Our Battle Against Spiritual Forces

“I can’t believe I didn’t die.” Have you ever experienced an event like this? Something so spectacular in which you just walked away, with hardly a scratch? Or perhaps you experienced a “near miss” like I did, when a vehicle traveling at least 75 mph almost side-swiped me. 

Have you wondered if you might have been protected by God or by a guardian angel? In my instance, I felt like the Lord revealed to me in prayer a couple months later that an angel kicked the car away from me, saving my life and my vehicle from certain harm.

Resistance

Or perhaps you have felt some sort of spiritual resistance as you’ve decided to step out in faith. Maybe you couldn’t put your finger on it, but you knew resistance came. You couldn’t touch it or measure it, but you saw the evidence of it.

It seems like we’ve all had experiences like this, but much of our teaching regarding spiritual things negates these events. Let me just tell you: a great cosmic battle between good and evil is being waged right now. It happens primarily in the spiritual realm, which actually exists. It’s not a myth. Angels and demons exist. The Heavenly Host and the evil forces of darkness exist. It’s real. There is an entire government of darkness. A superior Heavenly Kingdom also exists and can be experienced.

Part of the Battle

As Christians, or as we like to say, as Holy Spirit filled Jesus followers, we are part of the battle. Believe it or not, the Lord trusts us to take part in the battle, even giving us specific tasks and callings to dismantle the forces of darkness. If this seems strange to you, just know we are walking in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

“Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8 (ESV) (emphasis mine)

Because Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, so also it is our purpose to destroy the works of the devil.

A Spiritual Battle

Let’s take a look at this battle of ours from a letter written to the Church in Ephesus by the Apostle Paul.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 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. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” Ephesians 6:10-13 (ESV) (emphasis mine)

Before mentioning the opponent, let’s look at God’s strength. The phrase, “be strong” is more like this: “be strengthened with God’s power”. We have access to the strength of His might and the force of His power. It’s not in our own strength; it’s in His strength. Consider what Peter writes:

“Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies–in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:11 (ESV) (emphasis mine)

Strength comes from God, and it’s from God that we receive strength.

Not against “flesh and blood”

Our battle is not against flesh and blood. What is flesh and blood? People! Our battle is not against people. What was once a physical battle, especially in the Old Testament, is now a spiritual battle. 

If we are battling in the spiritual realm, what spiritual enemies do we encounter? Great question. Paul answers this question in Ephesians 6:12.

“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.” Ephesians 6:12 (ESV)(emphasis added)

Four Categories

Four categories of spiritual beings exist, according to this passage: rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and spiritual forces of evil. These are all spiritual beings as well as ideologies or mindsets. Let’s take a look at these in more detail.

1. The Rulers

“Against the rulers” – The Greek word here is “arche,” meaning “beginning, origin, principality, ruler” according to Blue Letter Bible. The word “arche” is not negative in and of itself; actually, it’s part of our inheritance as saints (check out this series by Dan Duval). 

By a quick word study, we come across Jude 1:6, which talks about angels who left God’s presence in the beginning: “And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority (arche), but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day–“

So this first category can be considered fallen angels and other spiritual beings who left God’s design to pursue their own ideals and lusts.

They Left God’s Plan

In addition to these spiritual beings, it carries the idea of leaving God’s original intention and perverting His truth. As is popular in our culture right now, this mindset is taught, especially to our youth: “I can leave God’s original creation of my gender and choose against God to be a different gender.” Or, “I can leave God’s original design of family and put together something of my own design.” Or, “I can make my own truth and be my own god.”

Each of these choices to go in another way that the Lord has designed will lead to a disappointed and unfulfilled life. A person is most fulfilled and the most satisfied when they are right smack in the middle of God’s kind intentions for their life. And it’s not a general path for all people. No, the Lord has specific plans and purposes for every person, written down in books and scrolls from long ago.

Just take a look at Psalm 139:1-3, 16 (ESV), “O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways… Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” 

2. The Authorities

“Against the authorities” – in Greek it’s “exousia,” which is “dominion, rightful claim, power of choice, physical or mental power, power of authority (influence) and of right (privilege).” 

