“Spiritual warfare” is not a topic reserved for some followers of Jesus who are fascinated with the subject. Spiritual warfare is everyone’s story and the central story of the Bible.
In this article, I hope to help you see that we are all involved in a spiritual war. I will take you to the Old Testament and then to the New, showing you how life as we know it is spiritual war and has been since the beginning of time. Then, I hope to help you understand your involvement in this spiritual war, revealing how relevant this topic is to your life. Finally, I hope to encourage you in the fight.
Before we can embark on this journey, let’s consider how this spiritual war began.
How Did This Spiritual War Start?
Flip to the third chapter of your Bible, and you will hear where spiritual war began.
We’re introduced there to God’s enemy, Satan (Genesis 3:1). He’s not God’s equal, for God is Creator, and he’s part of the creation. Nevertheless, Satan opposes God. There, in Genesis 3, we hear of the first spiritual battle humans experienced.
God had blessed his people (Adam and Eve) and given them one command to obey (Genesis 2:16–17). But God’s enemy, Satan, incited them to question God’s Word and his authority and to disobey him (Genesis 3:1).
Rather than obeying God, Adam and Eve believed the serpent’s lie and rebelled against their true God and king. The serpent deceived Adam and Eve, and they sinned. Their sin brought ruin upon humanity, and sin has enslaved humanity ever since. Although the curse of sin lies heavy on the world, it also has invaded every heart. For each one of us is guilty of the same sin as Adam and Eve: We doubt God’s Word, we side with the deceiver, and we disobey God.
All conflict comes from the sin within us and Satan’s schemes around us—conflict between us and God (Genesis 3:24), conflict between each other (Genesis 4:8), and conflict between us and Satan himself ( Genesis 3:15). The conflict we experience is all part of the great war the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness.
Is There Hope for Our Spiritual War? The Old Testament Proclaims Yes!
So, is there any hope in our spiritual war? Yes! In his mercy, God promised to bring peace to these conflicts. He promised to raise up a son from Eve who would defeat Satan and bring an end to the war set in motion by humanity’s rebellion. Hear what God says to Satan after he deceived Adam and Eve to sin:
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 ESV)
Did you hear that? An offspring of the woman would bruise Satan’s head—deal him a mortal blow. The Old Testament story is the unfolding of this beautiful promise from God. The battles throughout the books of the Old Testament highlight God’s faithfulness to that promise. For, at the beginning of the Bible, God raised up Israel as an earthly kingdom through which the promised deliverer would come. That kingdom regularly went to war with other earthly kingdoms like Egypt, Moab, Assyria, and Babylon. Those conflicts were not just physical battles but reflections of spiritual battles. If the devil could wipe out Israel, then he could prevent the deliverer from coming.
God chose to reveal himself to Israel and reveal himself to the world through Israel, but they rebelled against him. In fear of the surrounding nations, the people of Israel turned from trusting God to trusting in earthly power.
God tells us in Isaiah 1:2, 4a, 5b:
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the Lord has spoken:
‘Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me…
Ah, sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity…
The whole head is sick,
and the whole heart faint” (ESV).
All Israel’s conflicts, hostility, and acts of injustice came from sin-sick hearts. The real enemy was not another earthly kingdom—but the power of sin and death that had long reigned over them and now reigns over all of us. Israel’s ultimate warfare was not external but internal.
But God, in his mercy, promised that from this sin-sick nation, he would raise up the Savior of humanity. Time and time again in the Old Testament, the serpent tries to destroy God’s people. But also time and time again, God triumphs in the face of sin and death and shows that his promise to bring about redemption and destroy the serpent is unstoppable.
The Warrior Who Wins the Fight
When we come to the New Testament, we meet the Savior, the promised warrior come to crush Satan’s head. Jesus, the Christ (the “anointed one”), is the promised son, the promised king—the one who has finally come to conquer God’s enemies and redeem God’s people. But in his first coming, he conquers not with the sword but by sacrifice.
It’s through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross and his resurrection that he not only won the victory over sin and death but also defeated the serpent and his forces (Colossians 2:15). As the prophecy in Genesis 3:15 states, the serpent did bruise Jesus’ heel by his crucifixion, yet it was in this very same event (his crucifixion) that Jesus crushed the serpent’s head.
As a clear sign of his victory and his triumph, Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven and now sits at the right hand of God (Acts 2:34-36). Because he now reigns, we have confidence that his offer of forgiveness and his promise of victory over sin, death, and the serpent are sure.
Jesus gave us one more important promise—the promise that he will come again. When he does, he has promised to end all conflict by eradicating sin and death and punishing Satan forever (Revelation 20:10; Revelation 21:4).
