The Believer's True Identity

Understanding the nature of the spiritual battles is critical for victory. The Christian encounters demonic activity primarily as a truth encounter (as it was in the beginning with the serpent). The mind is the focal point for this activity. For this reason, Biblical teaching is replete with commands and encouragement to renew our minds with the word of God. (Rom. 12:1)

 

1. How does the identity of the believer defend against demonic attack?

Who you are in Christ and who Christ is in you are two fundamental building blocks to successful living. If you do not know who you are, then you will not be able to exercise the gifts you have, enjoy the rights and priviledges afforded one in your position, or combat the enemy who would deceive you. If you do not know who Christ is in you, you will never be successful in combatting an enemy who is stronger than you. This is why the identify of the believer is so important. This is why Satan chooses to attack here. The Bible says, "When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psa. 11:3, NIV). If the foundations of your identity can be ripped apart, the whole person will collapse.

Mere knowledge of your identity in Christ is not enough; the truths must be believed. Satan will try to counter the truths with his slick lies. Things that are true of a believer can be countered as follows:
 

Truth	Lie
You are a child of God. (John 1:12)	This doesn't apply to you. You didn't really believe so you're not really a child of God now.  A child of God would not sin like you.
You are saved by grace alone. (Eph. 2:8-9)	You must earn God's favor.  You can do enough good deeds to counteract the bad things.
You have been sealed by the Holy Spirit. (Eph. 1:13-14)	You didn't speak in tongues so it could not have really happened.  But you could lose your salvation...
You are a new creation in Christ. (2 Cor 5:17)	Yea, sure you are...acting the way you do?  You don't feel or look any different so it can't be true.

The list could go on. Suffice to say that being assured of your status before a holy God brings great joy and peace. It is also much harder to intimidate one who is assured of the basis of his relationship with God. Confidence in the truths presented in God's word about our identity in Christ will bring victory in the truth encounters with Satan.

 

2. What is the authority of the believer in spiritual warfare?

An issue in my spiritual life involved my actual authority in Christ. Satan had been successful in humbling me because of specific, repetitive sins. The more he reminded me of them the more "humble" I became -- along with ineffective and powerless. I pleaded for God's help in prayer. God certainly comforted me and provided forgiveness with my confession. But I continued to fight without seeming victory. Then I understood from Scripture that because of my position in Christ that Satan could not harm me (1 John 5:18). I also learned that as a child of God in Christ (and only because of this) I command authority over all the principalities and rulers of the darkness. I command this authority because Christ has disarmed them through the cross (Col 2:15). I have no innate authority but have been conferred the authority of Christ who lives in me and is greater than the prince of darkness (1 John 4:4) by the small stretch of infinity.

Evil desires still threaten me from time to time. But I know they are not from God and they are not from me -- rather from my sinful nature aggravated by Satan's moves. Understanding this helps me to combat the enemy with better weapons than sheer will. Renouncing Satan's temptations through the word of God and the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, I can now overcome the sinful nature itself by following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

 

3. Why does the Christian struggle with sin?

Though God has made us a "new creation" (2 Cor. 5:20, NIV) in Christ, He did not remove the sin nature from us. In Christ, we are free from the penalty of sin (Rom. 8:1) but not the effects of the sin nature. (Rom. 7:13-25) As long as we have a sin nature we will be tempted to sin. As long as we live in a a body of flesh that is imperfect and decaying, we will become weak and succomb to temptation. As long as Satan and his band of fallen angels fight us, we will at times give in, give up, or otherwise fail to exercise faith and sin. The penalty of sin has been paid. Our old self was crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20) at the moment of salvation. But we must choose moment by moment to live in accord with and dependent upon the Holy Spirit. The epistle of 1 John was written to encourage believers and assure them of their salvation (1 John 5:13). But it includes, right in the first chapter I might add, a section on what to do when a Christian sins:

If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 1:6-2:2 NIV)

So a Christian can lie and not live by the truth -- this is sin. John goes on to write later that a Christian will not live habitually in sin. One who does is simply not a true believer. If we walk in the light of God's word, then the blood sacrifice of our Lord Jesus purifies us from all sin or unrighteousness. Confession of our sin provides application of the forgiveness that is ours in the cross and purification from the guilt of what we've done. John reminds us in 2:1-2 that if we do sin to remember that we have an Advocate before the Father--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

The parable of the wheat and the tares may have some application in this regard. Perhaps God could not take away the sin nature in our inner being without ripping out some other part of our inner being that we need. So the idea is that we need to renew our minds (Rom. 12:1-2) daily to be conformed to Christ. The wheat and the tare must grow up so that they can be distinguished. It may be the same sort of thing with our new spiritual nature and the sin nature. In any event, we will one day be glorified and forever rid of the old man -- praise be to God who gives us the victory in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

4. What are the two primary ways that Satan attempts to deceive individuals?

In the war against humanity, Satan uses two ways to attempt to gain control over an individual. One is a power encounter and the other a truth encounter. These are not mutually exclusive; he may use one or both against an individual. Typically, Satan will attempt truth encounters first for an enemy that is unseen and unknown is rarely combatted. If the truth encounter fails, then a power encounter may ensue.

