I. THE THREE FRONTS OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Every war has more than one battle or one front. The same is true of spiritual warfare which has three distinct fronts (I Jn. 2:15-17): the flesh, Satan and his demonic forces, and the world. As every front in a literal war requires different types of weapons and strategy, so each front of a spiritual war requires different types of weapons and strategy.

A. The Flesh

1. Names. The term "flesh" emphasizes the sin nature aspect. We can define the sin nature as the capacity to do all those things, good or bad, that leave God out. The Greek word, sarkinos, has the basic meaning of being "fleshly" or being "carnal" (Rom. 7:14; I Cor. 3:1, 3; II Cor. 10:4). When the word "flesh" is used in this way, it emphasizes the sin nature. A second name for the sin nature is "the old man," taking us back to the source of the sin nature: Adam (Rom. 6:6; Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9). The third name for the flesh or the sin nature is "sin." When used in the singular, "sin" sometimes refers to the sin nature rather than to an act of sin (Rom. 6:6, 7, 11; I John 1:8).

2. Nature. First, the flesh operates independently of God (Rom. 4:1-2; Gal. 3:3; Phil. 3:3). Second, the nature of the flesh is characterized by spiritual infirmity, spiritual weakness and spiritual helplessness (Rom. 6:19; 8:3). Third, the flesh is carnal, or fleshly (Rom. 7:14). Fourth, it is the sphere or the state in which we had our existence when we were unbelievers (Rom. 7:5). Fifth, the sin nature operates through the physical body. Our sin nature uses our physical body to cause us to commit acts of sin (Rom. 6:12-14; 13:14). That is why we, as believers, long for the redemption of the body which will never again be in subjection or do the deeds or the wishes of the sin nature (Rom. 8:22-24).

3. The New Nature Versus the Old Nature. What is the contrast of the new nature to the old nature? First, it is the capacity to serve God with righteousness. Second, the new nature is sometimes referred to as "the new man" (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10), taking us back to the origin of where we get the new nature: the Last Adam, Messiah Jesus. No longer must we obey our old man.

4. The Flesh and Spiritual Rebirth. Before spiritual rebirth, the spiritual part of man is present, has been present since birth, but is spiritually dead and has no capacity to relate to God. It can only relate to the world, the flesh (or self) and the devil.

At spiritual rebirth, one is united with the Messiah in His death so one is actually viewed as having died with Him (Rom. 6:6-7), legally freeing us from our enslavement to sin. The old man no longer controls our will. The flesh is not destroyed; the sin nature is not destroyed but "rendered inoperative" to the will. Before spiritual rebirth, our will was in bondage to the old man. We have been set free from the control of the flesh, from the power of sin, at spiritual rebirth.

After spiritual rebirth, we now have a new nature. Because of our union with the resurrection of Messiah, our new nature is alive with God (Rom. 6:5). Now the interlocking relationship is between the will and the reborn human spirit (Gal. 5:16). It is no longer between the will and the old man.

5. The Conflict of Two Natures. The old man, however, is not gone; the flesh has not been eradicated. After spiritual rebirth, though, believers have a choice: they can obey either the old or the new man, they can function on the basis of either the old or the new nature. There is a continuous, perpetual conflict between these two natures within us. The details of this conflict are described in Romans 7:15-25 and Galatians 5:16-17.

6. The Control of the Mind. Romans 8:1-13 makes two points. First, the carnal mind is controlled by the flesh and cannot live out or reproduce the righteousness of Messiah (vv. 4-7). Those in the flesh cannot please God (v. 8). Second, the spiritual mind is a mind controlled by the reborn human spirit, the mind we should now be obeying.

7. The Fruit of the Two Natures. (Gal. 5:19-23) The fruit of the old nature, or works of the flesh, are listed in verses 19-21. If a believer is doing any of these things, it shows that he is acting on the basis of the old nature and not on the basis of the new nature.

In verses 22-23, Paul next turns to the fruit of the new nature: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control.

8. Believers and Unbelievers. The unbeliever has only one capacity. Every action, good or bad, moral or immoral, is based on the old nature because he is still leaving God out. He is unable to do anything else; the unbeliever has no choice in these areas.

However, the believer has two capacities. The believer does have a choice. Every action of a believer will either be done on the one basis or the other: either God is involved or He is not involved.

