Our Spiritual Warfare
1. Satan Requires Christ’s, Or Our, Permission!
2. Satan's World System
3. The Mystery Of Iniquity
4. Some Key Facts About Satan
5. Satan's Specific Objectives
6. Satan's Specific Methods
We now study, frankly and in detail, the nature, goals and tactics of that enemy we face and the spiritual warfare wherein we are engaged.
This is not a pleasant subject. It is a subject which has been largely ignored (except for one narrow aspect of it, namely demon exorcism). Nevertheless, the lawless one is phenomenologically very real and active; he does have many of God's children (and all other men and women) under some form of his influence; and he is trying (alas, with great success) to deceive the very elect of God today. Satan's primary tactic is to deceive men and women into choosing his (Satan's) will for them (which always leads to destruction).
1. Satan Requires Christ’s, Or Our, Permission!
We are to submit to our Lord Christ Jesus, and in Him learn to overcome the enemy's wiles. We must therefore face the truths about our Satanic enemy, as shocking as those truths may be, and learn to stand in faith and to withstand his forces whatever they may be. The two most shocking truths about Satan are these: (1) Satan can do absolutely nothing without the explicit permission from God and our Lord Christ Jesus (this we see in Job 1:6-12 & 2:1-6, Luke 22:31-32, and Ephesians 1:19-23), and our Lord Christ Jesus uses Satan in specific roles; and (2) by the explicit Will and permission of our Lord Christ Jesus, Satan's primary source of authority today is that which is given to him by human will (often by default).
Why would God allow Satan to do anything? How can Satan's activities possibly fit in God's plans and purposes? God wants each of us to exercise our free will to choose Him, to live totally by the "Tree of Life", i.e., Christ Jesus. As part of inducing us to so choose, God allows Satan to harass us in at least three ways: (a) to challenge us to exercise our free wills one way or the other; (b) when we choose to live by self-seeking, to allow us to experience how wretched that way ultimately leads, and hence see how superior God's ways are; and (c) when we choose to live by Christ Jesus, to ever nudge us unto deeper and deeper abandonment unto Him.
The first condition already happened: mankind Fell, and we are under the Adamic curse outside of God in Christ. Condition (b) is all around us: Satan's world system encompasses religious, economic, political, and military forces. And as long as we avoid Christ calling us, Satan reinforces our carnal thinking, our self-seeking in physical pleasures and things.
Christ ever draws us, and some of us come to Him. Yet when we come to Him, we still have many dark thinking patterns from our former habits, often reinforced by Satanic spirits, from which we must repent. As we discover those remaining dark thinking patterns and we react by repenting, we grow in deeper and deeper abandonment unto Christ.
Most of the times when Christ allows Satan to attack us (Christians) it is so that through such chastenings we will learn experientially to draw closer to Christ in our daily walk and personal relationship. But we are not to treat Satan lightly nor close our eyes to him. Rather, this should be a sober warning to us: if we choose by a deliberate act of our will to rebel against our Lord Christ Jesus and His will for us and His disciplinings of us, then He will allow Satan to so deprave us that He, Christ, will be justified to judge us! In these ways, Satan's harassments of us indeed fit into God's plans for us.
We who are Christ's, we who have been purchased by Him from our former slave-owner (Satan - Ephesians 2:1-3) with the ransom price of His shed Blood, we who acknowledge Christ Jesus as our Lord: we in Christ have nothing to fear from Satan. He who is our Lord and does all things for our edification and good (Romans 8:28), will never allow Satan to do one thing against us which is contrary to His perfect will for us. Hallelujah! And so, whenever we are being attacked by Satan as our enemy, our first and primary concern should be seeking from our Lord Christ Jesus an understanding of what His purpose is behind His allowing those attacks.
In fact, that is the meaning of "praying in faith believing" in all matters, not just our responding to Satan's harassments: first determining God's will in the particular situation, and then choosing to respond to it accordingly in prayer and in obedience. When we know that whatever we are praying for or doing is God's will, then we have assurance that it will indeed come about. Christians, particularly Christian leaders, must have such understandings if we are to become overcomers and God's instruments of establishing His Kingdom on Earth.
2. Satan's World System
In Ephesians 6:12, satan's demonic forces are referred to by such terms as "... principalities (rulers), ... powers, ... rulers of the darkness of this age (Kosmos), ... spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." Here Paul refers to the demonic forces as an organized army against which we wage spiritual warfare.
Satan's Kosmos organization is primarily along geographic lines: each country or region is "ruled" by a hierarchy of demonic "princes" or "powers", each section or local area by lower level "rulers" or "powers", etc. However, a parallel "organization" also exists among the demonic hordes: one structured according to "function" or "purpose" or "nature" in satan's strategy. These "functional" demonic rulers or powers operate in all demographic areas.
