Verses on Spiritual Warfare (Part Two: Strengthening Before Battle)

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Coming from an athletic family, I like to call these the “defensive” verses.  They focus on what to do before the spiritual attack comes–how to “put on the armor of God” so you aren’t shaken when the battle shifts to your home front.  It is not, by any means a ‘complete’ list, but rather a sample of the verses I’ve collected through my experiences.

The themes are:

1. Remain in Christ by connecting deeply with Him

  • Read scripture
  • Test all things and remain only in Truth
  • Pray in the Spirit
  • Be on the alert through watching and praying

2. Stop remaining in that which is not Christ

  • Battle now against your flesh, so you can battle later against the enemy of this world
  • If you know you’re in sin (disobedience to God), do everything you can to get out
  • Sacrifice the things that aren’t beneficial even if they aren’t ‘bad’

Verses on How to Fight the Defensive Battle:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8).

“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable.  All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12).

“Finally, brethren, whatever is truelet your mind dwell on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

“Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth” (Ephesians 6:14).

“The night is almost gone, and the day is near.  Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of  lightput on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts” (Romans 13:12 & 14).

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His mightPut on the full armor of God, that you may 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, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm” (Ephesians 6:10-13; continue through verse 17 for specifics).

“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18).

Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.  See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ” (Colossians 2:6-8).

“Let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.  No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.  Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:12-14).

Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38).

Run in such a way that you may win…I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:24, 26-27).

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Verses on Spiritual Warfare (Part One: Recognizing the Battle)

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As I was going through the most severe moments of spiritual warfare–this was as I was in the process of fully giving my life to Christ, which was not easily accepted by the devil–I began collecting verses to help me with the battle.

This first section is rather incomplete because the spiritual battle was quite easy for me to recognize; the spirits of darkness were in fact all over our apartment in obvious ways.

What did help me quite a bit was to recognize that there is an absolute line of truth and not-truth (good and evil) in the spiritual realm.  Coming from a mindset of New Age philosophy, I had not even considered this ‘black and whiteness‘ as a possibility, but as I started to read the scriptures, that’s exactly what I started to see.  And as I continued to spiritually clean our living space, the spiritual battle began to diminish a little at a time.

Verses on Recognizing the Spiritual Battle:

“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” (Ephesians 6:12).

“For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:5-6).

“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)

“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1).

“For men will be lovers of self…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.  For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:2-7).

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).

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My Spiritual Independence Day

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Happy American Independence Day!  Today is also the anniversary of my baptism in water!

I was baptized, first,  as an infant in an ELCA Lutheran church, per German tradition.  I won’t say there’s anything wrong with baptizing infants, but true baptism is a personal choice.  As I began to understand my own relationship with the Lord, I wanted to demonstrate my commitment to Him through baptism.  I didn’t have a home church at this time, so I went back to my family’s Lutheran church and met with each of the pastors until I had convinced one to baptize me ‘again’–this time by immersion, since the word baptism literally means ‘to immerse, to submerge, to cleanse, to overwhelm’.

I consider that this “second” baptism was my ONE baptism, as Ephesians 4:5 says (“one Lord, one faith, one baptism“).

The baptism in water is a baptism of repentance (Matt 3), an appeal to God for a good conscience (1 Peter 3:21), and a baptism into death as we symbolically (and in our hearts) lay down our lives for the Lord that we may be resurrected in Him with a renewed mind (Rom 6).  Baptism in water isn’t the only baptism (there is also the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the baptism in fire; Matt 3:11), but the baptism in water is special because it marks our heartfelt commitment to God the Father and the significance of our decision to follow Jesus by sacrificing ourselves.  And while we should continuously ask for more of the Holy Spirit and to be refined by His fire, it only takes one heartfelt baptism in water to enter into a covenant commitment with the Lord.

Being baptized in water was a very special day for me–as it should be.  I was baptized in the bay at my parent’s summer property with only a handful of close friends and family.  I cried through the whole ceremony because I was so moved by the gravity of my commitment to Jesus.  I could barely say the vows I had chosen.

I didn’t plan to be baptized on the Fourth of July, but the symbolism is perfect!  Just as we celebrate our country’s freedom, I am celebrating my personal freedom through Christ.  Praise the Lord!

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Moving from belief to faith

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In my time with the Lord yesterday it hit me that all three of these verses reveal a common pattern of spiritual growth:

  • “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32).
  • “So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17).
  • “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Rev 1:3).

We can’t expect to grow in intimacy with the Lord if we don’t actively spend the time to cultivate that growth.  As these verses show, we grow in our faith by reading the Bible, which moves into us being able to hear the Lord’s voice, then solidifies as an active faith (i.e. we go from simply ‘believing’ He’s real to being able to keep/heed the prophecy as faithful witnesses).

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