The spiritual battle is biblical 

You can’t fight what you don’t understand. Our first and perhaps greatest challenge when it comes to the spiritual battle is naivety. There are hundreds of references to angels and demonic beings in the Bible. For example, angels are described as ‘ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation’ and that our struggle is ‘against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places’ (Hebrews 1:14, Ephesians 6:12). The Bible is clear that spiritual beings influence our lives, either for good or ill, and yet we have very little awareness of them.  

Sometimes we make interest in this issue a matter of being ‘charismatic rather than conservative’ or some other unhelpful categorisation. I am much more concerned that we are simply biblical in our understanding of the fight we are in. The following quote from C.S. Lewis has been used by some as a reason to avoid delving into this topic: ‘There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.’ But C.S. Lewis wrote whole books on fighting the spiritual battle!  

In our Western culture, which prizes the physical at the expense of the spiritual, the greater danger for us is that that we are outwitted by Satan’s schemes simply because we are ignorant of them (2 Corinthians 2:11).  

The spiritual battle is won! 

A second challenge we come up against is fear. Our culture honours cynicism, so the thought of potentially becoming obsessed with the spiritual realm sets off alarm bells – we’re afraid we might look weird. There’s also the fear of the unknown and the fear of the demonic. Engaging unseen opponents when we don’t understand the very nature of the battle, sounds terrifying! Again, awareness is key. 

As well as understanding the reality of the battle that we’re already in, we need to understand the powers at play. We need to remember that God is in charge. We already know who the champion will be and how the final battle will go. The war has already been won, so we need not fear.  

There is so much hope to be found in the Bible’s teaching on this subject. Jesus is ‘head over every power and authority’, but we need to know how Jesus teaches us to fight in order to stand firm in the truth (Colossians 2:10).  

The spiritual battle looks more normal than you realise 

Our final challenge is the supernatural expectations we hold. Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters demonstrates the normality of the spiritual battle. Supernatural manifestations do happen, but they are the exception. The spiritual battle affects everything. Choices like whether to forgive, whether to act on your anger, whether to read your Bible today may not feel like supernatural moments, but they are. The spiritual battle rages in the everyday issues of love and desires, purity and holiness, money and so on and so on.  

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 illustrates the fundamental level on which we fight, seizing any lies and making them submit to the Truth: 

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.  

Although this is one part of a series of four, in reality the spiritual battle is integrated into all the other topics (how we navigate emotions, hurt, the modern world and ‘the flesh’). The spiritual reality is not a far-off realm; we are living this battle in our homes, our places of study and work, our churches, our minds, in all our relationships.  

Fighting this battle together  

Why does Satan attack people? We are made in God’s image. When Satan looks at us, he sees God … and we’re an easier target! What’s more, we have reconnected with the God in whose image we were created, so we pose a double threat.  

The upcoming NavNetwork is designed to help us come together in this fight. We need each other’s help. Fighting this battle is a profoundly relational mission.  

Come and join us, as we learn to understand and fight this battle together, with Jesus’ power and grace.