What is spiritual warfare?
Question 08121
Spiritual warfare is not an optional interest for particularly dramatic Christians. It is the reality every believer lives within, whether they recognise it or not. The New Testament assumes a world in which invisible powers are actively at work, in which the Christian life involves genuine conflict with real enemies, and in which the resources God provides are designed for a battle that is already underway. The question is not whether spiritual warfare exists but whether believers understand what it involves and how God equips them to stand.
The Reality of the Conflict
Paul’s statement in Ephesians 6:12 defines the battlefield: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” The language is deliberate. “Wrestle” (pale) describes close, personal combat. The enemies are described in terms that indicate a structured hierarchy of spiritual opposition. The arena is not the physical world alone but the “heavenly places,” the unseen spiritual dimension in which the real contest is being fought. This is not metaphor. Paul describes the actual nature of the opposition every believer faces.
The threefold opposition the believer faces is helpfully summarised as the world, the flesh, and the devil, though Scripture never reduces these to a formula. The “world” (kosmos) in its negative sense is the organised system of values, assumptions, and priorities that operates in opposition to God (1 John 2:15-17). The “flesh” (sarx) is the fallen human inclination that remains in the believer and wars against the Spirit (Galatians 5:17). The devil and his agents constitute the external spiritual opposition that seeks to accuse, deceive, tempt, and destroy. These three sources of opposition work in concert. Demonic temptation often operates through the flesh’s weaknesses and the world’s enticements. Effective spiritual warfare requires understanding all three rather than attributing everything to one.
The Armour of God
Ephesians 6:13-18 provides the definitive framework for understanding how believers engage in spiritual warfare. The armour Paul describes is not offensive weaponry for attacking the enemy’s strongholds; it is defensive provision for standing firm against the enemy’s attacks. The repeated instruction is to “stand” (Ephesians 6:11, 13, 14), not to advance, charge, or conquer. The posture of spiritual warfare is one of holding ground, maintaining position, and refusing to yield to the enemy’s pressure.
The belt of truth (Ephesians 6:14) holds everything else together, because the enemy’s primary weapon is deception. A believer who is unclear on what is true is already compromised. The breastplate of righteousness protects the heart and the vital organs, representing the righteous standing the believer has in Christ and the righteous living that flows from it. The shoes of readiness come from “the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15), equipping the believer to stand firm on the foundation of the gospel wherever they find themselves. The shield of faith extinguishes “all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16), those sudden attacks of doubt, accusation, temptation, and fear that come without warning. The helmet of salvation protects the mind, the place where so many spiritual battles are won or lost. The sword of the Spirit is “the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17), the one piece of the armour that has any offensive capacity, and even it is primarily the weapon by which the enemy’s lies are cut down with truth.
Prayer is not a separate item of armour but the atmosphere in which the whole armour functions. Paul instructs believers to pray “at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Ephesians 6:18). Prayer is directed to God, not at the enemy. The believer’s strength in warfare comes from communion with the Commander, not from direct engagement with the opposing forces.
What Spiritual Warfare Is Not
A great deal of what passes for “spiritual warfare” in contemporary charismatic practice has no biblical foundation. The idea that believers should engage in “strategic-level spiritual warfare,” directly confronting territorial spirits, praying against principalities over cities or nations, or “binding” demonic powers through verbal commands directed at Satan, is not taught in the New Testament. Daniel 10 reveals that territorial angelic conflict exists, but it does not instruct believers to participate in it. The battle described there is fought by Michael, not by Daniel. Daniel prays; God sends His angels; the conflict is resolved in the heavenly realm by God’s agents, not by human initiative.
The New Apostolic Reformation and similar movements have built elaborate frameworks of spiritual warfare that include identifying territorial spirits, breaking generational curses through prayer formulas, and engaging in prophetic acts to reclaim cities for God. These practices are not derived from Scripture but from a theological imagination that has outrun the biblical text. The book of Jude provides an instructive contrast: even the archangel Michael, “when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgement, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you'” (Jude 9). If the archangel Michael deferred to God’s authority rather than confronting Satan directly, the suggestion that ordinary believers should do more is difficult to sustain.
So, now what?
Spiritual warfare is real, and it is daily, and it is far less dramatic than popular Christianity has made it. It looks like putting on the armour of God through deliberate engagement with truth, righteousness, faith, and the word of God. It looks like persistent prayer directed to the Father in Jesus’ name. It looks like resisting temptation, refusing deception, holding fast to the gospel when everything seems to be shaking, and standing firm when the pressure to compromise is intense. The battle is won not by spectacular confrontation with the powers of darkness but by the quiet, daily, determined faithfulness of believers who know who they belong to and refuse to be moved.
“Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” Ephesians 6:13
