Pulling Down Srongholds:
The Church in Spiritual Warfare
This article underscores the integrity of a view that equates the entire Christian life - corporate and individual - to spiritual warfare. It holds that the Church, birthed on the Day of Pentecost had its mission cut out for it - to rescue lost souls from the enemy’s clutches. From the beginning, the church is an instrument of spiritual warfare, while on the opposite side are the sworn enemies of God and His Christ - the devil and his cohorts - like a lion on the prowl, looking for whom to devour.
Sadly, the church has become a battleground between sound biblical teachers and pedlars of false gospels. Hence, countless innocent seekers of biblical truth have fallen victim to manipulative charlatans, masquerading as church/ministry founders. The church is a classic example of a corporate stronghold with a firm grip on its memberships (Revelation 2: 14-16, 20-24).
Let’s look at what the Scripture says about spiritual warfare and how individual Christians must be armed for battle. We need to dwell a little on the nature of the warfare and how Christians are called to put on the armor of God because they are no longer emphasized in our churches.
For the church and the kingdom to “advance forcefully”, and push back the dominion of Satan, the Corporate church must be focused on preaching and teaching the gospel, and on prayer and evangelism. The individual member of the church must be well-grounded in the knowledge of the Scriptures and be committed to taking a personal stand against the enemy through a sanctified Christian lifestyle.
Our wrestling, not against “flesh and blood” occurs in the context of a sanctified daily Christian living (Ephesians 6: 10-18).
As seen earlier, our mind is the core battleground and target of the enemy’s attack. The mind is the seat of intellect and emotions; intellect acquires knowledge, and emotions react to knowledge and dictate action. Messages received through the five senses are processed in the mind before action. Thus, the Christian’s heart and mind are critical to his belief and behavior pattern:
“Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10: 17).
In other words, hearing the word increases our knowledge of God, and our knowledge produces faith in us. Faith is reflected in our actions. This is why Satan works through human thoughts to control their actions. It is also the reason the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God for pulling down Satan’s stronghold of the mind.
Satan’s Strategies:
Arguably the most effective weapon in Satan’s arsenal is fear. He creates fear and doubt in the believer by manipulating and twisting the truth. His tactics include the following:
He accuses believers, Revelation 12: 10
He opposes believers, 1 Peter 5:8
He counterfeits the miraculous, Exodus 7: 8-13.
He uses cunning schemes, Ephesians 6:11
He sets traps and snares, 2 Timothy 2:26
He pretends and spreads false teachings, 2 Corinthians 11:14.
Believers’ Armor:
The weapons at the disposal of believers in Christ are strategically made to fit perfectly for repelling every aspect of the enemy’s attacks. Paul urges us to put on the full armor of God. We cannot afford to leave any part of the armor out.
The armor is not some mystical outfit, but a pictorial depiction of spiritual disciplines - the building blocks of Christian character.
Here they are:
The Belt (Girdle) of Truth
Jesus declares “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The belt or girdle is where the other pieces of the armor, such as the sword and scabbard, are hung. The Christian has to depend on Christ to hold his armor and entire life in place. Christ is the sustainer, the vine from whom the Christian draws life; He is the rock on whom he/she stands (John 14: 6, 15:1-11; Matt.7:24-27, 1 Corinth. 3:11, 10:4).
The belt of truth also refers to doctrine - the fundamentals of the Christian faith. Putting on the belt of truth implies becoming fully aware of what the Bible says on issues of life. Knowing the truth sets the believer free from the enemy’s distortions and falsehoods (John 8: 32). We cannot rely on our emotions to determine our actions.
Also, we must learn to speak the truth in private and public spaces with humility and grace. The Christian voice becomes a prophetic voice of truth in society.
The Breastplate of Righteousness:
The Christian is a righteous entity before God. His righteousness rooted in Christ’s atoning work on the cross means his sins are forgiven. Otherwise known as imputed righteousness, it implies that the believer is saved by grace and protected against the enemy’s accusations and condemnation (Rom.8:1, Phil.3:9).
However, the believer’s life must reflect growing Christlikeness (Phil.2:12). That is to say, Christians must be intentional in the way they live and relate with others. We must be alert — watching how we deal with sin, and be ready to repent and ask for forgiveness.
Feet Shod With the Gospel of Peace:
Not only do we need to protect our feet with the message of peace - the gospel - we must help other Christians gain a firm and stable footing in Christ. The Christian must be willing to ‘prepare’ him or herself by becoming familiar with the good news of God making peace with humankind. We need to be ready always to give a reason for the hope that is in us. We should be open to the Holy Spirit to guide our feet into places and people in need of the gospel of peace (1 Peter 3:15; Eph.2:14, Psalm 40: 2, 116: 8, 119:105).
The Shield of Faith:
The shield is a defensive weapon to ward off the enemy’s arrows. Satan’s arrows come in the form of thoughts, temptations, doubts, rebellion, anger, and an unforgiving spirit. They can only be quenched by unwavering trust in God - the One who never fails. He will not forsake us. (Eph. 6:16; Hebrew 11:1. 13: 5-6). It also instructs on how to deal with sudden attacks - strange, out-of-the-blue thoughts. There we fall back on the shield of faith with a quick application of what we learn and have come to believe from the scriptures. Genesis 15: 1 speaks to the reality of God being Abraham’s shield.
The Helmet of Salvation
The helmet protects the head of the warrior against deadly arrows flying across from the enemy. Salvation obtained through faith in Christ protects us against the waves of human traditions and culture.
Helmet of salvation protects us from our fleshly human nature; helps us to thrive with faith in the atoning blood of Jesus, and empowers us to bring our thoughts in subjection to the Holy Spirit and stay focused. It keeps us going when we are assailed with fears and doubts.
Faith in the salvation by grace alone enables us to trust God to see us through difficult times with our eyes set on reaping a harvest in due course ((Gal.6:9).
King David models what it means to put on the helmet of salvation. (Psalm 86: 7; Romans 8: 2).
The Sword of the Spirit:
Of all the armor parts , the Sword of the Spirit, the Word, is the only one designed for attack. Scripture says, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow…” (Hebrew 4:12).
The word can be used both as an offensive and defensive weapon to counter Satan’s deception and distortion of scriptures. This is possible when we have good knowledge and correct application of the word (Matt.22:24, Luke 4:1-13, Heb.4:12).
Jesus exemplified the use of the written word to overcome the tempter in the wilderness. So serious Christians must not only know and memorize the scriptures but have faith in the strength and potency of the word as a bulwark against the adversary.
