The Battlefield

“Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” –Ephesians 6:11, NET

For our enemy the Satan is a great deceiver (Rev 12:9), a murderer and the originator of every lie and obstacle to the truth (John 8:44). He desires to sift us like wheat (Luke 22:31), to plot our failure and demise (John 10:10).

“After thousands of years of constant practice in deception [Satan] is much too cunning for us. If we think that we can match him by craft we are grievous fools, for he knows vastly more than the wisest of mortals; and if it once comes to a game of policies, he will certainly clear the board, and sweep our tricks into the bag.… No door can shut him out, no height of piety can rise beyond his reach. He meets us in all our weaknesses, and assails us from every point of the compass” (Charles Spurgeon, The Blood of the Lamb).

We are no match against our great enemy, yet we must never draw up a truce with him. In fact, we must tear out every part of our flesh that makes peace with him (Mat 18:8-9), and heed the plea of wisdom (Pro 8) to cut off the head of the rebellious old man and throw it over the wall (Eph 4:22; 2Sa 20:20-22). “Do not give the devil a foothold,” (Eph 4:27). We either fight or perish. So we must diligently rid ourselves of “every weight of sin that clings so closely” and “every arrogant obstacle” that our pride raises to block our view of the glorious Christ on the throne (Heb 12:1-4).

“I hear so many Christians, murmuring about their imperfections, and their failures, and their addiction, and their shortcomings. And I see so little war! ‘Murmur, murmur, murmur. Why am I this way?’ Make War!” (John Piper)

Yet we are so prone to quarrel with fellow image-bearers on the physical plane.

“Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you?” –James 4:1, NET

The battlefield is not in the physical flesh, as if we could see and touch our enemy. The battlefield is not in the mind, as if any mortal could wage a successful campaign. No, the arena of war is in the spirit, fought against the flesh that attacks our soul (1Pe 2:11). So we need not assault offending brothers and sisters, or even enemies to the gospel. We are to love even the most burdensome of individuals, extending kindness to the most toxic personalities, sincere prayer for the most offensive of persons (Luke 6:27-36).

“But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.” –Galatians 5:16-17

Therefore, it is not to the offending co-worker that you engage in battle, but your own flesh that rises in revenge. It is not the toxic family member that you oppose, but the prideful flesh that seeks to dismiss and distance in order to self-protect.

Let this transform our thinking and walk as we see the battlefield more clearly before us. For if the Spirit of God lives in you, you are alive in the Spirit (Rom 8:9-10) and have the power to slay the deeds of the flesh and walk in the Spirit’s power (Rom 8:13-14).

But with what? What now is our instrument of war?