Spiritual warfare #4

One of the most dangerous teachings of the American church is “eternal security.” It’s dangerous because reduced to a mantra, it is misunderstood. It’s dangerous because it doesn’t line up with the Bible without serious mental gymnastics. It’s dangerous because it avoids the clear teaching of Scripture concerning basic spiritual dangers.

 

Maybe worst of all, the unexamined doctrine is dangerous because it ignores the potential impact of Satanic activity. Paul noted in 1 Timothy 5:15, “For some have already strayed after Satan.” Specifically, Paul advised the church on how to deal with widows in the church. Paul notes that some of the younger widows have “strayed after Satan.”

 

Satan wants to separate believers from Jesus and God. The word translated “strayed” means to turn aside [NIV]. It is a word picture of someone who walks behind someone. Just so we have a clear picture of what it means “to stray,” Jesus used the same word in Matthew 16:24. “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (ESV)

 

Make no mistake: We are safe in Christ. However, we cannot be blind to the warnings and indulge the sinful passions of our sinful nature. Paul warned the Roman believers, "For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." [Romans 8:13 NIV] Why would Paul give the Roman church this warning, if it were not possible to spiritually die?

 

Perhaps the confusion comes because we are “message-oriented” (saying the correct words) or “method-oriented” (following the correct method) instead of “model-oriented (being like Jesus). [This idea comes from Dan Spader, “Walk Like Jesus] Just saying the correct things (theology) and following the correct methods (programs) does not make a person (or church) like Jesus.

 

Whom are you walking behind? If you are not walking behind Jesus, then you are walking behind Satan. 

Spiritual warfare #3

 There are five ways to understand God. Some deny God’s existence (atheism). Others dislike or reject God (agnostic). Others would ignore God (secularism). Some think that God exists but does not get involved (deism). Then there are those who believe that God interacts with humanity (theism). In the study of spiritual warfare, I am assuming the existence of a personal God who interacts with us. I also believe there is a personal devil who is a god-pretender and a bitter enemy of humanity.

 

Whether we like it or not, Satan (formerly called Lucifer) has abilities many Christians would ignore. Sometimes this is done by denial, and sometimes this is done by deliberately being ignorant. The thought process in denial is “proven” by 1 John 4:4, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” [NLT]

 

What John is saying is accurate. However, our interpretation of it is not true. Sticking our heads in the sand or saying “it ain’t so” doesn’t change the facts. Satan does have many ways to make life difficult for the Christian. Before I get into the next one, let me remind you that the enemy of your soul is on a leash. The devil can only go so far, as allowed by God, for your benefit. It stinks to think God would allow a dangerous adversary to cause His children problems, but let’s look at one of those abilities.

 

Satan can cause incurable illnesses and pain. 2 Corinthians 12:7 records Paul’s struggle, "So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited." Notice the point that this illness, caused by a satanic agent (traditional understanding of "messenger") was allowed to keep Paul from becoming proud.

 

Paul prayed three times for this to go away (see 2 Corinthians 12:8). Then Paul records the lessons he has learned. 2 Corinthians 12:9a, Paul states, “He said to me, “My grace is enough for you because power is made perfect in weakness.” [CEB] One annoying tendency is to steal God’s glory by thinking that we have somehow accomplished something through our hard work and intelligence. Paul would rather that “Christ’s power can rest on me.” [2 Corinthians 12:9c CEB]

 

The next reason is that Paul learned to be content: “Therefore, I’m all right with weaknesses, insults, disasters, harassments, and stressful situations for the sake of Christ.” [2 Corinthians 12:10a CEB] Too many of us lash out at anything that disturbs us. We end up thrashing against the will of God.

 

Finally, Paul’s tagline for this illness is, "For when I am weak, then I am strong." [2 Corinthians 12:10b ESV] The word translated as "strong" gives the sense of "absolute." Imagine this: The enemy of your soul causes physical and emotional anguish only to watch God make you invincible.

