“For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places.”- Ephesians 6:12
To really understand fully
the concept of exorcism and possession, you must first understand the basic theology behind spiritual warfare. Each
of us lives on the precipice between two distinct realms; the material created
universe and the immaterial spiritual realm. The material realm is that which
can be seen, felt, touched, heard, or tasted. It is the realm of the senses and
is known and experienced primarily through our sensory perception. The country,
nation, city, or village in which you live is part of the natural material
realm. You are a resident in the natural world located on one of the visible
continents of the earth. This material world is not, as many Hindus, Buddhists and New Agers claim, an illusion. It is very real. You can see and interact with your environment and the people who are part of your
environment. You can communicate with them. You can experience the sights,
sounds, and smells around you. However there is another realm that impacts your physical world, even if unknowingly or imperceptible to you. That world is the spiritual world.
You cannot normally see it with your physical eyes, but it is just as real as
the natural world in which you live. Paul speaks of this division of natural
and spiritual:
“There is a natural body,
and there is a spiritual body.”
-I Corinthians 15:40
All of us possesses a
natural body which serves as our vehicle of expression in the natural world,
but you are also a spiritual being with an eternal soul and spirit. Humans exist as a substance dualism- a body and soul.
Your spiritual self (soul) is part of a spiritual world just as your
natural body is part of the natural world. The soul dwells in the body.
"The invisible soul is
guarded by the visible body."-Letter to Diognetus
“He clothed and covered
man's spirit with an earthly body...”- Lactantius
This is not to suggest that in this substance dualism there is any conflict between the material self and the spiritual self. They are one. Think of it this way; H2O is water. Water is H2O. If we boil water, we boil H2O. They are two aspects of the one substance.
Within the natural and
spiritual realms there exists two distinct "ways" (as the Didache calls them) or forces, if you will, that are
ruled by natural and spiritual leaders.
1. The World (Modernity)- All of us live in the
natural kingdom of this world. We live in and are connected to the natural
world and our environment. We live in cities or villages which are part of a
nation. That nation is a kingdom of the world. A natural kingdom is a territory
or people over which a political leader is the sovereign ruler. The Bible
speaks of these natural kingdoms as "kingdoms of the world.”
The kingdoms of the world have come under the power and influence of Satan.
“Again, the Devil took Him
(Jesus) up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of
the world, and the glory of them; And said to Him, All these things will I give
you, if you will fall down and worship me."- Matthew 4:8-9
"As for you, you are a
foreigner in this world, a citizen of Jerusalem, the city above." - Tertullian
John 5:19 further informs us of the
sobering fact that "the whole world is under the control of the
evil one.”
“From the beginning, He
had given the devil power over the earth.”- Lactantius
2. Spiritual Realities- In addition to the
natural kingdom of this world there are two spiritual kingdoms: What we will call, the realm of
the influence of Satan and the Kingdom Of God. Every person alive is a
“resident”, so to speak, of one of these two realities. The realm of
Satan consists of Satan, spiritual beings called demons, and all who live in
sin and rebellion to the Gospel. These are the spiritual forces of evil, discord, and rebellion.
The Kingdom of God consists of God the Father,
Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, spiritual beings called angels, and all who live
in righteous obedience to the Gospel. These are the spiritual forces of good, holiness and peace.
The Kingdom of God exists
individually within every person who has recognized the personal Kingship
of Christ. On a national level, the Kingdom of God exists in a culture
wherein the social Kingship of Christ is the rule (there are no such earthly nations fitting this definition today.). In the future,
there will be an actual visible manifestation of God's Kingdom on a new earth, where Jesus will reign physically "in-person".
Between these two ways there rages a spiritual war. This invisible (to those without discernment) spiritual
war is an intense conflict stemming from the very foundations of human
existence which involves all men and women. Thus:
“...we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”-Ephesians 6:12
"Their great business is
the ruin of mankind. So, from the start, spiritual wickedness sought our
destruction." - Tertullian
Spiritual warfare is not a
natural war of flesh and blood, guns and tanks, missiles and bombs. It is not a
war of nation against nation, or person against person, though it can manifest
in these ways. It is not only a visible battle. It is an
invisible struggle in the spiritual realm. It is a sustained conflict
within and around humanity. It is not primarily a visible war is because spirits are
involved and we learn in Luke 24:39 that a spirit is by definition not
material in any sense that we understand it.
Spiritual warfare is "multidimensional,”
which means it is fought on many levels. It is...
• A socio-political,
meta-political, and cultural war between the Kingship of Christ and the worldview of revolution against God. (John 15:18-27)
• A personal war between
the flesh and the spirit. (Galatians 5:16-26)
• A spiritual battle
between the Kingdom of God and demonic entities. (Ephesians 6:10-27)
Every person alive is
engaged in this warfare, whether they realize or even choose to believe it or
not.
There is no neutral ground.
Those not living the Gospel and
in communion with Christ's Church are in bondage to evil to one degree or
another, and are subject to the influence of demonic forces. They are the real
victims of the war. Christians have been freed from the Adversary through Jesus
Christ and are victors, but they are still engaged in the war. They can still
be wounded and fail, and even worse if they are not careful. The verse from
Sacred Scripture at the start of this chapter indicates that we fight against
evil spiritual forces.