B. Satan and the Demonic World

1. Temptation. Temptation (I Pet. 5:8) is a work of Satan to try to get us to commit acts of sin. Concerning temptation let me mention four things:

First, it is common to all men (I Cor. 10:13). Second, the purpose of temptation has two perspectives. From God’s perspective temptation tests our faith (I Pet. 1:6-7); teaches us lessons which otherwise could not be learned (Heb. 5:8); helps us receive approval (every time we resist a temptation we are approved, Jam. 1:12); and teaches us patient endurance (Rev. 2:3). The purpose of temptation from Satan’s perspective is to provide solicitation to evil; to get us to commit an act of sin. In order to get us to commit an act of sin, he works in conjunction with the flesh. Third, there are limitations in temptation (I Cor. 10:13). Here we need to note two things clearly: (a) God sets limits as to how far Satan can tempt us. We will never be tempted above our ability to appropriate grace to resist. (b) God will always provide a way of escape. Fourth, there are procedures we need to use in meeting temptation: (a) resort to prayer when you are being tempted (Matt. 6:13); (b) sometimes you need to flee, especially from idolatry (I Cor. 10:14) and from fornication (II Tim. 2:22); (c) keep good company, making sure that your real friendships are developed with believers and not unbelievers who will tempt you and solicit you to do evil (II Tim. 2:22); (d) destroy all instruments of temptation (Acts 19:18-20 tells of believers who formerly practiced occult, burning their occult books); (e) cite Scriptures that speak to any specific issue. Jesus did exactly this in Matthew 4:1-11. We need to learn how to use the portion of Scripture that is relevant for a specific temptation.

"For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12

2. The Counterfeit Program:

a. It’s Beginning: In Isaiah 14:14, one of Satan’s five "I will’s" when he fell was, I will make myself like the most high. Even Satan knew he could not become the Most High, so he simply said, "I am going to make myself just like Him." In becoming like the Most High, what Satan has done is to institute a counterfeit program. The nature of a counterfeit is to look like the genuine. A counterfeit dollar is not obviously phony like monopoly money. A counterfeit dollar looks very much like the real thing. Satan’s counterfeit program is intended to imitate as closely as possible the real program of God because he said, I will make myself like the Most High.

b. It’s Nature: The nature of this counterfeit program is found in
II Corinthians 11:3-4. In verse four there are three things labeled by the word "another": another gospel, another spirit, another Jesus. The Greek text, however, has two different words which mean "another," each carrying a slightly different shade of meaning. The first term means "another of the same kind," while the other term means "another of a different kind." In the Greek, the gospel is another gospel of a different kind. The spirit is another spirit of a different kind. However, the Jesus being presented is another Jesus of the same kind; a similar Jesus, a Jesus that sounds like, seems like, the real Jesus of the New Testament.

The means by which Satan propagates this deception of a counterfeit Jesus is given in II Corinthians 11:13-14. Those who propagate this counterfeit Jesus are clearly labeled as "false apostles" but they do not appear that way because they "fashion themselves" to sound like and seem like real ministers of Messiah. By so doing they reflect their true lord, Satan, the "angel of this darkness" who fashions himself to appear as an "angel of light."

In Matthew 7:22-23, Jesus pointed out how far these counterfeit ministers can go: prophesying events that would come to pass, ordering demons out of people, doing many mighty works including miracles of healings and things of that nature. Yet Jesus will say to them in that day, "I never knew you." That is why all of these outward manifestations in and of themselves prove nothing. Satan can duplicate all of these things. The real test case in Scripture was never the existence of outward manifestations but always conformity to the written Word of God.

c. The Solution: How do we counteract being caught up in Satan’s counterfeit program? The key passage is Ephesians 6:10-18.

He starts out in verse 10 admonishing: be strong in the Lord. This has to do with positional truth. "In the Lord" means "in the Messiah." Because of our position in the Messiah we have a great deal of authority. We need to understand what our authority is and then become strong in the Lord.

In verse 11, Paul points out the purpose of the armor of God: to resist Satan. This is the first of three times in which he mentions this purpose. In verse 13, for the second time, and in verse 14a, for the third time, the purpose of the armor is to resist Satan.

In verses 14b-17, Paul deals with the pieces of the armor. Every piece concerns Scripture and is somehow related to the positional truth of the believer. The girdle of truth (Is. 11:5) is truthfulness and sincerity. The breastplate of righteous-ness (Is. 59:17) refers to positional and daily righteousness or practical righteousness. The shoes of the gospel of peace (Is. 52:7; Nah. 1:15) emphasize a sure foundation which, of course, is the Messiah and His Word. The shield of faith is the faith principle by which we resist. The helmet of salvation (Is. 59:17) is the assurance of salvation in the spiritual warfare. The sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon. The sword of the Spirit is the entire written Word of God. In other words, the way we resist Satan is by means of Scripture. This is the way Jesus resisted Satan in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13.

