Spiritual War

Spiritual War

St. Paul described the spiritual war, in his epistle to the EPHESIANS, CHAPTER SEVEN, verses 12 and 13 let us read the text together

 ^“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness, in the heavenly places.”

He described it, as a war that is not with flesh and blood, that is to say , it is not with human beings, but a war with evil spirits. He gave names to these evil spirits calling them, principalities, rulers of the darkness of this age, and spiritual hosts of wickedness, in the heavenly places.

Then, he continues to give us the directions on verse 13, to how to overcome these evil spirits, saying ^“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.

To take up the whole armor of God, means, to abide to the eternal life, the life of Jesus, which we received in the Holy Spirit, So St. Paul told us the way to how to overcome the evil spirits. Jesus is the only one who can overcome the devil.

He overcame him on the cross, and gave us His overcoming gift, in the Holy Spirit. There are 4 keys that we have to know and to do, in order to guarantee our victory , over the evil spirits.

So the first key to victory in the spiritual war,  is, that we have  to pay attention to the fact, that our real enemy in the war is Satan, not our friends or brothers, whom he uses to hurt us, or insult us, or make us angry. Satan hits two birds with one stone, he uses our brothers and incites them against us. His goal is, to beat us both, and let us fall down under his influence, and his spirit. So, we do not make our war with man, but with Satan.

The second key to victory in our spiritual warfare, is, to know very well, that evil thoughts do not come from within us , but they are thrown at us, from the devil. The conflict starts, and the war begins inside us, when he first throws evil thoughts at us. At this moment, our will, which has received the new nature, and the power of change in the Holy Spirit, must not give in to the temptation and the will of Satan , but reject it, and,  carry out the will of the Holy Spirit instead. And thus the spiritual growth takes  place, which leads us to be, on the image and likeness,  of the Son Jesus Christ.

The third key to victory is, that we must know a very important fact and that is, Satan has no authority over us, if we do not obey his voice. But, if we obey his voice, he will find it a chance, to accuse us, and drag us, to his darkness, his death, his sadness and fear.

 In Revelation chapter twelve verse 10, St John told us, that  our salvation, and the power of Christ, have come to us, in order for us , to be able to cast the devil our accuser down. Let us read the verse together “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.” Revelation 12:10.

That means, in order to overcome the devil, we must obey, and do the will of God, in the Holy Spirit.

The forth key to victory in our war with Satan is, to resist him, and reject his thoughts and deeds, every time he fights us. St James in his epistle chapter four verse seven, assures us, that the devil will flee from us, if we submit to God, and  resist him. He says, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. “

He will be condemned and defeated, and we will have an assured victory over him. Not only we will have victory over him, as he flees away, but also we will take the reward, which is, the power of change in our nature, and, the spirit of glory, will reside in us.

So brothers and sisters, we must never ever, respond to Satan’s voice, and we have to hold on, and abide to the Holy Spirit, with faithfulness, holiness, and obedience.