A power encounter is one in which Satan attempts to intimidate his victim through enticements or just plain fear. He may use a particular vice which is an area of weakness for the individual such as pornography, gambling, drinking, stealing, or a thirst for power. Satan's power encounter may be to engage the individual with one of these enticements when "no one else is around -- who will know?" The encounter may be innocuous at first. However, if the individual falters, then it will be that much harder to resist the next time. Knowing Satan's persistence, there will be a next time. The individual may find himself bombarded with the enticements. Over time, they may grow and expand into other complementary areas (complementary in a sadistic sort of way) such as pornography leading to adultery leading to multiple partners leading to bisexual partners and so on. If enticements do not work, Satan may use fear through physical manifestations -- eerie sounds, ghosts, demon possessed individuals, or first-hand confrontation with a demon. Anything that will strike fear into the heart of an individual can be used by Satan as a lever of control over that person.

Truth encounters occur as Satan attempts to distort what God has declared to be true. Right becomes wrong, good becomes evil, and people with a confused concept like this will do anything. This deception is usually posed as an innocent thought or question inserted into the mind of an unsuspecting person. In the garden of Eden, Satan tempted Eve with "Did God really say...?" (Gen. 3:1 NIV) to put in her mind a twinge of doubt about the One she knew so well. Satan went on to twist God's own command. Eve began to be confused as she added restrictions to the command received from God. Satan's next truth encounter came as he made God's command out to be unfair -- that God was withholding something good from her and Adam. Progressive influence such as this by Satannic deception leads to control of the individuals who allow it.

Such is the method he uses today and all too successfully. He subtly introduces doubts and erroneous views of God and the Bible through our acquaintances, the media, and even liberal (e.g. unbelieving) theologians or preachers. The theory of evolution, for instance, has been an absolute nightmare to the Christian community because of its pervasive acceptance in the secular and religious world. Evolution contradicts the foundational truths in the Bible: the existence of God, the nature of man, the fall into sin, the need for a Redeemer, basic morality, and many others. Even Christians mistakenly assume that science "must be right" and then try to reconcile the Bible to science. It needs to be the other way around. To truly understand this universe, Christians need to start from the Bible's perspective and interpret facts and processes in light of Scripture. Science makes radical shifts in what it deems "truth" about every 50 years or so. Science may change but "...the word of our God stands forever" (Isa. 40:8, NIV). So we must be careful to examine each purported "truth" in the clear and reliable light provided by God's Word.

Yet, there seems to be no end to the twists and spins Satan can put on Scripture to try and "prove" his point. The many cults we see today are the tragic results of this kind of truth encounter that prevailed against a group of individuals. Joseph Smith was deceived by a demon disguised as an angel of light (see 2 Cor. 11:14 that such a power encounter is possible) who contradicted Jesus (Matt. 16:18) when he claimed that the Church of Jesus Christ was apostate, that all their creeds were corrupt, and that he (Joseph Smith) would bring the true faith back to the earth. Error begets error and the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints, or the Mormons, to this day is expanding its membership with a false works-based gospel and a different god than the God of the Bible. The same could be said about the Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Scientists, Unity School of Christianity who all "use the Bible" as a basis for their religion but twist the word of God and elevate unbiblical writings to the level of Scripture.

Our view of God, Jesus Christ, salvation, and other key teachings must come from a consistent, objective source which is the Bible. When we add or take away or disbelieve one part of the Bible, it has disastrous consequences. It may start with a small non-essential doctrine. But like a snowball rolling down a hill, one false belief or practice leads to another until the collective errors derail the faith of its proponents.

In examining power and truth encounters, one can find much overlap or areas in common. Both power and truth encounters have the same source -- the forces of darkness headed by the chief fallen angel, Satan. Both power and truth encounters can be introduced subtly or overtly. Both may be initiated with progressive levels of intensity and frequency. Both, ultimately, are won by belief in God's truth and the outworking of faith based on that truth. At times, it is difficult to separate the "power" aspect of an encounter from the "truth" aspect.

