Good Morning! I have questions about offense versus defense action in spiritual warfare.
Five of the six pieces of spiritual armor in Ephesians 6:10-17 are defensive in purpose (Helmet of Salvation, Belt of Truth, Breastplate of Righteousness, Shoes (Boots) of the Gospel of Peace, and Shield of Faith). They all are designed to protect the Christian soldier and defend against enemy attack.
The Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, is offensive/defensive because it's a short 12-18" blade designed for close-in combat. It's not a broadsword used in offensive action(s). Rather, it's an "offensive" weapon used in a defensive action when a soldier is attacked in "close-in" combat.
If all of my armor is defensive, and I'm 'ordered' three times to only "stand" in "God's strength" (Ephesians 6:10-14), how can I go on offense? With what weapon(s) am I to attack? Who exactly am I ordered to attack? When am I ordered to attack? How am I ordered to attack? As a subordinate soldier, under whose order(s) am I attacking? What's the offensive mission, exactly? A solider needs orders to complete a combat mission.
Scripture (in Ephesians 6:10-18) instructs (orders) me to, in God's strength (vs. 10), to do three things as a soldier in spiritual warfare:
1) Put on my armor (vss. 14-17), then
2) Stand (vss. 11, 13-14), and then
3) Always be found Praying in battle (vs. 18).
I don't see any offense. But Scripture repeatedly instructs me to defend/take defensive action (1 Timothy 6:12; 1 Peter 3:15, etc.). Am I missing something?
In physical warfare, it's dangerous, and even deadly, to go into combat without proper equipment, weapons, and commander's orders. Scripture tells us spiritual warfare is also dangerous and deadly (Ephesians 6:12; 1 Peter 5:8, etc.).
Last question: Isn't Jesus Himself really the only "offense" a Christian soldier needs? (John 16:33; Romans 8:31-39; 1 Corinthians 15:57; Colossians 2:15; John 5:4, etc.)
Thank You for reading this long note. Looking forward to reading response(s).
So, I think it is helpful to remember that while all of these things are spiritual I think there is a difference between "spiritual warfare" in the sense of defending against Satan and his schemes and the warfare against our sinful flesh.
While the flesh can certainly be influenced by Satan and many temptations might come as spiritual attacks in this sense there is also the natural fleshly temptation towards things that comes as a result of our nature that is still subjected to some extent to the consequences of the fall until eternity. That is, while we are saved from sin's power, we still deal with the effects of sin to some extent and none of us will be without sin completely per 1 John 1.
So, is the enemy active in these things? Certainly. However, is it always him attacking, or sometimes my inherent sinful desire for these things? They need not always be mutually exclusive, but I don't think that means that they cannot be separate at times, if that makes sense. Sometimes my problem isn't the devil, it's me.
That being said, the focus in this writeup was more on the "passions of the flesh" as sinful desire, not necessarily the schemes of the devil/spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places per the Ephesians 6 passage you referenced.
So I'm not advocating for us to go demon-hunting so to speak when the armor of God is mostly defensive. I get where you're coming from. Instead, as Paul writes in Colossians 3 we, "put to death that which is earthly in you" which I think is clearly a biblical concept. Putting something to death is not defensive or passive, that is an active command from Scripture that must be lived out in light of our new identity in Christ (Col. 3:1-4). I merely added the "wage war" language to it since it fits the passage in Peter and I thought it tied the two passages together and helps to point out that it should be intentional. God sanctifies us throughout this life, and all of my will and power to do His good pleasure comes from Him (Phil. 2:13) however I still have to put in the work to actually walk it out.
While there is certainly overlap between spiritual warfare and dealing with sinful temptation, I believe they can at times be separate categories and we probably looked at this writeup in different ways because of that.
Yes, that's a useful distinction. I'm just an old veteran of both physical and spiritual warfare. In war, words matter. "War" is now defined. 😉
The nature of war, physical and spiritual, is complicated. That's why warfare is messy and confusing nearly all of the time. If it were not like that, I'm certain that wars would be a lot shorter! 😉🤦♂️
Good Morning! I have questions about offense versus defense action in spiritual warfare.
