Ephesians 6:10 leads off the classic passage on spiritual warfare: “…be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” We can faithfully put on all the armor listed in the rest of the passage, but unless we know what the war is all about, where the battlefields are, and from where our strength comes, we will likely be hesitant, fearful, and even retreat. Remember the ineffectiveness of the army of Israel, all dressed in their armor opposite the Philistines and their champion? It took a young shepherd boy with a heart for God to remind them what the real issue was. As a testimony to both the believers and the unbelievers on the field, David called out to Goliath in full confidence saying,
I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand…that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s (1 Sam. 17:45-47).
Nothing has changed in the principles of spiritual warfare, even though the circumstances may be different. There are indeed various enemies, commonly referred to as “the world, the flesh, and the devil.” While we need to be aware of these enemies and strategies to defeat them, we must also know the Lord, the nature of the war, and where the battles occur.
IT’S NOT ABOUT US
It is tempting, when in the middle of an intense situation, to get caught up in the challenge of it all. This is especially true if we are feeling threatened or defeated. Rather than being overcomers, we are barely surviving—or may even be overcome. With all due respect for the genuineness of the stress, the Christian life really isn’t about us. The letter to the Ephesians starts off without ambiguity about God’s purpose and, therefore, the purpose of every battle we face, whether offensive or defensive. This purpose is: “to the praise of the glory of His grace” (1:6); “that we should be to the praise of His glory” (1:12); “unto the praise of His glory” (1:14); “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace” (2:7); “that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known through the church the manifold wisdom of God” (3:10); “unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages” (3:21).
THE BATTLEFIELD
When the Lord created our first parents, He did so with full knowledge of what would take place on this planet—including the “little” battles each of us faces on a daily basis. The physical world is temporary; the Lord will eventually create a new earth along with a new heavens. But until then, we must bear in mind that this current world is a battlefield, where allegiance to the Creator is tested in the lives of the descendants of Adam. By the very nature of our new life in Christ, we will be in constant conflict in this world, for all other people worship something or someone else “in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God” (Eph. 4:17-18). Every battle we face is a distinct challenge to see whom we will serve. For the Christian there should never be any doubt: the Lord Jesus is worthy of our full obedience and devotion.
These battles are won or lost within our minds—the real battlefield. We are exposed to numerous competing thoughts. Ephesians 2:1-3 reveals the world, the flesh, and the devil at work in concert. But later in Ephesians we are told how to daily succeed under such conditions: “be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (4:23) and “be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (5:17).
How well trained have we been prior to the battle? How intently are we listening for orders during the battle? Do we want God to be glorified as the end result of the battle?
Here is where more experienced Christians can be of immense help to newer believers as role models. Is there an absence of anxiousness and worry? much patience and forbearance? a habit of confident yet reverent prayer? All these flow from a mind and heart fixed on Christ. Are younger believers sought out and discipled, deliberately trained in the Word of God so that it permeates their thoughts? Is hospitality shown, to provide a haven of fellowship and peace throughout the week? How are we doing in the battle of the mind?
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:3-5).
We have a choice: we either take every thought captive or we are taken captive by our thoughts. Inappropriate thoughts can come from any one of our three enemies, leading us away from God’s thoughts. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Col. 2:8). Do we discipline our minds so as to shun evil thoughts?
Appropriate thoughts help us to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” For example, we should deliberately remember the evidence God has given that He is fully able to uphold those who surrender to Him:
…the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come (Eph. 1:19-21, emphasis added)
It is also true that God “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6), and so we have instant and continual access to all the strength and authority of the Lord. Do we purposefully fill and fortify our minds with the Scriptures and godly thoughts?
The various forces that would exalt themselves above God so as to take His place of glory are to be actively and confidently resisted by those who know the love and power of God in salvation. “The battle is the Lord’s.” How many of us did the Lord need in order to create the world? The answer is the same as the number of us He needed to destroy the world with a flood, or to part the Red Sea, or to scatter the Midianite army, or to defeat Satan in the wilderness, to calm the sea, or to rise from the dead. In fact it is the same number of us who will be needed to destroy the armies of the nations at the end of the Tribulation, and how many of us He will consult in making His eternal judgments. It is not about us; it is all about Him.
Let us settle the matter in our minds that there really is a battle, and that the battle is for the Lord’s honor and glory. “The gates of hell shall not prevail.”