For instance, Dr. Terry Wise presents the scenario of a boy who encounters a large, barking dog. The size of the dog and the ferocity of the bark are frightening to him. This might be deemed a "power canine encounter." So long as the boy believes the dog might bite him, the dog has control over him. When the owner reveals the dog only barks because he himself is afraid and that he has never even tried to bite anyone, the power encounter is over. Or is it? If the boy refuses to believe the owner, then the dog still has control of the boy -- even though the bark is a "lie" in terms of its threat. This is where the power and truth aspects converge. The dog can continue to control the boy so long as the boy believes the dog will hurt him.¹

This exact same scenario is used by Satan to intimidate Christians. The penalty of sin and the sting of death and the power of Satan over the believer was crushed by Jesus Christ on the cross (Col. 2:13-15). But if Satan can deceive the believer into thinking wrongly that he has power to hurt, to take away salvation, or to control, then Satan, effectively, can control the believer. Like the dog with a bark but no bite, Satan has no power to hurt the believer (1 John 5:18). Likewise, Jesus said no one could snatch His sheep out of His hand (John 10:28). The only "control" Satan can exercise over the believer is in him believing and acting upon a lie. Such a power encounter with an angry demon claiming "I'll kill you if you try to witness to someone!" can only be defeated by believing God's truth and acting upon it by faith. The response, "No you can't! I am a child of God and you cannot harm me according to God's word in 1 John 5:18..." is sufficient to end the encounter.

Power encounters are different from truth encounters in that the demonic spirit is usually manifest in a power encounter. Truth encounters can be devilishly clever popping up in the strangest places -- even in Church. I have noticed facilitated Sunday School sessions where a blatant lie (such as "a Christian wouldn't do X...) will be introduced into a discussion and simply glossed over. It is through such subtle means that believers can be easily misled.

Consider also the early churches where Paul had proclaimed the gospel with great success. Yet, a group called the Judaizers came along right behind him with a gospel of faith plus works and the young believers followed right along (Gal. 1:2,6-8). An astonishing number of new converts to Mormonism and the Jehovah's Witnesses come from young evangelical Christians. Since the young believer is not well grounded in God's truth, he or she is easy prey for demonic deception. But God's truth, correctly handled (2 Tim. 2:15), taught, and believed, will ultimately prevail over truth encounters with Satan. This just shows how critical it is to diligently disciple all believers in our churches.

Dealing with a power encounter strictly through the authority vested in a believer by the Lord Jesus Christ may result in the eradication of the demon. If, however, truth is not presented and believed by the victim, the demon could easily return when you are not around. Jesus said that:

When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation. (Matt. 12:43-45 NIV)

The Holy Spirit must fill the house for the demons to be turned away the second time. The gospel must be presented and believed for the unbeliever's "house" to become occupied by the Holy Spirit. Should a demon be driven out without accompanying faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the person is susceptible to the situation Jesus describes. A victim of demonic attack who overcomes it through God's truth is much less likely to be defeated the next time it happens. But a power encounter won by power alone may actually hurt the victim.

 

5. What is the most profitable strategy for handling spiritual warfare?

Truth and power encounters go together. In every truth encounter, the issue of control is being waged by the individual and, possibly, a demon as well. Will the individual submit to the truth of God or continue in rebellion -- thus exercising "power" through independence? Will the demon succeed in its power tactics of intimidation to keep the individual from hearing or believing the truth? Truth is an absolute necessity (1 John 2:3-6,9-11,21-23). But power goes right along with any battle for the truth. As Paul wrote:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Eph. 6:10-12, NKJV)

Power is part of any encounter with the forces of darkness as is the truth.

In counseling a demonized individual, the counselor cannot win the battle by himself. The goal of the counseling must be to lead the captive individual to freedom in Christ. This means the individual must exercise faith in Christ -- the counselor cannot exercise faith for him. Only by exercising faith in the truth of God can one really be free.

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.' (John 8:31-32, NKJV)

Truth alone is not enough. It is by believing and obeying the truth of God that enables one to be a true disciple of Christ and live in the freedom that brings. Acknowledgement of a truth apart from obedience to it is not biblical faith. Therefore, the counselor must always deal with truth in any spiritual encounter with the goal of leading the individual into biblical faith.

From the perspective of power, the question is will it be allowed to dominate the encounter or will truth dominate. The demons certainly desire to control the individual and any encounter that individual may go through. If they are unsuccessful in keeping the individual from seeing a knowledgeable and caring counselor, then their goal would be to exercise power over the counselor, the situation, or both. As the sons of Sceva found out, demons will attack one who is unprepared (ref. Acts 19:13-16). The alternative to direct power attacks on the counselor would be to control the situation through fear, lies, and intimidation. At their core, all of these power tactics are attempts to prevent the truth from being heard or believed.