Five of the six pieces of spiritual armor in Ephesians 6:10-17 are defensive in purpose (Helmet of Salvation, Belt of Truth, Breastplate of Righteousness, Shoes (Boots) of the Gospel of Peace, and Shield of Faith). They all are designed to protect the Christian soldier and defend against enemy attack.
The Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, is offensive/defensive because it's a short 12-18" blade designed for close-in combat. It's not a broadsword used in offensive action(s). Rather, it's an "offensive" weapon used in a defensive action when a soldier is attacked in "close-in" combat.
If all of my armor is defensive, and I'm 'ordered' three times to only "stand" in "God's strength" (Ephesians 6:10-14), how can I go on offense? With what weapon(s) am I to attack? Who exactly am I ordered to attack? When am I ordered to attack? How am I ordered to attack? As a subordinate soldier, under whose order(s) am I attacking? What's the offensive mission, exactly? A solider needs orders to complete a combat mission.
Scripture (in Ephesians 6:10-18) instructs (orders) me to, in God's strength (vs. 10), to do three things as a soldier in spiritual warfare:
1) Put on my armor (vss. 14-17), then
2) Stand (vss. 11, 13-14), and then
3) Always be found Praying in battle (vs. 18).
I don't see any offense. But Scripture repeatedly instructs me to defend/take defensive action (1 Timothy 6:12; 1 Peter 3:15, etc.). Am I missing something?
In physical warfare, it's dangerous, and even deadly, to go into combat without proper equipment, weapons, and commander's orders. Scripture tells us spiritual warfare is also dangerous and deadly (Ephesians 6:12; 1 Peter 5:8, etc.).
Last question: Isn't Jesus Himself really the only "offense" a Christian soldier needs? (John 16:33; Romans 8:31-39; 1 Corinthians 15:57; Colossians 2:15; John 5:4, etc.)
Thank You for reading this long note. Looking forward to reading response(s).
Hey thanks for your engagement.
So, I think it is helpful to remember that while all of these things are spiritual I think there is a difference between "spiritual warfare" in the sense of defending against Satan and his schemes and the warfare against our sinful flesh.
While the flesh can certainly be influenced by Satan and many temptations might come as spiritual attacks in this sense there is also the natural fleshly temptation towards things that comes as a result of our nature that is still subjected to some extent to the consequences of the fall until eternity. That is, while we are saved from sin's power, we still deal with the effects of sin to some extent and none of us will be without sin completely per 1 John 1.
So, is the enemy active in these things? Certainly. However, is it always him attacking, or sometimes my inherent sinful desire for these things? They need not always be mutually exclusive, but I don't think that means that they cannot be separate at times, if that makes sense. Sometimes my problem isn't the devil, it's me.
That being said, the focus in this writeup was more on the "passions of the flesh" as sinful desire, not necessarily the schemes of the devil/spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places per the Ephesians 6 passage you referenced.
So I'm not advocating for us to go demon-hunting so to speak when the armor of God is mostly defensive. I get where you're coming from. Instead, as Paul writes in Colossians 3 we, "put to death that which is earthly in you" which I think is clearly a biblical concept. Putting something to death is not defensive or passive, that is an active command from Scripture that must be lived out in light of our new identity in Christ (Col. 3:1-4). I merely added the "wage war" language to it since it fits the passage in Peter and I thought it tied the two passages together and helps to point out that it should be intentional. God sanctifies us throughout this life, and all of my will and power to do His good pleasure comes from Him (Phil. 2:13) however I still have to put in the work to actually walk it out.
While there is certainly overlap between spiritual warfare and dealing with sinful temptation, I believe they can at times be separate categories and we probably looked at this writeup in different ways because of that.
Is that helpful?
Yes, that's a useful distinction. I'm just an old veteran of both physical and spiritual warfare. In war, words matter. "War" is now defined. 😉
The nature of war, physical and spiritual, is complicated. That's why warfare is messy and confusing nearly all of the time. If it were not like that, I'm certain that wars would be a lot shorter! 😉🤦♂️
Thank You for the reply.