In the following sections, we only very briefly outline some of the salient characteristics of satan's Kosmos. Many books have been written on its various aspects, and a further detailed study is far beyond the scope of this volume.
3. The Mystery Of Iniquity
The Scriptures refer to a "mystery of iniquity". 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 reads as follows:
"For the mystery of lawlessness (iniquity) is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
What does this "mystery of iniquity", or the "mystery of the lawless one", mean? What is now already at work? What will be revealed in the future? Would God choose to allow anyone to be deluded?
The Greek word translated "mystery" (Misterion) means "secrets known only to the initiate". It does not mean truths forbidden from men, but rather truths which are hidden until revealed to those who qualify for obtaining such knowledge. The truths about satan's goals and objectives and methods are indeed kept by him from widespread human understanding, for satan works far more effectively when we are unaware that it is he who is influencing us and are ignorant of what he is up to.
Our knowledge of God's word must include its teachings on both the limitations and power of satan - this Misterion of satan's objectives and tactics. We know the following facts about satan:
4. Some Key Facts About Satan
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(1) The authority which mankind gave to satan to rule the Earth was removed when our Lord Christ Jesus died, rose, ascended, and was placed in the position of all power and authority in heaven and on Earth (Ephesians 1:20-22). Because Christ, as the sinless and totally obedient Lamb of God, qualified (Revelations 5:2 & 5), God placed Him over all, and gave to Him all authority which God had formerly given to satan.
(2) Today satan has no spiritual authority except which God (via Christ) gives him and which He allows to be given to him (willfully or by default) by men and women.
(3) Satan is God's agent, used by God still today for two purposes: (1) to enforce the Adamic Curse in the lives of all who choose to continue to live apart from Christ Jesus; and (2) to chasten and discipline us (God's children) unto a full walk in faith by forcing us: (i) to depend upon Him (Christ) beyond our knowledge and abilities; and (ii) to yield to His (Christ's) will for us in all of our attitudes and aspects of behaviour.
(4) Enforcing the Adamic curse means enforcing the consequences of sin, namely death. The physical form of death of the Adamic curse is of two forms: (1) loss of immortality, and (2) hastening the time of our physical death through degradation, waste, sickness and depravity. Loss of immortality was effected once for us all upon the Fall of mankind, and will be restored to us only upon the Day of the Lord when we see Christ face to face (Philippians 3:20-21). But in the
Some Key Facts About Satan
1. His authority was removed when Jesus died, rose, ascended.
2. His only authority now is what is given to him by God and by us.
3. He is God’s agent (1) to enforce the Adamic curse, and
(2) to chasten & discipline us.
4. Enforcing Adamic Curse means enforcing death.
5. God allows Satan to do much on earth to challenge us to
mature in our personal relationship with Jesus.
6. Indwelling Holy Spirit leads us in our warfare.
7. Satan’s main tactic is religion.
8. Satan’s main goal is to get us into spiritual bondage to him.
meantime degradation is the constant battle we face, as we dissipate our energies and health through "normal" living and in addition unnecessarily through our vain self-efforts.
(5) Because God wants us to mature into Christ-likeness as mature Sons (Uios-Agents) of God (Romans 8:14-19), He allows satan to yet do much on this Earth until specifically challenged, refuted, counter-commanded and/or exorcised by us, God's children, acting in the Name (identity, authority and reputation) of Christ Jesus to deploy the power of His Shed Blood.
(6) The Holy Spirit of Christ Jesus is sent to indwell in all who turn to the Lordship of Christ Jesus over their. He in us is waging a constant warfare against satan, that our satan-reinforced dark thinking patterns be surfaced,revealed, and surrendered to our Lord Christ Jesus in repentance.
(7) Satan enforces our spiritual separation from God first and foremost by religion! Religion, highly organized by satan (who craftily stays behind the scenes so that we sincerely but erroneously think we are serving "God"), is the strongest form of bondage satan can hold us under, and the most deceiving. The Scriptures refer to satan's world-system or kingdom as "Babylon." This is not a reference to the actual historical kingdom of Babylon, but a spiritual and physical organization of which that historical kingdom was but a typology. Babylon in this sense encompasses highly structured forces which control people through an integration of religious, economic, financial, political, and military power. The religious aspect of Babylon is called Baal (BYL) in the Old Testament, both historically and in typology.
