Hi First name / friend,
A few years ago a woman on Instagram went viral for pouring grape juice around the borders of her property. In a season of heightened spiritual warfare, she said the wisest thing was to be “protected by the blood of Christ.” Her plan was to pour several liters of Welch’s outside her home, praying and anointing as she went.
In my response to this, I tried to be sensitive to the state of this woman’s heart. She wanted to do the right thing. She wanted to honor Christ. She wanted to fight for her family spiritually. These are all beautiful things. At the same time, Christians should be as discerning of other Christians as they are of the world—and discerning about the rituals and habits marketed to them online, especially when the promise is protection from spiritual attack.
Those of us who grew up in Pentecostal church environments are as comfortable discussing spiritual warfare as we are discussing the weather. The enemy’s attacks (whether real or imagined) are a common topic in charismatic settings. Other church traditions may be more hesitant to address spiritual warfare or be so quiet about the spirit world, their congregation functions as if it does not exist. Neither extreme is healthy! The charismatic tendency to fixate on spiritual warfare as the cause of every evil and the Reformed and Baptist tendency to ignore spiritual warfare completely both lead to lopsided Christian lives. As with most theological topics, spiritual warfare requires holy moderation.
With this in mind, how do we think biblically about spiritual warfare?
First, think about spiritual warfare through the lens of authority rather than attack.
Ephesians 6:12 tells us, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Many Christians emphasize the enemy’s authority while minimizing the authority of Christ. Yes, the enemy has a form of authority on earth—there is a cosmic power of darkness at war with God. But here is the good news:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to [Him].” (Matt. 28:18)
“In Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.” (Col. 2:10)
“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:6)
Christ is reigning with full authority. Satan has a measure of authority, and anyone who partners with him—whether intentionally, such as through Wicca, tarot cards, and New Age practices, or passively through habitual sin, will experience the fruit of his influence. But the much better news is for those who partner with the righteousness of Christ! For them, each day with God shines brighter and brighter with hope and healing. Suffering will come because this earth is not heaven. But we do not live focused on attack; we live under Christ’s authority.
Second, think about spiritual warfare eternally, not temporally.
Revelation 20:7–10 tells us the destiny of Satan and his demons:
“Now when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea. They went up on the broad plain of the earth and encircled the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever.”
Forever and ever. Forever! Satan will be removed, judged, and tormented for eternity. He will answer for what he did to God’s image-bearing creation. He will answer for the things he incited mankind to do. His destiny is decided, and it’s coming soon.
When we think about spiritual warfare with a temporal mindset, the attacks of the enemy become our primary focus. Instead, our focus should be our eternal hope:
“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:2–5)
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
The enemy is at work in our world—but so is God. He has eternity in mind, and so should we.
