Principles of spiritual warfare (Part 1)

By  Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

This was a from a talk given by Fr. Mark Goring, a renowned on-line preacher who is a member of the newly formed religious congregation named Companions of the Cross based in Canada.  Below are the spiritual principles we use as weapons to combat our strong tendency to sin and to fight the temptations of the devil.

Principle 1:  Remember That We Are at War

To be a Christian and not to know that we are in a spiritual battle is to die not knowing what killed you.  The death we are talking about here is spiritual death which is the spiraling down of our life from one misery after another not knowing that the source of our sadness and depression is our sinful life caused by the attacks of the devil.  “Be sober and vigilant, the devil your enemy is like a lion prowling around looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) Fr. Goring said using the lion analogy of St. Peter, that if you are in a forest and there are lions around you, you can don’t say to the lions, “I will not fight you lions, I am a neutral person, I am a lover, not a fighter.” The lions might find that amusing but they will still attack you.  You will just have to flee from the lions as a way of fighting them because they are stronger than you.  In the same way, we have to flee from temptations if that place or that group of friends or that website will tempt us to sin.

Principle 2:  Know the Tactics of the Enemy

There are two tactics of the enemy found in Scripture: accusing us and telling us lies.  First, the devil would relentlessly accuse us of sin.  “For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God, day and night, has been hurled down.”  (Revelation 12:10) Especially when we are about to convert or give up our life of sin, the devil would tell us, you are no good, you can’t be forgiven, your sins are too much for God to forgive, or the Christian life you are about to undertake is too hard and boring.

Of course, all of these are lies, which is his second tactic, tempting us with lies.  “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)

The devil is called a murderer by Christ because he murders the truth.  St. Paul tells us how to overcome these lies of the devil, “Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:13-17)

St. Paul tells us to use our shield of faith which means to trust in God especially in His mercy, that we can be forgiven no matter how much the devil accuses us of sin, and once those sins are forgiven in confession they are forgotten by God.

Forgive and forget for that’s how love operates.  And so, we can begin a life of recovery and holiness which is the breastplate of righteousness (holiness) as St. Paul has mentioned.  And we need to take on the helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit, both offense and defense through reading of the word of God in Scriptures or feeding ourselves with spiritual formation through spiritual activities such as retreats, recollection, spiritual direction, etc.

And never think that the Christian life is boring as the devil would tell us because it is the greatest adventure we could undertake, a hero’s journey fighting for the greatest cause there is: fighting for the good vs. evil, your salvation, the salvation of others and the glory of God.  More on this in the next article.