“For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
(rf. Ephesians 6:12 MEV)
Whether or not we truly realize it, we as followers of Christ are at war with the evil forces under Satan’s dominion. For most of us, we would heartily prefer to live out our lives in relative peace, harmony and quietness. However, as Christians, the only peace we can count on is “peace with God” (rf. Romans 5:1) because Jesus has taken away our sin permanently and has placed us into His family. Therefore, during most of our earthly pilgrimage, we find ourselves in a struggle with evil in one form or another. It is hard enough to deal with our own sinful natures on a daily basis. But the overall conflict is greater than this. It is not a battle that we have asked for; it is one that comes with the territory of being a believer in Jesus. Thus, even though we do not relish the conflict, we have to embrace its reality.
Rather than being complicit in the actions and attitudes of evil, we are called and required to expose evil whenever it crosses our path so that other, less mature, Christians will not fall prey to its deception. Indeed, as the Apostle Paul states earlier in Ephesians, “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light” (rf. Ephesians 5:11-13 MEV). Like soldiers on the battlefield, we expect arms fire from the enemy at any moment, so we look out, not only for ourselves, but also for our fellow comrades to keep them safe from the dangers that surround us all.
Secondly, we must remember that our enemy is not human, but a well-organized spiritual entity, known as “the Evil one” or Satan. Paul here stresses that we are not at war with our fellow man, though individual persons can indeed be pawns or puppets being used by the Enemy. Rather, the forces arrayed against us are well-arranged and placed so they can be most effective in the actions they take against God and His people. We are hated by them. We are targets of their wrath because we belong to Jesus (rf. John 15:18) and are not citizens of this world, but of the kingdom of God (rf. John 17:14).
Therefore, when we see people exhibiting evil in their actions and attitudes, know that the Enemy considers them disposable, used only to promote his evil agenda. When we observe people promoting examples of violence and death, witchcraft, Satanism, creatures of the darkness, they are being deceived into allying themselves with the forces of wickedness whose sole desire is to destroy God, His people and all things truly good. It is always better not to give sway to their efforts nor to be afraid of them.
Although Satan’s fate has already been decided (rf. Matthew 25:41), he has not given up on his destructive plans. He will undoubtedly battle until his end comes. On our part as children of God, we should concentrate on being “light and salt” (rf. Matthew 5:13-16), bringing healing to offset the damage of the Enemy in the lives of others and to shine the truth on his work around us. In this way, we can better serve the cause of Christ and bring release to those imprisoned by Satan and his minions.
