Editor’s Introduction -- By: Anonymous

Journal: Reformation and Revival
Volume: RAR 04:1 (Winter 1995)
Article: Editor’s Introduction
Author: Anonymous


Editor’s Introduction

Editor

No picture of the Christian life is more frequently cited throughout the ages than that of a soldier engaging in mortal combat. Perhaps this is because all true believers instinctively understand that they are called to a fight—a fight against the world, the flesh and the devil. In every age the church has had to face this battle on all three fronts. Our age is no different.

What is the biblical doctrine of spiritual warfare? Do we personally engage Satan in individual struggle day by day? How do we fight so that we might win? Is Satan defeated—completely, or partially? What happened to Satan’s kingdom at Calvary? Do I (personally) “bind” the enemy? Why, or why not? How much influence can Satan have over my life if I am a genuine believer? Can he control me, or possess me? What role do spiritual gifts have in this battle, especially in view of many modern claims to the recovery of prophecy? And what about “territorial demons”? Are our cities, regions, and nations bound over to Satan’s underlings in such a way that we need to liberate them through prayer so that people can hear and respond to the Gospel of Christ? These and a host of related questions pop up everywhere today.

I believe that it is time to rethink all of this. The need is akin to urgent in the face of the damage being done to scores of Christ’s people through recent books and ministries. The place to begin reformation in this arena is by returning to the Scriptures, especially to that oft-misused section of Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 6:10–20. It would help if we read the text more carefully. The corporate “you” certainly must be read properly, and the church must again understand that it uses two weapons to engage in the fight: the Word of God and prayer. And the how of her fight is quite different than modern strategists would lead us to think. (Even as I prepared these thoughts I found myself profiting once again from two classics—Gurnall’s The Christian in Complete Armour, and Lloyd-Jones’ two volumes titled, The Christian Warfare

and The Christian Soldier. I urge every reader to spend months in these volumes and to put aside almost everything else on the subject.)

What is Satan’s strategy? How does he use discouragement, anxiety, false zeal, lack of assurance and worldliness to defeat us? How is the believer to make provision for the fight of faith, not the flesh? What part does the “armor” play in terms of the teaching of Ephesians 6?

Because spiritual warfare is so large in the minds of ...

You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
Click here to subscribe
visitor : : uid: ()