3 Kinds of Spiritual Warfare

~ The Tri-fold Christian Fight ~

The Christian soldier is unique in that every individual Christian soldier is fighting on three different front lines—actually fighting three different wars—at the same time. In other wars individual soldiers are only on one front line at a time!

We know that our military has different weapons for different wars. Even their uniforms change—for example there is a vast difference in the camouflage uniforms used in a jungle compared to the camouflage uniforms used in open desert. Fortunately we too have different provisions including three armors for our three wars.

Internal War ~ We have ongoing, everyday, skirmishes with our old nature which is called “the flesh.” Our sin nature which we inherited from the first Adam tries to take control of our lives. The Bible tells us that “our sinful nature fights against our spiritual nature” (Galatians 5:17). But this war can never be won by the old nature and its tactics, but only as the new man is possessed by the Spirit of God. To win this war we need to rethink our strategy (2 Corinthians 10:3). But we can win this war by putting on “the armor of light” (Romans 13:12).

External War ~ Meanwhile we are also waging a battle with the world around us which is constantly seeking to mold us into its pattern. As we fight this war it is easy to be stressed—almost to the breaking point—but in the midst of it all we can have peace (John 16:33). This war cannot be won by the brute force of our human resistance, but only by submission to the new nature which we received from our Savior, the Last Adam, and spiritual realities (James 4:7a). This war must be resisted and can be won with the “armor of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 6:7).

Infernal War ~ Simultaneously Christians are fighting on a third front in a war with the devil and his warriors (Ephesians 6:12). In one sense this infernal war is opposite of our external war in that this battle cannot be won by submission but rather by resistance through the aid of the Holy Spirit (James 4:7b). To win this most crucial war we must put on the “entire armor of God” (Ephesians 6:13) which we have been provided.

CONTEMPLATE: “You spiritual adulterer! Don't you realize that being a friend of the world and its lifestyle makes you an enemy of God? Let me say it another way: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. What do you think the Bible means when it says that the Spirit God has placed within us is filled with envy, greed, and all kinds of sin? But remember that God gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Bible says, ‘God opposes the proud but He favors the humble.’ So humble yourselves before God” (James 4:4-7).