Like it or not, as a believer, you are in a battle! Every person born into this world is immersed into spiritual warfare. Having been plunged into the conflict of the ages, we are not exempt nor can we be neutral. Either the forces of evil will trample us or we will be victorious through our spiritual warfare—winning souls, changing society, influencing history and helping establish God’s Kingdom. I’m not talking about being a demon chaser, blaming demonic forces for every uncomfortable situation or flaw in someone’s character. But, I am talking about a battle that has been waged long before you and I were born, a battle that is waged against the purposes of God and His Kingdom. It’s a battle that has been waged by the enemy of your soul.

In Revelation 12:9-12 we see the allegory of the dragon waging war against the woman and her offspring. Verse 17 says, “Then the dragon became angry at the woman, and he declared war against the rest of her children—all who keep God’s commandments and confess that they belong to Jesus.” That’s every believer on the earth! We are in a spiritual fight whether we understand it or not! Whether we like it or not it’s a battle!

There’s no time to relax on our blessed assurance allowing the enemy to steal the victory that Christ has already won for us on the cross  (tweet)

There’s no time to relax on our blessed assurance allowing the enemy to steal the victory that Christ has already won for us on the cross (tweet)All through scriptures we are instructed in spiritual warfare and not be afraid. Moses gives principles concerning warfare to the children of Israel in Deut. 20. He starts off in verse 1 by saying “When you go out to battle against your enemies”. It’s important to realize that it doesn’t say “if you go out to battle” but “when you go”.

In 1Tim 6:12 Paul exhorts young Timothy to “Fight the good fight of faith”. Again in 2 Tim 2:3-5 we read, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him…”. We have been called and enlisted by Jesus Himself. Therefore, it’s no time to relax on our blessed assurance and allow the devil to steal the victory that Christ has already won for us on the cross.

Not only is the believer a target for the fiery darts of the demonic, but is faced with obstacles and conflict that manifest in the natural. If we’re not careful through the commotion we can loose sight of who we are actually in a battle with. Evidently, the church members at Ephesus were in that situation themselves. So the apostle Paul takes the time to include in his letter to them the explanation of who we are actually fighting against. He also writes to the Corinthians bringing understanding to believers about this spiritual fight. We read in 2 Cor. 10:3-4, “Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God…”

Once we recognize who we are in a battle against then it becomes clear that earthly and temporal weapons are useless. The believer must be spiritually minded if he is going to be effective in spiritual warfare.

There are four important areas of spiritual warfare that all believers need to understand and walk in. For the sake of memory I will refer to these as the four “A’s” of spiritual warfare—attitude, authority, armor and artillery. We will cover these four different points over the following weeks.