The term Spiritual Warfare is a misnomer. It is a misleading term that makes it sound like there is a chance that God could lose. That is not the case. God is the creator, sustainer, beginning, and end of all things. The enemy was created and is subject to God. We as Christians, are victorious already, through the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on the cross. All that we have to do is acknowledge that victory. Unfortunately, most Christians think that because they were sealed with the Holy Spirit, they are free from thinking about the enemy. WRONG. There is a reason that Paul wrote what he did in Ephesians 6:10-18. There is a reason that the Bible says that Satan roams around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). 

     There are many ministries that are casting out spirits. There are churches that are claiming that a Christian need never have a spirit expelled from them. The proof is in the Bible. Jesus and all of His disciples cast out demons from the people of God. The Holy Spirit seals us but we open doors to the enemy all the time through unrepentant sin. When we invite the enemy into our lives through an open door the Holy Spirit will not go against our wishes.      

     If the awareness of the spiritual realm and the fact that we are susceptible to the enemy through our actions and thoughts is taught in our churches, then we can be ready for the attacks that the Bible says are going to happen. We need to be educated so that we can be prepared, not scared.

We have to make it across the battlefield of life and the only way to make it to eternity with God is to choose to believe Jesus. To make no choice is staying with the enemy.  

Evaluate the practice of spiritual warfare as seen in American popular religious practice and in ministries with which you are familiar (your church). What are the emphases in discussions on spiritual warfare? Is the practice of spiritual warfare sufficiently grounded, biblically and theologically? Are there ways in which spiritual warfare is not taken seriously enough? There are several practical steps that can be taken in ministry contexts to ensure that a biblically balanced approach to spiritual warfare is maintained.

Practical Steps for Spiritual Warfare in Ministries.

Step one:

     Read your Bible. Making sure that the Bible is the most important source for your information is key. If ideas or “facts” are not found in the Bible, then they are not facts. Prima Scriptura is the belief that the Bible is the only infallible revealed word of God. Everything has to be compared to and shown to be in Scripture before it can be said to be true. If an idea or theory can be supported by Scripture then it is valid. If it cannot, then it needs to be treated as only a possibility and we cannot know its truthfulness. The same holds true if it is refuted by a differing interpretation. It should then be treated as only a thought and not a truth. Something we will have to wait until Heaven to know if it is correct.

     Where the Bible does not give clear teaching, we cannot know or take a stand. In these cases we do not need to know or take a stand. The Bible is all sufficient for us to know, believe, and obey all of God’s commands. It has sufficient information for us to be in righteous relationship with Him. If we make up our own theories which are not in the Bible and spout them off as being true, we are speaking for God and that will not go well. That is called heresy no matter how well intentioned the thought or how true the theory sounds. If we declare it as the word of God when it is not, we are playing God and that is against God.

Step two:

     Understanding that the extra Biblical writings are not the word of God. There are plenty of Jewish and other writings about who the angels are and what their ranks are, both of godly and fallen angels. They are interesting but no one should put faith in what was written. I find it more helpful to stay away from anything that is not from the Bible as it is not proven and might be false. It also creates a fascination for the unseen realm and that is not where we are to focus our lives. We are to focus on the truth and on obeying God and His word as revealed in the Scriptures.

Step three:

     Remind the people who they are in Christ. That Christians are no longer in the kingdom of the enemy, but have been born again into the kingdom of God. Satan is no longer between us and the Lord. When Adam chose to follow Satan and disobey God, he came under Satan’s authority. The world – which is under Adam’s authority – was brought under Satan’s authority through Adam’s position under Satan’s authority. We are born into and now live in Satan’s kingdom. Through the price Jesus paid for us on the cross, we are born anew out from under the authority of the enemy, and into the kingdom of Christ! We are no longer under the authority of the kingdom of the enemy, we are under the authority of the kingdom of God. We still have to live in this world through our physical bodies, but our spirits are in God’s kingdom. (Romans 5:18)