Part 2: Spiritual Warfare and You
Introduction:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His power… so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and have done everything, to stand firm. Eph 6:10 & 13b NRSV.
We will camp out in Ephesians 6 for a couple of weeks until we thoroughly understand the ins and outs of spiritual warfare. With this knowledge base and trust in the Lord, we will stand firm in the Lord and the power of His might. The Lord is in the heart business, and where our hearts are matters to Him, as does what happens in spiritual warfare.
God is strong and wants you to be strong so you will stand up to everything the Devil throws at you. I understand that it’s no walk in the park, but please keep in mind this fight is real — a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels (demons). The Lord will not let you fight alone, uninformed and unequipped. The Lord is already victorious and will not fail or forsake us.
The last time we met, we discussed the truth about spiritual warfare and identified the enemy of our soul. We need to learn about our true selves and understand how our relationship with God affects us and spiritual warfare.
Who are you?
You may have noticed something interesting after reading any of the Pauline letters. As you read any of the Pauline letters, you may have noticed something interesting: The Holy Spirit reveals to Paul (and us) how we have different relationships with God, separated into three groups. Every member of humanity, regardless of race, religion, culture, gender, political leanings, or economic status, belongs to one of these three groups:
- The natural (estranged)
- The spiritual (intimate)
- The carnal (long-distant)
Where we fall into one of these groups reveals where we are on the battlefield and what spiritual warfare is like.
The Natural
The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Cor 2:14 NKJV.
The natural man and God have an estranged relationship. He/she knows not the truth, the way, nor the life.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. John 14:6 NKJV.
The natural man or woman is not in the right relationship with God. This relationship can only change when we believe in Jesus as Lord and receive Him as Savior. Then, at that point, we are set in the right relationship with Him. Nothing more—nothing less—will deliver us from the natural state of being.
The Holy Spirit does not dwell in the natural. The natural refuses the things of the Spirit. They find the whole notion of God to be utterly foolish.
The unspiritual person (natural) can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. They lack the capacity to know God. Why? The human spirit can only know the Holy Spirit—God’s Spirit and our spirits are in open communication when we become Christians.
According to sacred Scripture, this is how you can recognize the natural person:
- Knows not God (Gal 4:8).
- Ingratitude toward God (Rom 1:21)
- No desire for God (Rom 3:11)
- No faith in God (I John 3:18)
- No fear of God (Rom 3:18)
- Does not worship God (Rom 1:21 & 25)
- Receives not the things of God (1 Cor 2:14)
- Rejects God’s truth (II Thes 2:12)
- Disobeys God’s Word/Gospel (II Thes 1:8)
- Enemy of God (Rom 5:10)
The natural man or woman is an open-avowed enemy of God.
According to Scripture, the natural man is distant from God (Eph 2:17), guilty in God’s eyes (Rom 3:19), condemned by God (John 3:18), under God’s wrath (John 3:36), disconnected from the life of God (Eph 4:18), lacking God’s presence (Eph 2:12), and will be without God in the future (II Thes 1:9).
Self dominates the life of the natural/estranged. It takes over his thoughts, affections, passions, speech, will, and actions. His or her nature is sinful, and so their conduct is sinful.
The natural is dead to God, but alive to sin. He or she is under the dominion of Satan and a “bond servant” to sin. They’re lost, helpless and hopeless. Pitied among men and women are these lost souls. The god of this age has so blinded them they’re incapable of comprehending the seriousness of their condition.
They have no power to know, love, receive, or seek God. Unless a miracle occurs, they will always remain estranged from God. It takes a spiritual mind to discern truth. From God’s viewpoint, this makes sense. Reconciliation moves us out of an estranged relationship to an intimate.
Christ intervenes as Lord and Savior on behalf of the hopeless, helpless, and walking dead. The beauty of the gospel is reconciliation — the estranged can become intimate with their Creator in Christ Jesus.
Spiritual warfare for the natural begins where they thoroughly reject Christ and live for Satan and his demons. The hard heart always turns away from God and moves in permanent residence to the kingdom of the Devil.
The Spiritual (intimate)
But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. I Cor 2:14-15 NKJV.
The spiritual person (intimate) continues to live in the right relationship with God because the Holy Spirit dwells in them. He or she walks in the Spirit and thus “walks with God.” A right relationship begins and continues through faith in Christ.
Here’s the truth: If we are ever to fellowship with a holy God, something must be done. When the Holy Spirit reveals our need for a Savior, Jesus Christ, and we accept Him wholeheartedly, then we enter the blessed life, intimate (spiritual) and in right standing before the eyes of God.
