Spiritual Warfare II

Setting The Stage
II Cor. 10:3-5, “ 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

Paul is setting up for us the playing field on which spiritual warfare occurs. He emphasizes that the war has been waged over our inner man; it’s a battle over our minds and affections. However, Satan is not the equal opposite of God. The devil has already been defeated and he knows it. He is seeking, however, to get us to cast accusation against God by getting us to have wrong thoughts and ideas about who God is.

What Are Strongholds
The first step in spiritual warfare is realizing that we cannot wage this war according to the flesh. The second is pulling down strongholds.

4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,

Paul defines “pulling down strongholds” as the casting down of arguments that are exalted against the knowledge of God (verse 5). The word stronghold in the Greek is also translated as “castle,” or “wall”. It is used as both a positive and a negative in scripture. But here it is used as a negative.

These strongholds of the mind must be dismantled if one wants to move forward in the purposes of God. These strongholds of the mind are a collection of demonic, distorted ideas about God. These lies cause us, first, to accuse God and then ourselves and others. They are arguments or negative information about God’s beauty, character, power, and wisdom. When we believe lies about God then we believe lies about who we are in Him. We can only know the truth about ourselves as we understand the truth about God.

How Are Strongholds Established?
Personal strongholds are established by opening the door to Satan through sin and unbelief. Satan’s domain is the domain of darkness. He has no right or authority to enter the domain of our lives unless we give him permission. We permit this, or give

him access to us by filling our minds and hearts with sin, or in other words, sowing to the flesh.

Jesus gave Satan NO darkness, or access point to His life.

John 14:30, “…for the ruler of this world [Satan] is coming, and he has nothing in Me.”

How Do We Fight?
First of all, we cannot be naïve about the existence of evil. I see three wrong responses to the issue of evil.

1. First there is the “head in the sand” approach. We can simply pretend that evil doesn’t really exist, or at least it’s not really a big deal. As N.T. Wright puts it:

That’s about as much use as saying, when the house is on fire, that yes, it is getting a little warm, but if we all take off a layer of clothing and drink more iced water things will be just fine.

2. There is also the “wallow in evil” approach (which is more common than you might think). This approach sees only evil and sees it everywhere. This approach often leads to paranoia and a sense of being overwhelmed by the great forces of evil that are so abundant and overpowering. The common outcome of this is that our prayers begin focusing solely on the darkness of evil rather than the light and beauty of God.

3. Finally, there is the “self-righteous approach”. With this approach we say, like the Pharisees, “O Lord, thank You that I am not as other people.” We say that, yes, evil is out there, but it doesn’t have anything to do with us; we don’t struggle with that.

The correct response, however, is to recognize the reality of evil, expose it with the light and power of the kingdom of God, and begin operating in the opposite spirit. For example, Satan is the “father of lies”. So if we declare the truth of God and, by faith, walk in the truth of who God says we are, then we are waging warfare against the schemes of the enemy.

Since these strongholds are built of those things which seek to exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, then we can only pull them down by giving ourselves to the pursuing of the truth of who God is and declaring this truth over our lives. We do this by systematically ingesting the Word of God, agreeing with His heart, and walking as children of the light (Eph. 5:8-11).