What the Bible Teaches About Spiritual Warfare
Dr. Robert Dean, Dr. Thomas Ice
Spiritual warfare isn’t so much on the front pages of newspapers any longer, nor is it a huge topic of discussion in the circles I frequent. That’s really a shame, because it’s a very important area of understanding the Church seems to have left in the rear view mirror. This book fills an extremely important and interesting niche in the world of theology —and it’s something you should read if you want to understand spiritual warfare while skipping all the experientially centered gloop you’re likely to find on the topic.
The authors introduce their topic with a series of situations any given Christian might encounter in every day life. Car engines overheating, bills piling up, people claiming to be possessed (well, maybe this isn’t so common, but it does happen —I’m certain pastors run across these sorts of claims more than I would). In each case, three questions arise: Are these things caused by demonic activity? Can a Christian drive these demons out? What’s the value of prayer in this situation? We are in a great war that few Christians see or understand.
But we aren’t in this war alone.
Once they’ve set the stage, Dean and Ice move into the first order of battle: What part can we play in this war? Their answer is primarily one of trust —we must learn to walk by faith, because we simply don’t have the knowledge or perspective to delve into the spiritual realm and come back with real answers.
Because we know very little about the strengths, capabilities, and strategies of our opponents, and because we cannot see into that realm, we must rely exclusively upon the combat information revealed to us in the Scriptures. Like the soldiers in physical military conflict, God has not told us everything that is going on in these realms, but He has told us all that we need to know to protect ourselves and carry out our mission successfully. When we begin to rely on information based on sources other than the Bible, we may render ourselves vulnerable to defeat because we have unknowingly overstepped our bounds. -page 19
Here they discuss the misuse of logic, experience, and the Scriptures to try and do personal combat with an enemy we cannot hope to understand or defeat in our own power. Rightly they insist that we must learn to trust God, and that only in this trust can we overcome Satan’s schemes. Diving into this spiritual world of war in a personal way is only to get ourselves in a world we cannot even understand, much less hope to compete in.
In the third chapter, they discuss the origins of this war —where did Satan come from? What are his strategies in our lives? In the fourth, they attack the problem of worldliness, defining the concept, and showing how it creeps into the lives of even the most devout Christians. They deal with the question of whether or not Christians should retreat into monasteries, or live in the world as the world lives, and end up presenting a Biblical model that is a true third way between the extremes the world presents.
The next topic they tackle is the enemy with —the flesh and it’s desires. The section on placing blame (or rather deflecting blame) is quite helpful here. In chapter six they discuss the temptation of Christ, and how to use his response as a model for ours. Chapter seven deals with Satan’s strategies, and eight with ways in which the Christian can resist Satan’s attack.
In The Greatest Weapon, they discuss prayer, devotional time with God, and rightly using the promises of God. The section on the promises of God is extremely useful, given our world has a habit of taking God’s Word out of context.
Chapter ten continues the discussion on practical things, with sections on telling who is a false prophet, and suffering God’s way. The final two chapters deal with various theologies where a Christian might encounter experientially centered spiritual warfare today, including dominion theology, and a final word on spiritual warfare in the Christian’s life. They authors return to the questions they asked at the beginning of the book, answering each one thoughtfully.
Overall, a well written book full of practical advice and theology. Every Christian needs to fully understand spiritual warfare, and this book provides the background information to start you down the right path of understanding.
