Spiritual Warfare
By Pastor Gilbert Burns

Let’s first establish that there is a spirit realm. The spirit realm is more real than the physical realm. II Kings 6:15-17 We see an example of the servant of Elisha’ eyes being opened to see what was in the spirit realm. The physical realm is merely a shadow of the real world, the realm of the spirit of God. Everything we need for life and godliness has already been supplied for us in the spirit realm. The way to access the things needed for life and godliness is by the principle of faith. But, we do have an adversary who will do all that he can to stop you from receiving your spiritual, soulish, and physical needs mete. The name Satan means adversary, one who stands against or in opposition to. This is where the war begins.

In the light of whom God is, and compared to satan, satan is no match for God. Many Christians believe God is the God of good, and Satan is the god of evil, and they are seen as equals, standing in opposition. They are not equal counterparts! Only God is God! He is the great uncreated Creator! He is eternal and infinite. He is omniscient (all knowing), omnipotent (all powerful), and omnipresent (everywhere at all times). Satan is only a fallen angel – created, finite, and limited in knowledge, ability and space. He does not know everything, he cannot do anything, and he can only be in one place at one time.

The concept of the universe describes one, incomparable Supreme Being. The concept of two beings ruling over two equal and opposing kingdoms with the victory shifting from side to side is what is taught in Hinduism, and other Eastern Religions.

But, the forces of good and evil do not counter or balance one another!

II Cor.4:3, 4 the term “god of this world” only denotes a position of authority over his own deceptive system. God has never fought the devil, and He never will! Satan is no match to God! Satan can never be like God, thus he will never match Him, and he will never be like Him.

Now, if this is true, then why all the challenges that both Believing and Non-Believing, face today?

Eph.4:27 A defeated devil is only effective in a person’s life, based on the degree of sin and selfishness they live in. Everything we do either aids the forces of darkness or repels them. Demons are like flies; they swarm to wounds and corruption.

There are no other gods, they are not realities in and of themselves, they are powerless to save their followers, in essence, they are demons who manipulate the pagan god system. Lev.17:7; Duet.32:17; Ps.106:37; I Cor.10:20, 21

Jesus gave us a word in the book of Luke 10:19 which states that we have been given power or authority over all the power or ability of the enemy… We have authority over the ability of the enemy, but why do Christians live defeated lives?

Let’s talk about what True Spiritual Warfare is all about! True spiritual warfare takes place in the battle ground of the mind. The mind is the only vulnerable part of our lives that can be hit by satan at any time. However, if we are doing what we should be doing to guard and protect our minds, we will never be moved by what he attempts to intimidate us with.

In this good fight of faith, it is not comfortable to many because of the dependency on the senses. Living by faith should be the natural way of living for the believer, but if our minds are not renewed to who we are in Christ, we will continue living according to the old man, which in essence is the old belief system that has been established in our conscience mind through the five physical senses. It is common knowledge to those who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and who may have knowledge of the Bible, that the word “flesh” is referring to the physical body. If this is true, then how can Paul instruct us to glorify God in our bodies, which we have concluded is a corrupt thing, called the flesh? (I Corinthians 6:20), I would like to submit to you that the term “flesh” is not merely referring to the physical body, but a mind set, that has been established in the conscience part of our souls. Paul the apostle stated to us in Romans 12:2 that we are to renew our minds. There are many Christian’ who think that God is going to change their lives, but this is only true when it comes to the spirit of man. The only part of us that God deals with is our spirit. The spirit of man is born again, made alive by us receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, according to Romans 10:9, the rest is up to us. The responsibility of the renewing of our minds and the discipline of our physical bodies, God has given us to do. Can you imagine if God were the one who was changing our lives, we would all be perfect, but are you? Why is it that there are so many who come to the knowledge of Christ, and yet, still act and live the same way they did prior to becoming a Christian? Simply because their minds are not renewed to who they are in Christ. The warfare that takes place in the mind of the believer, is the war of the flesh mindset and the spirit of man.

In Galatians 5:16-21, it gives us a list of what we misunderstood as being the flesh. Notice that it does not state in verse 19 “Now the flesh is…” but rather, “Now the works of the flesh are…”, which means that these are actions that are taking placing through the physical body. Lets take the first work of the flesh, in order for the flesh to commit adultery; you must act on a thought of adultery. Jesus dealt with this issue in Matthew 5:28 where He stated that if you would look at a woman to lust after her, you have committed adultery with her already in your heart. But, even though Jesus stated that you have committed adultery with her already, He did not say that they had committed the act of adultery. He said that it was done in their heart. When the Bible refers to the heart, it is referring to the spirit and soul of man. If the spirit of man has the nature of God in it, then how could the spirit of man commit adultery? Obviously, this is a premeditated act in the mind or soul of a person. Jesus said that this act of adultery was already done in the mind. This is true, this is the way we live our lives on a daily basis.
We generally think before we act, especially if we were going to commit a sin. Sinning is not the norm for a believer. As a believer, I believe that we desire to do the right thing, but because of the lack of knowledge, we submit to the authority of the old belief system stored in our conscience mind. So, we end up doing those things that we really do not want to do. Another point is, Jesus was tempted in all points like we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15) If Jesus was tempted in all points like us, then that means that He thought about adultery. If this is true, and what He said in Matthew 5:28 means that the very thought of adultery is adultery, then that would mean that Jesus is a sinner. We know this is not true because He would not be the perfect Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) In order for adultery to be adultery, you must commit adultery. Keep the process of this type of action in mind. In order to commit adultery, you must first make contact with a male or female that is married or you are married, then you must establish some type of a relationship, and then persuade the person to be willing to go to a private place, and so on and so on, then you commit the act of adultery. All the steps you take to act on the thought of adultery are all mental until you are in the bed with that person.

My point is that it cannot be adultery until you act on the thought of lust, once you do, then it becomes sin. Please do not miss understand what I am saying, I am not advocating lustful thoughts. You know that throughout our life span, as a Christian, we have all had some type of thought that was contrary to the Word of God and a godly lifestyle. Does that mean that we were purposely attempting to think those thoughts? No.

If Jesus was tempted, which means to consider doing something, or thinking about it, then He was a sinner. However, He is not a sinner; He overcame sin by having control of His thought life.

This is what I would call spiritual warfare. The battle that takes place in the mind is the battle of your preestablished way of believing, and satans words of fear, doubt and unbelief. Satan will inject into our minds anything that would take us off track. It is his desire to distract us from what God has purposed for us to do in this earth realm. If he can capture our attention by using our past life experiences, the current pressures of this life, the cares of this world, we will maintain a defeated life. Thank God that He has given us His Word to stand on, and use as a means of life. The Word of God a life source that God has given us to live by, if we do what it says, life and blessing will be the result.