Spiritual warfare

Wierd, 'spiritual' stuff happens in Latin America. Perhaps the animist beliefs of the indigenous peoples have had a greater influence than in Australia. In any case, it made sense for me to think this stuff through. I was helped by Christ's Victory Over Evil: Biblical Theology and Pastoral Ministry1, although I have sometimes drawn different conclusions. Here goes.

Satan's capabilities

• Satan is furious - he is running around the earth, trying to cause as much damage as he can in the short time that remains (Lk 4:6; Jn 12:31; 1 Pet 5:8; 1 Jn 5:19; Rev 12:7-17; cf Jn 17:15) before his own destruction (Mt 25:41; Rev 20:10).

• His methods are to: make people forget or misinterpret the truth (Gen 3; tempting of Jesus; parable of the sower; 2 Cor 4:4); promise better things than God (Gen 3; Lk 4:5-6); 'close doors' (1 Thess 2:18); lie (Gen 3; Jn 8:44; Acts 13:10; cf Rev 2:24); cause suffering (Job 1-2; Lk 13:16; Paul's thorn in the flesh; Rev 2:10); murder (Jn 8:44; Rom 5:12; Heb 2:14); tempt people to sin (Job 1-2, 1 Chr 21:1; Jesus, Peter, Judas, Ananias and Sapphira; 1 Cor 7:5; 1 Thess 3:5); seek worship (Mat 4:9; 1 Cor 10:19-20); accuse (Zech 3:1; Rev 12:10; cf Heb 2:14); produce counterfeit miracles (2 Thess 2:9); and cause division (2 Cor 2:10-11; Eph 4:26-27).

• Any and all of these things are done with God's permission, and as part of a larger, good plan (Job 1-2; Lk 22:31-32 and John 21:15-19; Acts 2:23ff; 2 Cor 12:7-10; Rev 12:7f).
  

• At the cross, those who trust in Jesus were completely freed from slavery to Satan and from fear of death. He no longer has any claim on us, nor is there ever a situation in which we will find ourselves unable to resist his temptation (Jn 12:31; Rom 8:5-9, 15; 1 Cor 10:13; Col 2:13-15; Heb 2:14-15; Jas 4:7; 1 Jn 2:13-14; 3:8-10; 4:4; cf Acts 26:17-18; 1 Jn 4:18-19). God is protecting us, and there exists no accusation or demon that can ever separate us from his love (Jn 17:15; Rom 8:33-39; 2 Thess 3:3; 1 Jn 5:18) - yet life will not be without suffering (Jn 15:18-20 etc).

• While we live on earth we are in Satan's domain, and, though we no longer owe him any allegiance, we are not yet wholly sanctified. This means that at times we will sin (1 Jn 1:8-10). It is even possible for a beliver to sin badly (cf Moses, King David, Peter). Yet - provided we do not continue in unrepentance (Mat 18:15-17; Rom 2:4-5; cf Heb 4:14-16; 10:19-22) - we are still just as much a Christian as we were before, for our standing before God depends not on our own righteousness but on Christ's (Rom 3:21-24; Gal 2:15-16, 21).
  

• If we do follow Satan's ways and sin, it is always a choice we have made, stemming from the evil desires that remain within us (Rom 7:8; Eph 2:1-3; 4:17-24). As far as I can see, the Bible speaks only of non-believers being possessed by demons, yet I think it possible that a Christian can be so caught up in a sin that they appear to be possessed by it. The key is that, whatever they may feel or however bad the situation may seem, a Christian is never actually a slave to sin or demonic influence - they can break away at any point.
  

The Christian response

• Christians are to be on the lookout for the devil's schemes. We are to resist his advances and stand firm in our obedience and faith, looking instead to Jesus (1 Cor 7:5; 2 Cor 2:10-11; Eph 4:26-27; 6:10-13f; Col 2:16ff; Jas 4:7; 1 Pet 5:8-9; Rev 2:10; cf Heb 12:1-2). We are to pray to God for strength and protection (Eph 6:18) - but we don't have to perform any special ceremony to ensure our protection; we don't have to speak to demons; we don't have to pray a special prayer for Jesus' blood to cover us. We just have to keep on living a righteous life even when this is very hard to do. And, should we fail in this, we just have to ask for God's forgiveness.
  

• Despite the fact that this normal Christian response is to be unspectacular, I think that it could be appropriate to command a demon to leave a non-believer in Christ's name, or perhaps to tell a demon to stop tempting a believer (the latter has less biblical warrant). Yet even if this is okay, I would not expect it to be a regular feature of Christian life, or it would have been commanded in the New Testament letters - and certainly any actual conversation with demons should not be entertained (Isa 8:19-20 and Jesus' silencing of demons). But I can think of no reason why the sort of exorcism performed by Jesus and his disciples would be categorically wrong today. I don't mean to equate my role with the disciples and obviously never with Jesus himself - I'm more coming from a place of knowing that it is, generally speaking, good to imitate their righteous actions.
  

So, in all, Satan is clever but conquered, and because of this, Christians are to be alert and unafraid.


PG Bolt (ed), Christ's Victory Over Evil: Biblical Theology and Pastoral Ministry (Nottingham: APOLLOS, 2009)