare is fought in the spiritual realm, which I think it is best to avoid for a believer unless you have no choice. The battle is satan and his minions versus the angels of heaven led by Michael. They intercede on our behalf according to the Lords will. As for us, the Word of God is our only weapon, through prayer we can ask for Gods protection.

My point is that we cannot avoid it, we are in it constantly. It's up to each of us to take up our own cross in following Christ.

Blessings