The moment, you became a Christian, you entered a spiritual battle. Saying yes in allegiance to Jesus and His kingdom is at the same time saying no in allegiance to Satan and his kingdom. The enemy doesn’t like that and he begins to attack us in various ways to keep us from loving and obeying God. Christians call these attacks spiritual warfare. We must understand that since the fall, satan is opposed to God and all those who are His. He is very crafty and has many ways to attack. His aim is to do anything through both seen and unseen forces to defeat us. As disciples, we must arm ourselves with understanding how spiritual battle works and how we are to stand firm to fight and win in it.
Read 2 Cor. 10:3-5
Discuss: What is behind some of the temptations and struggles we face in our walk with Jesus and how we overcome them.
The opponent
Satan is the enemy of God, as the leader of demons he seeks to destroy everything that belongs to Him.
Some of his tactics include:
Deception - He tries to get us to believe lies and distrust the word of God. (John 8:44, Gen 3:1-5)
Disqualification - He tries to make us fall into sin which sidelines us from God’s kingdom work. (2 Tim 2:26)
Distraction - He tries to get our hearts focused on the things of the world, instead of the things of heaven. (Matt. 4:8-10)
Discouragement - After he tempts us to sin, he tries to harm us with guilt, shame, doubt, and fear. (Rev. 12:9-10)
Death - He tries to kill God’s people to keep them from being effective witnesses and stop movements of God. (John 8:44)
The main objective in the attacks of satan is to turn the hearts of God’s people away from Him.
Discuss: What are some ways that you have seen the enemy attacking you in your life?
The weapons
Because satan and his demons are spirits, their attacks cannot be countered with physical material force. We are defenseless against his schemes in our own strength, so we must fight with spiritual weapons with the armor of God (Eph. 6:10-18).
Belt of truth - “believing what is right”
Breastplate of righteousness - “living what is right”
Shoes for your feet / readiness given by the gospel of peace - “ standing firm and taking Jesus to others”
Shield of faith - "reliance on God’s promises”
Helmet of salvation - “assurance in Jesus”
Sword of the Spirit / word of God - “scripture”
Praying at all times - “asking God to fight for you”
Discuss: Which of these come most natural to you and which do you need to use more?
The victory
Because satan does not have ultimate power and Jesus has defeated satan in His death on the cross and resurrection, we can be confident that we will be victorious in spiritual warfare.
Read Romans 8:37-39
Discuss: Why do we have confidence in the outcome of spiritual battle?
Personal Application
How can you begin winning in spiritual warfare right now?
How can you worship God for giving us victory even in the middle of the battle?