In verse 18 Paul said to pray for the spiritual warfare and be on the alert because you need to know there is a war going on. You also need to know that God has provided all we need for victory.

C. The World

1. Meaning. By "world," in spiritual warfare, we mean the world system which is under Satan’s control (Jn. 12:31; I Jn. 5:19). This system is in ignorance of God’s wisdom (I Cor. 1:21), is set apart for judgment (I Cor. 11:32) and wars against the truth of God (Gal. 2:8, 20-22).

2. The Believer’s Position. Simply put, the believer is "in" the world but is not "of" the world. That is, we still live in this earthly world but we are no longer of this world’s nature. Three things about this: first, we have been positionally taken out of the world (Jn. 15:19; 17:6); second, we have been separated from the world by a judicial act of God (Gal. 6:14); third, we have been sent back into the world to bear witness (John 17:11, 18).

3. The Believer’s Obligation. First, do not love the world (I Jn. 2:15-17). Second, do not fellowship with the world in deeds of darkness (Eph. 5:11). Believers are never told to become hermits, set up their own town or never have contact or communication with unbelievers. Actions, deeds, communication and recreations with unbelievers are neutral territory in neutral things. However, we cannot ever have fellowship with the world in the area of deeds of darkness. Third, keep oneself unspotted from the world (Jam. 1:27) by refusing to participate in sins the world might want us to participate in. Fourth, do not abuse the things of this world (I Cor. 7:31).

4. The Mind. The mind is the main battleground of the third front. The first front, the flesh, attempts to control the believer’s body and actions. The second front tries to get believers to commit acts of sin, to be controlled by Satan or to be caught up in some counterfeit program. When we deal with this third front, the battle is for control of the mind.

Here let me mention two things: First, the mind is the place of war with the world. The world tries to program us, to get us to think the way the world thinks, to accept things like abortion and evolution. It is a struggle for control of the mind. Second, the believer’s responsibility is to renew the mind (Rom. 12:2). Rather than being conformed to the world, we need to be transformed by the renewing of the mind. The Greek text uses the present tense which emphasizes a continuous process. The point is that we must continually renew the mind to avoid becoming conformed to this world and to avoid the world gaining control of our thinking patterns and our mind set.

What is the means by which we transform our minds? First, we need to have the mind of Jesus. In I Corinthians 2:16, to have the mind of the Messiah means to understand the deep things of God. That is why we must mature spiritually in the faith and why we need to learn the Word of God. In Philippians 2:5, the mind of the Messiah emphasizes humility. Second, we need to know how to bring every thought into captive obedience (II Cor. 10:3-5). Philippians 4:8 lists some things we should be thinking about. If we learn how to think on this list, we will learn how to bring every thought into captive obedience to the Messiah. Third, we need to know how to meditate upon the Word of God (Josh. 1:8; Ps. 119:11, 97; Jn. 15:7; Col. 3:16; I Jn. 2:14). As we meditate, Scripture will permeate and renew our mind.

II. THE JUDGMENTS AT THE CROSS

A. The Flesh

First, the flesh was co-crucified according to Romans 6:1-10 and 8:3. When Jesus died, sin in the flesh was condemned. Second, the flesh no longer has any legal authority over us. Third, this does not mean that the sin nature is inactive any more than it means Satan is inactive. Satan is very active today. The flesh is also very active today. Fourth, we are delivered so that we do not need to continue in sin (Rom. 6:12). Fifth, this makes victory possible (Rom. 8:4).

B. Satan and the Demonic World

First, it means that Satan is now a defeated enemy (Jn. 12:31; 16:11;
Col. 2:15). Second, this means that neither Satan nor demons have any legal authority over us (Heb. 2:14-15). Third, believers can now defeat Satan, not by rebuking him, not by binding him but by resisting him (Jam. 4:7).

C. The World

First, our sins in this world have been judged (I Cor. 15:3; Col. 2:14; I Pet. 2:24; and I Jn. 2:2). Second, we are now in the world but are no longer of the world. Third, we can now live a different lifestyle in the world because the world has been judged.