Spiritual Warfare

Satan’s Fall

  • Luke 10:17-19 – Jesus mentions Satan falling from heaven
  • 1 Timothy 3:6 – Satan’s condemnation is connected to the sin of pride
  • Isaiah 14:12-15
    o In context, this is a prophecy against king of Babylon, but it appears to use language that
    compares his fall to that of Satan (e.g. “Fallen from heaven” in verse 12)
    o The original name of the fallen one is traditionally translated as Lucifer,” the Latin word
    meaning Light Bearer
     Early translators, including the KJV translators, chose to go with a Latin
    paraphrase of his name rather than what the actual Hebrew says
     Actual Hebrew pronunciation & meaning: Heylel = Shining One (a version of the
    word used to refer to Venus/the morning star/day star)
  • Ezekiel 28:11-19
    o In context this is a prophecy against the king of Tyre, but it appears to use language that
    compares his fall to the fall of Satan
    o Descriptions of being “in Eden,” being covered in and walking in precious stones, and
    being “the anointed/covering cherub” do not make sense for a mere human
    o If about Satan, he appears to have been a cherub of great importance (quite possibly
    highest importance)
  • Revelation 12:4 – May indicate that 1/3 of the angels followed Satan in his rebellion (i.e. holy
    angels outnumber fallen angels 2-1)
    Actions of Satan & demons
    General actions
  • Previously covered
    o 2 Corinthians 4:4 – hindering people from being saved
    o 1 Peter 5:8 – Seeking to destroy the godly living and effective ministry of God’s people
    o Revelation 12:10-12 – Pointing out our sin to God
  • Ephesians 2:1-3 – Encouraging people to live in rebellion against God
    o i.e. tempting people to sin
    o Temptation also comes from the world in general and our sinful human nature (cf.
    James 1:13-14)
  • Job 1-3, 1 Corinthians 12:7-9 – Causes physical suffering and general destruction
    o He is only allowed to do so within limits that God sets, and God ultimately uses these
    things to accomplish his own will
    o This does not mean that every physical problem or natural disaster is directly caused by
    Satan or his minions: We live in a world that is broken by sin, and we will continue to
    feel the consequences of that brokenness until we are with Christ (Romans 8:8:18-23)

Demon Possession

  • Definition: a demon “indwells” someone and assumes at least partial (sometimes complete)
    control of their actions
    o Often the person is violent and self-destructive
    o Often the person is supernaturally strong
    o Often the person has supernatural knowledge
  • Demon possession appears to have been widespread during the time Jesus was on earth
    o Possibly since God the Son became incarnate, Satan’s minions sought to counteract with
    “physical presence” of their own
    o When it came to a showdown between Jesus and a possessed person it was no contest
    (e.g. Mark 5:1-20)
  • Demon possession does not seem to occur very often today in our country
    o It is more prevalent in areas where occult or animistic religions are common as these
    religions openly worship spirits and often deliberately seek to be possessed by them
    o We should be careful not to lightly label something as demon possession. Some groups
    go overboard in blaming practically any bizarre or sinful behavior on possession
  • Can a Christian be controlled by a demon?
    o All Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19) who is far greater than
    any demonic power (1 John 4:4) and who is God’s seal of ownership (Ephesians 1:13-14)
    o Sin and Satan have no power over the Christians (Romans 6:5-10) who has a new nature
    (2 Corinthians 5:17) and is “light in the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8) and will not be tempted to
    the point where he cannot resist (1 Corinthians 10:13)
    o All of this makes demonic control of a Christian impossible (whether you call that
    control demon possession, being demonized, or a demonic stronghold in your life).
  • Do Christians have the right to cast out demons?
    o Some specific groups of disciples were given the authority (e.g. the twelve in Luke 9:1,
    the seventy-two in Luke 10), but I cannot find any passage where Christians in general
    are given that authority
    o Even Michael the archangel took care in how he went about confronting Satan (Jude 9)
    o Perhaps an audible prayer to God in Jesus name would be more appropriate than a
    scathing rebuke if ever confronted with a demon possessed person