Going back a couple chapters, Paul gives a clue as to what these authorities are. 

“in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power (exousia) of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience–” Ephesians 2:2 (ESV)

These Oppose God

This is the spirit of disobedience. It seeks to take away your God-given authority, your God-given influence, and your God-given rights and privileges. This spirit is also involved in spiritual lawsuits against you, legal, spiritual documents that give the devil and his minions access to you. If you have any unforgiveness in your life, then these spirits have access to you. (Be quick to forgive! Matthew 6:14-15)

The ideology related to these authorities is that someone else has rightful claim or power of choice over us. Think: mind control. Is this in operation today? You better believe it. Those who have been rescued out of Satanic Ritual Abuse were in these mind control programs, where trauma was used to reprogram their minds and hearts. It’s a thing, it’s possible, and “they” have been doing it for decades.

3. Cosmic Powers

“Against the cosmic powers over this present darkness” – kosmokratoras (only reference in the Bible), lords of the world, prince of this age, satan and his demons, world forces.

This one is fairly self-explanatory, but consider a similar verse:

“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (NKJV) (emphasis added)

“That will never work for me”

Not only is this enemy satan and his demons, it’s also a hiding of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s the idea of unbelief (aka, spiritual blindness). It’s a mindset concerning God’s power: “that will never work for me,” which was literally said to us in response to a recommendation to pray about a situation from someone who professed to be a Christian! 

The mindset is the anti-gospel, bad news. It’s trying to convince us that our Heavenly Father is an abusive dad, that Jesus Christ’s blood didn’t cleanse us from all our sin, and that the Holy Spirit is evil and scary and shouldn’t be sought out.

4. Spiritual Forces of Evil

“Against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” – pneumatikos poneria, spiritual beings, of or related to the spiritual realm; depravity, iniquity, wickedness, malice.

These forces of evil are wicked spiritual beings that inhabit the heavenly place between God’s Heaven (3rd Heaven, 2 Corinthians 12:2) and our natural experiences here on earth (1st heaven). What’s between 3 and 1? Yep, it’s 2. These spiritual beings are primarily in 2nd heaven, and they’re involved in depravity, iniquity, wickedness, and malice. They have an evil influence over our world, and there are wicked people and other beings in partnership with them.

An all-out rejection of God

What mindset is attached to the spiritual forces of evil? It’s an all-out rejection of everything related to God. It’s anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-Holy-Spirit. Wickedness has consumed the mindset of these spiritual forces. This mindset is a progression of iniquity, or generational sins, or a passing down of evil through the bloodlines. It is the antichrist agenda. The Apostle John gives us a bit more information on the subject:

“Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.” 1 John 2:22-23 (ESV)

So what now?

Now that we know about our spiritual enemies and that we are in a spiritual battle, we will know how to fight. We fight through prayer. Our armor is spiritual armor. The sword we use is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Do you need to counteract a lie? Find the truth in God’s Word and declare it! Proclaim His truth!

Are you being pummeled by spiritual forces? Put on your armor! Read Ephesians 6:10-20 and put on your spiritual armor by faith. Pray and speak out loud. Here’s an example, “Lord, by faith I fasten around my waist the belt of truth…”

Do you need to be freed from evil tormentors? Bride Ministries has some excellent prayer resources here. Peruse through the list of prayers. Likely one will catch your eye. Read through them; pray them out loud. Agree with God through these prayers, and watch how the Lord will go before you, decimating your enemies, as well as teaching you how to live up to your true calling as More than a Conqueror (Romans 8:37).

Above all, always remember that Jesus defeated these enemies the moment he rose from the dead. They only have as much power as you give them. They like to try and make themselves look bigger than they really are. If you have given your life to Jesus, you have been given the power to trample over these enemies. (Luke 10:19). So go put on your spiritual armor. Take up your sword (the Word of God), and slice those enemies out of your life once and for all!