There are many battles going on all around us. It is extremely easy to get pulled into a wrong conflict and to lose our focus. The main battle going on is not out in the heavenlies but is in your mind. Paul warns us against satan’s wiles in Ephesians 6 – his lies, cunningness, and craftiness – because that is all he’s got. Satan has no power and no authority except that which we give him by believing his lies. All he has is deception. So how does Satan try to deceive us?
But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2 Cor 11:3)
Satan’s aim is to take our focus off the simple, childlike faith and trust in Christ. The primary way he does this is to get us to engage him in “spiritual warfare”. ‘Spiritual warfare,’ as it’s popularly presented today, is actually a ploy of the devil. Many believers think they have little to no power and that satan has plenty. They are wrong on both counts. Yet in their ignorance and unbelief, they re-empower a disarmed enemy. Many people don’t know the truth about Satan’s defeat. In fact, many Christians are the very instrument the devil is using to foster the deception that he is still a powerful foe. See article on 5 ways Christians glorify satan. https://dellyoung.net/2018/07/13/five-ways-christians-glorify-satan/
“Spiritual warfare” is again a hot topic in the church today. People are expending great amounts of energy constantly battling the devil in ways contrary to Scripture. They are trying to defeat satan, but in reality, satan has already been defeated. Jesus defeated him! We don’t need to defeat him again. We need to believe that Satan has already been completely defeated (Heb. 2:14) and simply enforce his defeat. The only power he has is the power to deceive. Our battle should be against the wiles (trickery) of the devil, (Ephesians 6:11), not the devil himself. Any other approach is actually giving the devil authority and power which he doesn’t have, and he uses that to intimidate us. The only weapon Satan has is the power we give him when we believe his lies.
We must know that warfare only takes place between two undefeated foes. Once an enemy has been conquered, the war is over. Satan is a defeated foe.
Colossians 2:15 (NKJV)-Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
Colossians 2:15 (MSG)-He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.
“A public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” This means that after Jesus defeated Satan, He stripped him of everything he had, specifically the keys of death and hell (Rev. 1:18). Satan has no power to imprison anyone. This is specifically referring to the way the Romans had a “triumphant procession” after they had defeated their enemies. The same thing happened to the devil. That’s what this verse is referring to. Jesus not only beat the devil, but He had a triumphant procession to display the devil to the universe as a totally conquered foe. Satan should never terrify us again. Unfortunately, many Christians have missed the parade.
Satan is still alive, and we do have to reckon with him but only because he has so many lies circulating about his power against us. Some Christians actually spend more time in their prayers talking to the devil and rebuking him than talking to the Lord. But God has given you His authority. He has promised that the devil will flee when you resist him (Jas 4:7). We do not have to enlist a million Christians to fast and pray and bind powers. The best antidote to Satan’s deception is the truth. It’s knowing the Truth that sets people free. We wage true spiritual warfare every time we speak and send God’s truth!
Look to Jesus who has overcome the world! We should be fighting from a place of victory, not fighting to get the victory. Satan would have you conscious of your lack but Jesus has already given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3). His instructions to us are the same as what He told the Christians in Thyatira:
Only hold on to what you have until I come. (Rev 2:25)
The only way we can lose what we have is if we put more faith in the devil’s lies than in God’s word. Don’t take your eyes off Jesus and His work. Satan wants you to focus on the violence and evil in this world instead of what God is doing. God’s divine power is revealed in our life “through the knowledge of Him who called us” (2 Pet 1:3). If the devil can get your eyes off Jesus, he wins, and you lose.
1 Corinthians 15:57-58 (NKJV) But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.