Spiritual warfare #2

 Spiritual warfare #2

 

Christian mythology (a.k.a. “theology”) has created a toothless, clawless, and witless devil. Let me remind the reader that ultimately, Satan is defeated. He has only the ability that God allows. That does not mean he is not dangerous.

 

Paul tells us to know Satan’s tactics so we will not be outwitted (see 2 Corinthians 2:11). Let’s look at what Satan can do to a church. Believe it or not, Satan can HINDER the ministry. Paul noted, "For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked [hindered, prevented, obstructed] our way." [1 Thessalonians 2:18 NIV] The word translated "blocked" has also been translated "hindered," "prevented," and "obstructed."

 

Paul was not the only one hindered by Satan. Jesus also experienced the hindering abilities of Satan. "But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." [Matthew 16:23 ESV] Let that sink into your thinking. Jesus recognized Satan’s hindrance. If Jesus was unable to escape active satanic hindrance, what makes us think we can escape it?

 

In Paul’s case, he was hindered by prison. In Jesus’ case, the hindrance was the words of a person. My suspicion is that Peter did not mean to hinder Jesus. Rather, Satan used Peter. It’s hard enough to deal with hostile external forces, but when considering the hindering influence that can come from internal sources, the task becomes very difficult.

 

When the church works to influence people, evangelize, or speak truth, the process can be stolen. Jesus told His disciples a story and then explained it to them. In Mark 4:15 we read, "This is the meaning of the seed that fell on the path: When the word is scattered and people hear it, right away Satan comes and steals the word that was planted in them." [CEB] When someone hears the truth about Jesus, the enemy of our soul will do whatever is necessary to keep that seed from growing roots.

 

While it may not seem threatening, the ability to hinder church leaders and churches is discouraging for the health of the church in the long run. The ability to make the worker’s efforts fruitless has a discouraging effect. Discouragement is disruptive and can nudge some towards unwise actions and thoughts. The end of this disruption may be the destruction of a church leader, worker, or the church itself. 

Spiritual warfare #1

January 31 2023

 

Christians are drawn to myth. When we enter the realm of the spiritual, physical beings are stuck trying to understand something beyond their ability to understand. For truth, we need to turn to the pages of the Bible rather than trusting our myths. One myth is that the enemy of our soul, the devil, cannot touch us.

 

If you carefully read the Bible, another picture emerges. It is accurate to believe that Satan is on a leash and can only do what God allows. It is also accurate to understand that our lives are under fire from this adversary. Unless we accept unbiblical mythology, we are not unaware (ignorant) of Satan's schemes and devices. The Bible tells us, "so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs." [2 Corinthians 2:11 ESV]

 

Before we can understand Satan’s tactics, we must realize that we are in serious jeopardy. Underestimating his abilities and resources is a recipe for misery. On the other hand, we do not have to live in fear. I will cover several of our resources at the end of our series. Let’s take an honest look at the risk we face.

 

Peter warns, "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." [1 Peter 5:8 ESV] Why would Peter issue this warning? Because this is a reality. There are generally two circumstances under which a lion will roar when it comes to a meal. First, the lion will roar as it attacks to disorient the prey. Second, the lion will roar after the kill to alert competitors to stay away. When we sense danger, as we should, the attack has already begun or has just finished successfully.

 

Paul advised, "In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;" [Ephesians 6:16 ESV] Paul is describing the various pieces of armor available to the believer when fighting spiritually. He notes the evil one, our enemy, is attacking with "flaming darts." Paul would only give this advice if he believed, as directed by the Holy Spirit, that Satan (the evil one) was on the attack. 

 

In battle, the lion is in close quarters. This melee tactic involves confusion and brute strength. Flaming darts are an image of the Roman plumbata. This was essentially a short spear and a short-range weapon. While the front lines were engaged in a melee, those behind the lines could make use of these to clear out those that would reinforce those engaged in battle.

 

Satanic attacks can be direct, brutal, close-quarter melees, or they can be sneaky attacks that seem to come out of nowhere while we are engaged with something else. Next time we will look at how Satan can attack a church and its work.