What Does This War Have to Do with Me?
Like the Old Testament, the New Testament is full of conflict—not between human kingdoms but spiritual conflict between the kingdom of God (everyone who belongs to Jesus by faith) and the kingdom of the serpent.
If you have not accepted Jesus’ offer of forgiveness and put your trust in him as your Lord and Savior, then the Bible says that you are still under the power and rule of the serpent (Ephesians 2:2, 1 John 5:19). How would you know if you are under the power and rule of the serpent? You live a life of sin, following his destructive rule (Ephesians 2:2-3). (For a list of what those sins may look like in your life, see Romans 1:26–32, Galatians 5:19–21, or Mark 7:21–22.) Thus, you need to be rescued from your sin and Satan’s reign over you!
The good news is that Jesus has already won the battle for your soul through his death and resurrection! He calls you to turn from your sin, acknowledge what he has done, and put your trust in him as your true king and savior. If you do that, the Bible promises you will be rescued from the kingdom of darkness and brought into Jesus’s perfect kingdom, where you will have redemption and forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13–14).
According to the Bible, those who have come to know Jesus have been delivered from that kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of God. (Colossians 1:13, 1 Peter 2:9, 1 John 5:19).
Those who have trusted Jesus are forever citizens of God’s indestructible kingdom—the kingdom of heaven (Philippians 3:20).
We hope in the promise that our king is coming again to establish that kingdom in a new heavens and new earth forever (Revelation 21:1; Revelation 22:3-7)! When he comes again, he promises to destroy all other kingdoms, along with the serpent (Revelation 19:11–21; 20:7-10), and to wipe away all sin, sickness, sorrow, and death. He also promises to make all things new. In his kingdom we will live with him forever in joy and peace (Revelation 21:1–4)!
How Do I Wage Spiritual War?
While we wait for God’s kingdom to come, the Bible calls us to engage in this spiritual warfare. We must acknowledge our enemy, take our stand against his assaults (Ephesians 6:11), resist him (1 Peter 5:8–9), proclaim the goodness of our king, participate in rescuing others from darkness (Jude 1:23), and wait in hope for the promised return of our king and his coming victory (Titus 2:13).
We engage in this spiritual war not in fear but in confidence (2 Timothy 1:7), knowing that the battle has already been won and the enemy has already been defeated. How do we maintain this courageous attitude and fight well?
See Our Enemy Rightly: A Defeated Foe Who Rages in Vain
First, recognize that we have a real enemy, but our enemy is not flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12). We have a spiritual enemy, Satan, the old serpent (Revelation 12:9). We are called to be aware of his assaults (2 Corinthians 2:11) but remember that he is a defeated foe who rages in vain. He has already been conquered by Jesus, and he is awaiting his final destruction when Jesus comes again. He continues to wage war against the people of God now, but he will ultimately be defeated (Revelation 12:10-11).
We must not ignore the enemy, but neither should we fear him. Rather, we can stand confidently against his assaults, knowing that Christ has already defeated him.
See Our Fight Rightly: Enduring Enemy Attack and Proclaiming Jesus
Knowing these things changes how we are called to fight. Our battle is not a war fought with human weapons (1 Corinthians 10:4) but a fight of faith as we wait for the return of our king.
The Bible calls us to fight by persisting in trusting God as our enemy rages and seeks to discourage us and devour our faith (1 Peter 5:8). We fight not by waging war against the nations and people around us but by proclaiming the gospel and the excellencies of our king and helping others know how they too can be brought from darkness to light, from death to life (1 Peter 2:9).
We fight not with conventional weapons of war but by using the spiritual resources God has provided for our battle—the armor of God, worship, faith, prayer, and the Word of God—all by the help of the Holy Spirit.
See Our Hope Rightly: Our Victory Has Already Been Accomplished
In all of this, we are called to fight with confidence, knowing that Jesus has won our war!
When we grow weary of the fight, we find strength in the Lord who has gone before us in victory (Ephesians 6:10).
When we are tempted to grow fearful or anxious, we remind one another that we have nothing to fear in this battle! Our king has already won, and our enemy has already been defeated. So, we can fight with confidence, knowing the battle is ours!
When we see others battered by war, we remind them of the resources available to them in Christ.
In the end, spiritual warfare is not cause for fear or obsessing over demons or spirits. Rather, it’s about trusting what Jesus has done for us and what he will do when he returns. It’s about obeying him day by day as we wait in faith for his return. As we wait, we can look forward in hope to the final victory of our king and the everlasting peace he will bring.