(8) Satan's ultimate goal is for us to be in spiritual worship and allegiance and bondage to him, and he uses religion as his main route to that. Satan's integration of religion with economic and political forces is perhaps the most powerful form of bondage known to mankind. It is and has historically always been the characteristic of every nation in which a national sacral religion is integrated with the government (regardless of whether that religion is Hinduism, Islam, Shintoism, Roman Catholicism, or Christian Protestant Fundamentalism). Even Scientistic Humanism is yet another religion of satan's scheming.
5. Satan's Specific Objectives
Simply stated, Satan's overall goal is to get us (as many people as he can) to totally and of free will worship and serve him. But his power is constrained under the permissive will of God through Christ Jesus, Who in turn allows Satan to assume the authority which is given to him by human will. So he must work in subtle ways. He therefore has the following more specific purposes or objectives behind his activities:
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(1) Persuade people to believe that there is no hope for deliverance from their problems and sufferings through God and Christ: either by remaining ignorant of God, or by believing that God doesn't exist, or by believing that God is too remote to be willing to help, or even by believing that God has no purpose now except "saving" people to Heaven (yes, holding the true Gospel of Jesus Christ in an overly-simplistic way is also a subtle deception from Satan);
(2) Seduce people into seeking some empowerment by/of him (Satan), ostensibly for human pleasure or benefit (as, for example, healing or supernatural guidance);
(3) Get people to depend upon, and come unto bondage to, that Satanic empowerment; and
(4) Through that bondage, reduce people to be his slaves, to serve and worship him.
6. Satan’s Specific Methods
Knowing the secrets (Misterion) of iniquity is this: knowing Satan's methods and knowing that it is Satan who is behind them, the Satan whom Christ has defeated. To accomplish his objectives, Satan uses several methods. We cannot list all of Satan's methods, but we here briefly list a few (seven) of the most frequently used:
a Demonic personality suppression;
b Philosophical and religious deception;
c Destruction of social stability through propaganda;
d National sacral religious systems; and
e Physical force by men under his control;
f Direct physical interference by his "fallen angels”;
g "Technological" miracles.
Satan’s Specific Purposes
(1) Persuade people to believe that there is no hope for deliverance from their problems and sufferings through God and Christ.
(2) Seduce people into seeking some empowerment by/of him, ostensibly for human pleasure or benefit.
(3) Get people to depend upon, and come unto bondage to, that Satanic empowerment.
(4) Through that bondage, reduce people to be his slaves, to serve and worship him.
a Demonic Personality Suppression
Demonic personality suppression is very common and widespread, even with many Christians (true believers) as well as most unbelievers. It keeps us from serving Christ. It helps Satan significantly in his overall goal by subduing people to a point of being persuaded that they "need" his powers. This is the more extreme form of our self-seeking and self-protecting strategies.
b Philosophical And Religious Deception
Philosophical and religious deception by Satan takes on many forms. Satan ever tries to influence our thinking in ways that we least suspect that our thoughts are from him. For Christians, Satanic deception also takes on the forms of: (a) emphasizing Biblical truths out of balance and out of context (as for example obsession with certain eschatological doctrines); (b) diversion of our attention (and time and efforts) on side issues; and (c) acceptance of and obsession with "private prophecies" (as for example those which resulted in Mormonism, the Christian Scientist movement, Jehovah Witnesses, etc.).
But Satan's most effective form of philosophical and religious deception today has been the rise of Scientistic Humanism over the past century. Indeed, in both Europe and North America, Scientistic Humanism has been taught in the public education system to two generations of young people. It totally denies God and Christ Jesus. It's emphasis is to improve mankind through science and social order, particularly as determined by a new elite of intellectual experts. It teaches that only "physical" phenomena (including those of psychological research) are real (i.e., that no "spiritual world" exists), and that the Bible is impossible and absurd myth. This is subtly a religion of its own. It begins to seduce people into worshiping and serving Satan by free-will (but not consciously). Our only safeguard is the indwelling Holy Spirit leading us into truth in our relationship with Christ.
c Destruction Of Social Stability
Another form of deception by Satan is his attempt to destroy social stability through propaganda which plays on the sinful desires of the people. One immediately dangerous example is Satan's current attack on the family unit. Particularly since the mid 1960's, Satan has launched a full-scale attack by sinister forces at work in North America to tear down the very structure of society by destroying our home relationships. He is working through the media of the entertainment world, through political movements, through pornography and associated immorality, through drug addiction, through laws - his instruments are many.
We refer you to two books by Reisman. The first[1] carefully documents how the introduction of PLAYBOY and other "soft"[2] pornographic magazines to the American scene since late 1953 has so destroyed our culture. The second[3] traces the historical roots of the spread of this horrible paradigm.