I see what you and a few others have been saying wisewoman. But there is a great danger to that, even if you aren’t seeing it that way or intending it. Yes, the Great War has been won. But even you must know that it is not over yet. You have given me the impression (and I hope I am wrong on this) that we only need to worry about spiritual warfare when battle come.

• Studying the Scriptures,
  
  
• Opposing the false teachings of demons (1 Timothy 4:1),
  
  
• Seeking to become more like Christ,
  
  
• And sometimes, opposing demons directly and/or casting them out,
  
  
• All for the sake of working out our faith and seeking to let God work through us as part of His plan to save the lost.

This line of thinking will only draw the enemy in.

You are right in that we do not fight 24/7. The soldiers we have in Iraq are not fighting 24/7. But they are in a war, and they have to keep their guard up 24/7. If not, the guerillas will strike and they will be dead. The same is true for us. Satan’s war with God and man has been decided, but it is not over yet. And that is the reason for the importance of my last post on being ‘on guard’.

1. give them unwanted attention or too much credit;
   
   
2. bypass the truth that many temptations come from our flesh, not just demons;
   
   
3. neglect God’s role in having disarmed Satan on the Cross, and that the battle is His; and
   
   
4. forget that other fields of battle, such as false teachings (of demons or men), substance abuse, poverty, man-centered substitutes for the Gospel, violence and lazy-Churchianity are all equally if not more important in our warfare against the flesh and against Satan.

There is also a misunderstanding about spiritual warfare’s presence in the Bible. It is not limited to Ephesians 6:10-18, even though this is the first reference that someone will go to in such situations.

If fact you will find more subtle references throught [sic] the Gospels and Paul’s letters. Paul has at least two references to the Armor of God in his letters: Ephesians 6 and 1 Thessalonians 5. I know there is another besides that, but I can’t find it yet. You will also find that Paul frequently describes the Christian walk with battle terminology. His letters were to a persecuted church. They were under both physical and spiritual attack. What did he tell them to do? Stand your ground. They enemy sought to squelch the expanding of the Kingdom of Heaven, and Paul told the churches to keep fighting the spiritual battle.

• Romans — Paul seeks to outline the systematic story of God’s sovereignty in saving His people, and later explain how this affects both Jews and Gentiles.
  
  
• 1 Corinthians — Paul writes to encourage unity in the church, to discourage following after specific human leaders, graciously rebuke church members for tolerating sin and for going ga-ga over other teachers just because they gave fine-sounding religious rhetoric, and to exhort them to fight their own fleshly desires and live lives worthy of the Gospel in their church and family relationships.
  
  
• 2 Corinthians — Paul hopes to reassure the church after his previous letter, to remind the church of his role as their shepherd, and to continue encouraging them to life grace-saturated lives and fight temptations, along with “arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
  
  
• Galatians — Paul comes on strong against Legalism and the appalling notions that God’s people, having been saved through Christ’s sacrifice alone, can impress Him even more or be more Spiritual through old-covenant and man-made rules.
  
  
• Ephesians — Paul starts off with a powerful outline of how God through the death of His Son on the Cross saved His own people, and how that truth affects our love for each other in the church and in families, and how it should motivate us to oppose evil for when “the evil day” comes (clearly meaning now; Ephesians 6:13).

I have to say, here in America, we have gotten complacent and don’t want to deal with the spiritual battle, and unfortunately, this is something I have seen here on NWeb too. I have tried to bring up spiritual warfare several times here, and the common response is ‘we don’t want to talk about it because we don’t want to put to much emphasis on it.’

• Deceitful spirits
  
  
• Teachings of demons (false doctrines)
  
  
• Insincere liars with little to no consciences
  
  
• People who forbid marriage (perhaps thinking it’s more Spiritual to be single on purpose)
  
  
• Legalistic “food critics” (who very likely misuse the Old Testament Law and decided their personal preferences are more Spiritual than others)
  
  
• “Irreverent, silly myths”
  
  
• Ungodliness