“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
“And tho’ this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us”
- Luther
There has always been a curiosity among men about the spirit world. Modern cultures have largely ignored or scoffed at the idea of an unseen realm for the last few decades, as they put their faith and attentions more and more on the scientific than on the supernatural.
But science has not stepped up to the plate and proved itself to be the savior of man that it was expected to be, and as a result in recent years there has been more and more of a turning back to spiritual things.
The New Age movement has grown immensely. It has always been around; just hasn’t always been called that. It’s belief system hasn’t changed. Satan isn’t that imaginative.
In addition are all the novels, movies, plays and television shows centering on the supernatural.
For the most part, they are wrong. The truth is twisted in them, if there’s any truth there to twist. That all stands to reason, really. Those who have the Holy Spirit in them, and can therefore understand the scriptures and discern spiritual truth would not write about these things as entertainment anyway. The ones who do write about them, have no understanding in themselves, so they only have their fallen imaginations to work with.
Having said that, I want to avoid any further temptation to pick on the non-Christians, and focus on us; the church. Because we are the soldiers. We are the ones called to do battle, and if an army does not know its enemy and the enemy’s strengths, it is doomed to failure.
So let’s just move through this verse one step at a time, and learn what Paul wants us to know about our true enemy, so that as we go on and don our Armor, we’ll better understand why it is we need to wear it.
FLESH AND BLOOD
The first thing we need to be reminded of is that our struggle is not against a flesh and blood enemy.
Now I know I’ve had several occasions to make that point recently, and I don’t want to belabor it. I’ve been accused in the past of making a point too many times, and although the people who left the church because of it never got that point, still I can be teachable; so I will try not to be more repetitive than what I think is necessary for you, the listener, to retain the information.
The problem is, and here I repeat, the church has given itself a bad name in society by getting its aim and focus off its appointed duty.
I know and understand that the true church is always going to be the enemy of the world system and the spirit of this world. If she is doing her job she is going to be in opposition to the spirit of this world. That is expected. It was declared by Christ that we would have tribulation in this world, and that the world would hate us because it hated Him.
But when the church struggles against flesh and blood and neglects her spiritual duty, then she only puts a bad taste in the mouth of many who may otherwise respond favorably to the gospel message, if it was presented properly and in love.
And the same goes for individual believers. We must recognize that our real struggle in this life is a spiritual one. When we focus on what we see; blame the tool that the enemy uses instead of recognizing the true enemy, he gets the better of us.
Now that is not to say that anytime someone displeases us, or we have a disagreement or someone offends us, that it is entirely a spiritual problem.
Sometimes people beat us to the parking slot because they don’t care if we have to keep looking. It’s not because they know we’re Christians.
Sometimes we have a falling out with a person because we were the one being selfish or stubborn, not them.
Sometimes our difficulty with company policy is because of our rebellious nature, not because the policy is bad.
But all of that aside, Paul wants us to see that if we have our focus right, and we are being strong in the Lord and the strength of His might, and intent on doing kingdom work and seeing His will done, then there will be a struggle, and it will be a spiritual one; not against flesh and blood.
If we are seeking and determining to do God’s work, God’s way, people’s rejection of our message, and the hindrances that come against us to slow our work or discourage us from doing it, or destroy what has been done, will be from a spiritual source.
Paul is not telling us that we will never struggle against flesh and blood. Detrich Bonhoffer and other Christians like him struggled against the Nazis. Many Christian men went to war against Nazi Germany and Tito’s Japan, and struggled against flesh and blood. There were Christians in Korea, and in Viet Nam, and now in Iraq.
That is an entirely different thing. When it comes to the Christian walk, and Kingdom building, that is an entirely different war, and it is not against the flesh. It is spiritual, and therefore must be waged in spiritual armor, with spiritual weapons, and utilizing spiritual tactics.
That is precisely why we must depend on the Holy Spirit, and remember constantly that apart from the Vine we were grafted into, we can do nothing. Because it is spiritual.