Spiritual Warfare

  • The Bible speaks of resisting Satan and sometimes uses the metaphor of warfare
  • Many people have come up with “battle plans” for this: few of these strategies actually
    resemble anything found in the Bible…so what does “resisting the devil” look like?
    Non-biblical strategy #1 – Prayers of binding on specific evil spirits
  • Basic idea: find out which demon has control over the area you want to affect (e.g. your city,
    your house, an abortion clinic, a specific sin in your life) and pray a “prayer of binding” or
    “prayer of expulsion” to remove their influence
    o In Mark 5:6-9 & Luke 8:28-30, Jesus finds out Legion’s name before casting him out
     This does not give Jesus any “extra power” over the demon
     The demon doesn’t even give a proper name since there are many of them
    o Matthew 16:19 & 18:18 both mention binding and loosing things on earth and in heaven
     When read in context, it is clear that neither of these has anything to do with
    removing the influence of demonic powers
     16:19 is about Peter’s responsibility to declare who can and who cannot enter
    the Kingdom of God (i.e. to preach the message that Jesus is the Christ)
     18:18 is about the church deciding who can and who cannot be a church
    member (i.e. excluding those who are living in unrepentant sin)
    o Daniel 10:12-20 mentions “territorial spirits” (the prince of Persia & of Greece)
     This is hardly enough evidence to build up a big system in which every
    geographical location or every specific sin has a specific demon in charge of it
     Nothing in this passage indicates that human beings have anything to do with
    confronting “territorial spirits” (that is being done by holy angels, not Daniel)
  • Basically, there is no Scriptural support for this idea. It is a slight “repackaging” of various forms
    of black magic and shamanism
    o That doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with praying and asking God for protection
    from evil spirits, evil people, and evil in the world in general (cf. the Lord’s prayer
    Matthew 6:13)
    o It does mean that there is no Scriptural support for trying to discover and attack specific
    evil spirits

Non-biblical strategy #2 – Breaking Generational Curses or “demonic strongholds”

  • Basic idea: an ongoing physical problem (or an ongoing sin) in your life must be the result of a
    curse brought on you by the sin of one of your ancestors or a demon that has gained control
    over part of your life and set up a “demonic stronghold”
    o We’ve already talked about how a demon cannot rob you of control because you are
    God’s, but what about “generational curses”?
    o The ancestral sin is usually supposed to be some variation of being involved in black
    magic that you must confess to God and verbally declare Satan’s power to be broken

o Supposed Scriptural support: Exodus 20:4-5, Exodus 34:6-7, Numbers 14:18,
Deuteronomy 5:8-9 mention those who break God’s covenant through idolatry face
punishment that extends to the 3 rd and 4 th generation

  • Problems with this idea:
    o In Ezekiel 18:18-23 God makes it very clear that he does not punish an individual for the
    sin of a family member…the passages cited above are about the natural consequences
    should an Israelite break their covenant with God (especially by committing idolatry)
     Generations that follow the original idolaters are more likely to fall into the
    same sin (see all of Israel’s history, especially during Judges & in N. Israel)
     Generations that follow the original idolaters face long-term consequences of
    being oppressed by other nations (see Judges & the Babylonian exile)
    o If we are saved, we are no longer under God’s judgment (Romans 8:1-2) because He is
    our true Father and inheritance comes through Him (Romans 8:14-17), and we are a
    new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)
    o An ongoing physical problem is not always caused by unresolved sin in a person’s life
     To assume it is, is to act like one of Job’s horrible, ungodly friends
     God can allow an ongoing physical problem to help shape our character (2
    Corinthians 12:7-10)

o The idea that a demon must be verbally rebuked before it will leave you alone is
completely unbiblical
 Jesus verbally quoted Scripture when tempted and told Satan to leave (Luke 4:1-
13, Matthew 4:1-11), but He is God and was having an actual audible
conversation with Satan in person
 In Jude 8-9 even the powerful archangel Michael does not directly rebuke Satan
 In James 4:7-10 resisting the devil so that he flees is about obeying God and
submitting to his will…not directly interacting with Satan or his minions

Biblical approach to spiritual warfare

  • Rescue
    o When a person is saved, Satan no longer has power over them
    o Nowhere in the Bible are we told to deliberately seek out confrontations with the forces
    of darkness who are trying to keep people from being saved, instead we are given the
    responsibility of sharing the Gospel (Matthew 28:18-20, Romans 10:9-13)
  • Defend – Ephesians 6:10-14ff
    o It is all about standing firm on who we are in Christ (see James 4:7-10 above)
    o “The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but
    on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather
    on the fact that we have made our position unassailable .” –Sun Tzu in The Art of War
  • Spiritual Warfare is relying on the indwelling Holy Spirit to help us in resisting temptation to sin,
    following the commands of our Lord, and sharing the Gospel as we have opportunity…much less
    glamorous than going out and confronting demons, but it is what we are called to do


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