What Is Spiritual Warfare?

Michael Defeats the Dragon- Justin Gerard

"All people are born into a war. The tragedy is that most do not realize it..." -Pastor Frank Switzer.


As I write a YA Christian Fiction series titled, The Warfare Club, I had to do some reading through the Bible about what Spiritual Warfare is....and was fascinated to discover much!

In the New Testament, the Apostle Peter warned us:

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

Your enemy. We are in a war between good and evil. There is an enemy that we face daily. it is in our best interest to know just who that enemy is before we head into battle.

Paul warned:

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 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. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm..." (Ephesians 6:10-12)

We are told that our war is in the spiritual realm.

General Patton, famous for his war skills, famously shouted on the battlefield as he watched the great Nazi General, Rommel, lose a pivitol tank battle, "Rommel, you magnificent bas***d! I read your book!"

Patton was wise to study his enemy before entering into battle. He knew the strategies of Rommel and, therefore, could use them against him.

We are wise to follow suit.

We learn in Scripture that Satan never stops. He is relentless in his pursuit of God's very own. Perhaps that is because he knows how the story ends: he loses.

Maybe that knowledge ispires the urgency in his pursuits. His time is as limited as his power.

But those of us who know him and his ways do not live in fear of his attacks because we have our own General who not only knows the enemy, but has power over him and has already defeated the enemy for us.

Yes, we enter into the battlefield already victorious because of what Christ has done for us: conquered death.

So? What does death have to do with anything? Well, death is the one thing that every living thing has yet to conquer. Death is the one thing we all face.....

But because Christ defeated death for us, we who follow Christ do not fear death. Through Christ, we now have eternal life apart from the sin and anguish of the world.

So, as I write about Spiritual Warfare and teenagers facing it, I am reminded that it is wise to know the enemy and how he works. But it is wiser still to know that the enemy is already a conquered foe. Most of all, it is wise to remember who you are in Christ:

I am a child of Christ.
I am an heir of the throne.
I am a citizen of heaven.
I am a conqueror because of Jesus.

Praise God, indeed!!