The Holy Spirit must convince the mind, heart, and will of the natural that they’re sinners — convicted of sin in their hearts. They must willingly follow the Spirit of Christ. Then, and only then, if they accept Christ, will they move from natural to spiritual — estranged to intimate?
The Holy Spirit is key in the spiritual person’s life. He dwells, leads, teaches and empowers him or her to remain faithful to the end. The spiritual person manifests a threefold loving relationship with Christ Jesus in character, conversation, and conduct.
- accepted Christ as Savior
- Yielded wholeheartedly to Christ as Lord
- Committed to God without reservation
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:1-2 The Message.
In the spiritual person, Christ is all in all. Christ dominates their thoughts, desires, will, and actions. The spiritual is alive to Christ and dead to sin/self. He or she is a bondservant to God and gladly submits to God’s will.
This intimate relationship is real and personal.
The key to a cultivated and secure love relationship with the Lord begins with being spiritual. They love God wholeheartedly, with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength, because they know about Him, and God knows them.
Intimacy should be the desire of every living Christian.
Spiritual warfare wages in the spiritual person as well. Satan takes no pleasure in a person who has an intimate relationship with God. He will do everything possible to move our relationship from spiritual (intimate) to carnal (long-distant).
Carnal (Long Distant)
And I brethren, could not speak to you as spiritual people, but as carnal, as babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal… are you not carnal and behaving like mere men. I Cor 3:1-3b NKJV.
The carnal has a shallow understanding of God’s Word, and without it how can we know God or even know Him rightly? So, the carnal keeps God at arm’s length while keeping their eyes on the things of the world, too.
They belong to God (so to speak) and the world.
No wonder so many Christians rush to the altar every Sunday. They’re on a roller coaster ride: one day up with the Lord and the next down with the world. Up and down and all around is a hard place to be.
Don’t think for a minute that they’ve lost their salvation. The enemy wants us to think that is true, but it’s not. They have salvation, but they have never acknowledged their Savior as Lord. The carnal is a Christian. They’re in a long-distance relationship because they have little or no regard for a complete surrender. They need a closer relationship with Christ, but find that “just Christ alone” is not sufficient.
The carnal person does have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, He is grieved and quenched daily (except maybe on Sunday morning). The Holy Spirit’s power is restricted because He has no dominion over the carnal.
The Holy Spirit longs to speak to them, but they greet Him with deaf ears.
The carnal lives part-time with God and part-time with the world and self. Jesus possibly in the center of their social life (church, Bible study, or women’s ministry) but Jesus has no supreme place in their soul.
Sadly, the carnal is one day alive to Christ and the next day alive to sin, self, and Satan. Spiritual warfare wages as they try to live in two places and fail in both.
The carnal wants to be spiritually mature, but they sabotage the intimate for the long distant relationship. Spiritual maturity is null and void in the carnal. Only through the word of God and the Holy Spirit will they ever gain the wisdom, revelation, and discernment they need. They require the “God breathed word” to breathe more life and intimacy in their soul.
A shallow knowledge of Scripture is dangerous and keeps us carnal. It is imperative that we cultivate our love relationship with Christ through His word and prayer.
Here’s the truth, without rootedness in Scripture and faith in Christ Jesus, we will fall bruised and wounded in spiritual warfare — not lost, but in a great level of pain. Satan’s imperative is that we remain long-distant (carnal) and not intimate (spiritual).
What we don’t know will hurt us.
Conclusion
Spiritual warfare is real, and so is our enemy.
The natural remains head long in the dominion of the evil one — estranged from God. The natural has no armor of God to protect him or her.
The carnal remains on that emotional roller coaster ride, foreign to God’s graces and spiritual gifts held at bay. The carnal takes the armor of God, but chooses not to put on the full armor, so they walk as wounded warriors.
The spiritual is strong in the power of the Lord because he/she daily puts on the full armor of God.
Take a few moments to reflect on your life, look in the spiritual mirror and see what group you’re in. Discover your genuine relationship with the Lord, your God. What do you see — estranged, intimate or long-distant?
Let God arise and His enemies be scattered!
Before I go, embrace these encouraging words and receive blessings.
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; let me not be ashamed; let not my enemies triumph over me… Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me; for You are the God of my salvation; on You, I wait all the day. Psalm 25:1-2 NKJV.
I love the Lord because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me; therefore, I will call upon Him as long as I live. Psalm 116:1-2 NKJV.
I will love you, O LORD my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:1-2 NKJV.
Until we meet again, may the Lord bless and keep you.