THE NATURE OF OUR ENEMIES
As I alluded to earlier, we have to know our enemy. That is a truism in both the spirit world and the world of flesh. “Know your enemy” is as common to hear as “back to the drawing board” or “put your shoulder to the wheel”. It is just common sense.
C. S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters” is a supposed collection of letters from Screwtape, an upper-level executive in the bureaucracy of Hell, to his demon nephew who is a novice tempter on the front lines. The book has 31 chapters, or letters. In the first one, Screwtape is making the point to his nephew, Wormwood, that letting his subject get in a debate over the reality of spiritual things is a mistake; but that it is much better to keep him thinking of the ‘real life’ of this world.
The point being made there, is that it doesn’t matter if the person believes in a personal devil, or an actual Hell, or a spirit realm at all. If Satan can keep him safely thinking the physical realm is all there is, then he’s got him in the end.
Now the main thing you need to understand about that book, is that the primary focus of Wormwood and therefore his uncle’s letters of advice, is a Christian. Not a non-Christian. Screwtape tries to teach his nephew that it is not in the big events of life that he can have the greatest and most damaging influence on the Christian’s life, but in the petty things. Keep him resentful of the nagging aunt he has to live with. Keep him debating in his own mind, the morality of war and whether a Christian has a duty to defend his country. When in church don’t let him get his mind off of the people around him that he has a hard time with, and keep his prayer life weak and self-centered.
I recommend the book. It is very insightful, and valuable to read more than once.
But again, the point is, we must know our enemy. So I want to take these terms that Paul has used to describe the entities we struggle against, and define them clearly so we get an accurate view of what we’re up against.
First of all, note that he hasn’t told us that we struggle against bad attitudes in the heavenly places.
These are sentient, intelligent beings, originally created by God, and fallen from heaven when they followed Lucifer in his rebellion.
So our struggle isn’t against some cosmic principle of evil, or against some cartoon-style beasties, drooling green slime and growling and wearing spiked collars. They are not little red naked dwarfs with pointy tails, or squat ogres with warts on their noses and living under bridges.
They were created by God, “All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” and they were once beautiful and perfect. They know what Heaven looks like because they came from there; and whatever they’ve become, whatever they lost in the rebellion and their subsequent expulsion from Heaven, they are still intelligent and powerful and apart from Christ you and I could never hope to have any power over them, or power to resist them.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”
That counsel was given precisely in those words for a reason. And it is not the only time the subject comes up.
“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (I Peter 5:8) is a very familiar verse to most of us.
Now once again I want to point out that as a created being Satan himself is not omnipresent. He can only be in one place at a time. But he has his minions everywhere, and they are sent out to do his will, just as devotedly and deliberately as the angels of God are sent out to do His will.
In the 10th chapter of Daniel we have an example of this. In response to Daniel’s prayers and fasting, an angel comes to him with an answer from the Lord.
He tells Daniel that he was sent out with the response from the beginning of Daniel’s praying, but he was withstood by a demon. Listen to verses 12 and 13 of that chapter.
“Then he said to me, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia”
So these are powerful beings, and purposeful. Let’s look now at these terms Paul uses.
RULERS
“rulers” This term is used also in Luke 12:11
“And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not become anxious about how or what you should speak in your defense, or what you should say;”
In that case the reference is to the political and religions rulers in Jerusalem and Rome, and other parts of the world that Christians would eventually stand before to give defense. One example is in Acts 26 where Paul gives his defense of the gospel to King Agrippa.
So the word means just what it says. Rulers. Those having authority. Satan is called the prince of the power of the air in Ephesians 2:2, and his minions also have authority to act, under his authority. He rules in evil over this fallen world, and calling him the prince of the power of the air simply establishes that he and his are not earthbound as we are in the flesh, but have freedom to move about and do their evil unhindered by anything physical.
POWERS
Next, he says ‘against the powers” That word powers denotes freedom of action. Freedom to act according to their will and their desired purpose.