A solid approach is one which incorporates both power and truth. The counselor should exercise power to avoid disruptions and ensure communication with the individual. The counselor should also be prepared to deal with truth issues and deal with these issues substantively and patiently. As Dr. Neil Anderson advises, don't be afraid to take time out for prayer when needed.²  The counselee must hear, understand, and believe the truth being presented.

 

6. How does is the cross of Jesus Christ used in spiritual warfare?

An old "vampire" movie I saw as a child had a scene I still recall to this day. The evil vampire approached a priest who was wearing a cross. As the vampire began to grab him, the priest held up the cross thinking it would keep him safe. The vampire laughed, grabbed the cross out of his hand, and declared, "That only works if you BELIEVE in it!" He then proceeded to devour the priest. Though this was a scene from a B-grade movie, it does present a relevant truth in the real spiritual battle we face with the forces of darkness. Demonic forces wield considerable power in the spiritual realm. But the cross represents the power which has utterly and forever crushed Satan. Those who believe in the death and resurrection Lord Jesus Christ have a power, symbolized by a cross, which is far greater -- to the distance of infinity.

For two-thousand years ago, our Lord Jesus Christ hung on a cross and bore the sins of humanity (1 Peter 3:18). In His resurrection, He declared victory over sin, death, and Satan. As the vampire observed, the crucifix itself is just a piece of metal or wood that holds no innate power. The power is through believing in the One who died on the cross for us. The priest in this movie fell short of believing IN Jesus Christ and, thus, had no power to defend himself against the forces of darkness. He was defenseless and utterly exposed. But the believer in the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is a saint, indwelt by the Spirit of God, and redeemed from sin by the blood shed by Jesus on the cross (Mark 14:24,Acts 20:28, Rom. 3:25, Eph. 1:1,13-14). Satan has no power over the believer to harm him (1 John 5:18) or steal his soul (Heb. 2:14).

It is entirely possible for a believer to have his sin debt paid in full by the grace of God through faith in Christ, to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and yet continue to struggle with demonic oppression. A very common problem is related to past sin. Demons have been around since the creation of the earth and, as such, know how past sin can haunt a person. Having lived during the believer's lifetime, they can easily dredge up memories of our worst moments. This can be used to hold a person in bondage, fearful of even being saved at all. The guilt and shame of past sin can keep a believer from fulfilling the calling God has on his life. Past sin or present sin can be used as a mighty weapon against the believer.

This is where the power of the cross of Jesus Christ comes into play, though I hate to use the word "play." This is serious business that Satan carries on with a believer to hold him down. The believer must realize that Jesus paid the price for all sin, including his own (e.g. the believer's sins). The believer must believe that, on the cross, Jesus completely and forever satisfied God's wrath over sin (1 John 2:2). The believer must personalize the finished work of Jesus Christ for his own life and his own sins in order to appropriate the power of the cross. All our sins have been paid for on the cross. When He said, "It is finished!" (John 19:30, NIV) He was speaking of the sin debt of all humanity. Jesus paid it all.

As humans we live in a linear time continuum. Positionally, our sin has been forgiven but practically we still sin. So when the believer sins in time, he must respond to the Scriptural injunction to confess his sin before God (1 John 1:9) and receive, in time, the cleansing from the guilt and stain of that sin already provided for on the cross. So God has provided, through the cross, perfect provision for all past, present, and future sin. Therefore, as the believer walks in the light of this wonderful truth, he has nothing to fear from Satan. Satan's recollection of past sins is empty banter. The believer need only dismiss it with the word of God which clearly teaches the forgiveness of sins through the cross of Jesus Christ.

Thus, the cross is a symbol of victory, life, and completeness for the believer which Satan cannot thwart: a symbol of victory for we have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of light (Col. 1:13); a symbol of life for Satan is a destroyer but Jesus Christ came to bring us life eternal and abundant (John 10:10); and a symbol of completeness for our sin debt has been paid in full (Acts 3:19, Rom. 3:22-26). There is no need to "earn" God's favor, nor is it even possible. Satan may try to trip the believer with this lie but the believer is forever secure in the grace of God provided through the death of His Son. Satan may appear as a roaring lion (1 Pet. 5:8) but the believer rests in the knowledge that "the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4 NIV).

End Notes

1. Wise, Terry Dr. Spiritual Warfare. Trinity College and Seminary. Cassette lecture. Copyright 1996.
2. Anderson, Neil T. Dr. The Bondage Breaker. Harvest House Publishers. Copyright 1993. p.228.

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Copyright 5/19/2001, Randy Lariscy.