From
the beginning, Satan sought to make himself the object of man’s worship[1].
It is this misplaced ambition born out of pride that has led him into rebellion[2]. Given
that God created man for His(God’s) glory, the worship of Satan is the direct
usurpation of God’s purpose and constitutes the height of all sin. The first
commandment on the Decalogue is against the worship of other Gods[3]. Scripture
shows that the rebellion was terminated by archangel from whose ranks Satan
came. Essentially he is also a creation of God just as man—not a god by any
stretch of the imagination. He is a creature, not a creator. He has no omni-powers
of any kind and cannot be at war with God. The fight is between God’s faithful-s
and the unfaithful-s—the rebels.
Spiritual
warfare it must be understood then, is the war between God’s forces and rebel forces.
So that man by accepting the devils suggestions[4],
joined ranks with him in his rebellion and stepped out of purpose; much like
the devil himself had done. In his naivety, man was doomed to sharing in the
fate of his new master. Every rebellion against God(sin) constitutes a worship
of the devil and supports his cause. His plan is to take worship away from its
true owner and direct it at himself. He is a thief who seeks nothing but to steal kill and destroy[5].
He epitomizes the lies he fathered[6]—he
is one with his offspring. In the same manner,
Christ is the Truth by whom and for whom the world was created. He and His
father are one[7] too and He is His father’s
very utterances[8]. The war for man is
therefore one between the forces of truth and those of lies.
Spiritual
warfare has physical dimensions. Man’s prayers, fasting and his very manner of
living have spiritual ramifications—they are all acts of worship and obtain
their by whose will they align with. False religions also encourage prayer and
fasting but to false gods. Man is in fact spirit in a body and the two are
intertwined. It is for this reason that it must be understood that spiritual
warfare is essentially fought from the natural realm into the spiritual real through.
For the believer, it is adherence to truth and imperative disdain for lies. The
Apostle Paul treats this in detail in his letter to the Ephesians.
The body armor of God’s agents, will
enables a stand against the schemes of the devil. We have seen that his
weapons are lies and deception. He is not on earth as flesh and blood;
he is here in the form of rulers, and authorities. He also functions in the spiritual
realm as powers over darkness and spiritual forces of evil (i.e.
those who are against the almighty God). Paul
proposes an adornment of the complete combat gear designed to withstand all
attacks of the enemy and suggests a firm stand. A belt of truth, a breastplate
of righteousness, and shoes of readiness made
possible by the gospel of peace. A shield of
faith, and a helmet of salvation—beneficiaries of salvation have these if they are
true. The above list comprises mostly of defensive gear; except for 1. The only
offensive weapon mentioned is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Engagement is by praying at all times in the
Spirit (i.e) bringing everything to the presence of God and including
intercession for each other as a way by which the larger army is united in God’s
will. Every one of these is an act of worship directed at its rightful place in
the life of the believer.
Truth’s
potency was under severe test in the wilderness experience[9] of
Jesus where he may have laid the foundation for Paul’s later treatment of the
matter. When Christ as man came face to face with the father of lies who wasted
no time in throwing his fiery darts of lies, He already had on the full gear
for he was without sin and epitomized righteousness. He was indeed the weapon—sword
of the sprit in flesh. He was steadfast in the Lord and was not about to be
tossed about by every wind of doctrine[10]. The
three poison darts fired at him were repelled with ease even in the most testing
conditions and countered with the Word.
Truth triumphed and led the way to the salvation of mankind. Had Jesus fallen
for the wiles and deception, man and his kind would have been doomed. This is reminiscent
of Adam’s failure to resist this same devil and the doom to which he subjected
mankind. It is this first failure that made the salvation enterprise a
necessity in the first place and now, man will be back in line if he would hold
onto the hand of grace extended to him. He must then redirect worship to its
rightful place. It is a war between God’s creation—those loyal to him and those
who are not and seek to be the object of worship of their fellow creatures. Spiritual
warfare is a thing only because lies tried to usurp the place of Truth.
When
Paul admonished young Timothy to adhere to truth, he was giving him the most
important tool he needed as a teacher of the word. He was to study to show
himself approved[11] and qualify to teach
truth. In doctrine he was to remain sound. A doctrine is sound in so far as it
is grounded in the bedrock of Truth— Jesus.
The
most dangerous of all lies are those close to truth. They are difficult to
identify especially when perpetrated by supposed agents of truth. It has been pointed
out that Christ Himself was concerned with such persons (false prophets) and
predicted that many will come in the last days. The devil disguises himself as
angel of light and deception is his key strategy. After years of
experimentation with pure lies, half-truths have become his most important
weapon. They are difficult to distinguish from the truth.
This
is why it cannot be overemphasized that; believers must imperatively turn to
the word and avoid ideas and traditions of men unless they are grounded in the
truth of God’s word. These are matters of right interpretations. Bad and wrong interpretations
whether intentional or otherwise do only one thing; they distort the word and
minimize its efficacy. It must be born in mind that the only weapon of offense
the believer has is the word. We have seen how Christ in his wilderness
experience example resisted the devil with the safety gear and overcame with the
word. Unsound doctrine means that one has no assault weapon or at best, a very
blunt one. Constant study of the word is the lot of the believer—it is his
powerbase. It is by this means that he gains understanding and increases in
faith so that he prays without ceasing and trusts wholly in God to give strength.
He then benefits from the presence of the Holy Spirit who brings discernment and
ensures that the victory that has already be won is manifested in the life of
the believer.
Surely it must be evident by now
that ignoring sound doctrine is rendering believers weak. The African church is
now the devil’s playground because of the departure from sound doctrine. This
is why SD-21(West Africa’s first sound doctrine conference) will be the
important event for the African church this year.
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