We see examples of this in the account of the Gerasene demoniac in Luke 8 and the demon-possessed boy in Matt 17, who would often go into convulsions and fall into the water or into fire. Some might suppose he suffered from epilepsy, except that Jesus cast the spirits out of him.
But apart from the power of Christ intervening, and whatever their final fate will be, they have freedom in this world to move about and do their evil. To possess, to deceive, to entice away from the faith if possible. And they’re hard at work. Look at the state of the world. Look at entertainment (I use the term loosely), and at politics, and at the general flow of society. They are not idle.
WORLD FORCES
Next Paul says, “against the world forces of this darkness”. The term ’world forces’, could as well be rendered ‘rulers of this world’; or ‘rulers of this world of darkness’.
Men think they rule. But they do not. They are puppets at best; and if physical eyes could suddenly see into the spirit realm, we would see these men, puffed up and arrogant, boasting of their military might and their political clout, their arms and lips being manipulated by strings ~ the controls held by leering, grinning imps, who are the real rulers, using feeble-minded men to do their work for them.
This ‘darkness’ that Paul refers to is, of course, the darkness this world has been cast into because of sin. It is a blindness to spiritual truth; a sin-inflicted inability to understand the things of God, or even care about the things of God.
“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile I their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Romans 1:21
Then we turn to John 3 and hear Jesus’ own words concerning this darkness mankind dwells in:
“And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil.
So if we connect these passages we conclude that men in darkness are under the power and influence; in the grasp of; rulers of this world of darkness.
WICKED SPIRITS
This last phrase of Ephesians 6:12, “the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places”, one commentator has suggested could be translated, “spirits committing their evil deeds in the heavenly places.
Now I want to make clear here, that Paul is not saying these spirits are in Heaven, where God is, and doing their wickedness there.
The ancients referred to three levels of the heavens; the highest being the Heaven of God, the next being what we call outer space, and then the immediate atmosphere surrounding the earth, which we call the sky. So his reference to spiritual activity in the heavenly places would definitely include the sky around us, and maybe even outer space. That’s more than I know. But as I mentioned earlier, I think the emphasis is that they are free to move about and not earthbound.
STILL POWERFUL, BUT DISARMED
Now that we’ve been adequately warned, and have some idea what we’re up against, I think we should draw this to a close with some very encouraging information about the nature of our struggle.
First though, I think I should make a couple of things clear.
I do not believe that there is a place in scripture that gives us power to ‘bind’ Satan or his demons. The only authority we have over them at all is in Christ.
Jude gives us an example when he says in verse 9,
“But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you’.”
So if even Michael the archangel dared not address the devil apart from invoking the Lord’s name, then we need to tread lightly.
I would not deny that there have been many cases in which God’s people have ministered to others in casting demons out of them, or freeing them from demonic oppression. That is much more prevalent in countries or areas where demonic religions are freely practiced, but it does happen. But always, always, by the power and authority of Christ, and only by those who are Christ’s by new birth and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Having said, that, I want to assure you that you have nothing to fear from the power of these rulers, these powerful spirits of wickedness in the heavenly places, if you are a born again believer in Christ, and as long as you are aware of them, and you know His Word concerning them.
They know your Jesus, and they tremble at His name. They know their time is short. They know their master has already lost the war.
As pertaining to you, they have no power over you anymore, so they can only hope to deceive your mind. Keep you in fear if they can; or doubt; or under a load of guilt if you have not fully understood the grace of God.
You belong to the One of whom it is written:
”And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.” Col 2:13-15
They are powerful, but insofar as they pertain to you, they are disarmed.
Satan has lost his claim over you if you are a believer in Christ. Jesus took the decree of debt that existed against you, and nailed it to His cross. Your sin was judged and taken away forever when He bore it to Calvary’s cross and suffered the fire of God’s wrath there for you.
It is finished.
So stand. Stand strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might, put on the full armor of God, be aware and be wary of the devil’s schemes, and remember that you are in a spiritual warfare, not a physical one, and you will do well.
