“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
In twenty first century America, it is widely proclaimed in the church that Jesus Christ is victorious over the devil. Therefore, as a result of Jesus’ victory,
it is not necessary to be overly concerned about spiritual warfare. We are further instructed that our focus ought to be on Christ, so that we do not spend time looking for demons. In fact, there has been so much bad teaching about demons that in certain circles, I think people cringe to even hear the word demons.
Few would dispute that Jesus Christ is victory for the Christian, however, some important factors are being overlooked in this line of thinking. Men pay attention to deceitful spirits, and such men fall away from the faith showing they do not follow Jesus Christ. “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10:27)
Even though Christians do not follow demons as a way of life, they can still be deceived for a time, and make bad decisions as a result. For this and other reasons instructions were given to Christians such as, “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.” (Ephesians 4:26, 27)
One very important part of victory in spiritual warfare is prayer, and nothing makes prayer more powerful than a sense of urgency and need. A problem arises in the person that hardly ever considers spiritual warfare and the pressure demons can bring to push a Christian away from Christ?
For this reason, Paul when wrapping up his admonition to put on Christ, as seen in putting on the armor, he concludes with this counsel, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit…” (Ephesians 6:18) Notice he uses the term prayer, petition, and pray three times in one very short phrase. Nothing works as powerfully against satanic attacks like prayer.
More to be stated on spiritual warfare on future blogs.
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