"Wrestling" by definition
involves close personal contact. No one is exempt from this conflict. No one
can view it from a distance. There are no conscientious objectors or pacifists
in this war. You are a soldier in it whether you like it or not. The warfare between the forces of Modernity (Cultural Marxism, Atheism, Globalism,
Relativism, Mono-Culturalism, etc.) and the Kingship of Christ rages all around
you.
“….these contaminated and
abandoned spirits wander over the whole earth.”
- Lactantius
Satan and the forces of
evil fight to maintain control of the minds of the people, the leadership of nations, and institutions of the
world. Governments, sub-cultures, and false religions are all a part of the
war. The Adversary does not want them to come under the authority of the social
Kingship of Christ, and those cultures and people that would dare advance our Lord's social Kingship are the
nations and people most attacked.
Briefly, the spiritual war
started in Heaven with an angel named Lucifer who was originally a beautiful
angel created by God and was a subject of the Kingdom of God. Lucifer decided
he wanted to take over God's Kingdom. You can read about this rebellion in Isaiah
14:12-17 and Ezekiel 28:12-19. A group of angels joined Lucifer (now called Satan) in this
rebellion- a revolution against the Kingship of Christ. Lucifer and the
rebellious, revolutionary angels were cast out of Heaven by God. They formed
their own pseudo-kingdom by influencing the governments and societies of earth.
“And there was war in
Heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon (Satan); and the
dragon fought and his angels."-Revelation
12:7
“And the great dragon was
cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the
whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with
him."- Revelation 12:9
Lucifer is now known as
Satan and the angels which followed him in rebellion are now known as demons.
Demons, being spiritual beings, can enter, torment, control, and use humans who
are subject to Satan's Kingdom. They motivate and encourage evil acts. Satan
directs his demons in their evil activities. He combines these powerful forces
with the negative forces and institutions of Modernity (the world) and the
frailties of the human mind to wage this war against humanity.
“From the devil comes the
incentive to sin.” - Tertullian
Humanity was created in
the image of God, and for the glory of God (Genesis chapter 2). The
spiritual war against humanity started with the first temptation in the garden
of Eden (Genesis chapter 3) Satan caused Adam and Eve to sin. Eve had been
told that she should not be paying attention to the serpent. She was deceived
by the serpent, and gave in to his temptation to reject the counsel of God not
to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This
resulted in all of humanity inheriting depravity, an inclination to sin and
rebellion:
“Wherefore, as by one man
sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men,
for that all have sinned.”- Romans 5:12
“Because she was in the
beginning deceived by the serpent, this Eve became the author of sin. Actually
it was the wicked demon, who also is called Satan, who then spoke to her
through the serpent. And he works even to this day in those men who are
possessed by him.” -Theophilus
It also resulted in the
invisible war between man and the demonic forces.
“And I will put enmity
between thee (Satan) and the woman (humanity), and between thy seed (the
demonic) and her seed (humanity)...”- Genesis 3:15
From this we learn that
Satan was this apostate angel and the enemy.
“For he was envious of
God's workmanship and took in hand to render this workmanship into something at
enmity with God.” -Irenaeus
“He deceived man because
he had envied him.” -Tertullian
Because of sin, humanity
was separated from God and condemned to experience old age, disease, and death.
Not only physical death, but due to the separation from God, spiritual death-hell. But God loved humanity so much that He made a special plan to save us.
“For God so loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the
world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”-
John 3:16-17
Through belief in and
discipleship to Jesus Christ, confession of and repentance from sin, and
cleaving to His Church, we can be released from the power of the Adversary. The
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ not only resulted in salvation from sin,
it also defeated Satan.
“...For this purpose the
Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” - I
John 3:8
But if Satan is defeated,
why does the war still rage?
Following any war there
are always pockets of enemy resistance, revolutionary troops that will not give
up until forced to do so. Although Christ defeated Satan, we are living in
territory which is still occupied by enemy revolutionary forces. Understanding
spiritual warfare strategies gives us the ability to deal with these evil
powers. Satan is trying to keep humanity captive in sin and take down as many
of us with him as he can before the final judgment. Through deceptive methods
he is enticing men and women to temporary lusts of sinful living. Thus,
Modernity offers a license to sin freely, rejecting objective morality, rejecting the traditional family,
promoting, sodomy and every other kind of sexual perversion. He aims for the
affections of the soul and spirit which rightfully belong to God:
“The thief (Satan) cometh
not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they might
have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” - John 10:10
“That most stubborn Enemy never
gives his malice a rest. Indeed, he is then the most savage when he fully feels
that a man is freed from his clutches.”
-Tertullian
Satan still wants to be
the supreme ruler and to be worshiped. He is waging an intense battle for the mind and soul of every man, woman and child. His strategies are
directed at destroying the personal and social Kingship of Christ, His plan of
salvation, and disciples of Christ. This is why we witness such an onslaught of
immorality, the destruction of Traditional Christian culture, the push for
Globalism-a mono-culture, and removal of personal and national identity. All of
these are designed to enslave humanity to the forces of Satan.
Spiritual warfare then is the
analysis of and active participation in the exposure and direct confrontation
of demonic forces and their activities on a personal and cultural level. It
includes study of the strategies of
Satan, and God's spiritual strategies for overcoming this Adversary. Spiritual
warfare is more than a mere analysis of spiritual principles. It includes active
participation in spiritual warfare by application of these strategies
in all aspects of life and ministry.
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